2022 Research Leaders: Leading government institutions in physical sciences

The 2022 Research Leaders are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021.

Table criteria

# Institution Share 2020 Share 2021 Count 2021 Change in Adjusted Share* 2020–2021
1 Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research (PNG IMR), Papua New Guinea 0.00 0.45 1 0.0% Increase
1 Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), Bulgaria 1.63 5.45 104 210.6% Increase
1 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), United States of America (USA) 89.07 96.10 536 -0.1% Decrease
1 Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan (UzAS), Uzbekistan 1.49 2.81 80 74.6% Increase
1 Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), Austria 17.30 26.10 177 39.6% Increase
1 Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade (AOB), Serbia 1.08 0.33 1 -71.5% Decrease
1 National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Japan 69.48 81.82 329 9.0% Increase
1 Malaysia Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), Malaysia 0.01 0.00 2 -93.2% Decrease
1 French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France 267.35 258.98 1717 -10.3% Decrease
1 Research Institute of Science, Science Technology and Environment Agency (RIS-STEA), Laos 0.17 0.65 51 245.9% Increase
1 Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BADW), Germany 5.99 7.49 82 15.6% Increase
1 National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), Thailand 0.00 1.46 4 0.0% Increase
1 UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), United Kingdom (UK) 26.99 23.45 323 -19.6% Decrease
1 National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan (NAN KR), Kyrgyzstan 0.33 0.44 2 23.4% Increase
1 Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), Turkey 0.00 0.50 2 0.0% Increase
1 National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), Italy 150.17 167.36 797 3.1% Increase
1 Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC), Venezuela 0.00 0.50 1 0.0% Increase
1 Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan, Tajikistan 0.00 0.09 1 0.0% Increase
1 Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China 572.87 641.21 2385 3.6% Increase
1 King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Saudi Arabia 0.34 1.26 4 246.5% Increase
1 Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC), Israel 1.26 1.83 15 34.5% Increase
1 National Research Centre (NRC), Egypt 0.12 0.10 1 -22.0% Decrease
1 Comisión Sectorial de Investigación Científica (CSIC), Uruguay 0.24 1.33 14 405.2% Increase
1 Jozef Stefan Institute (IJS), Slovenia 14.67 10.77 111 -32.0% Decrease
1 National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina 21.26 21.98 151 -4.3% Decrease
1 Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore 28.23 30.07 133 -1.4% Decrease
1 Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), Vietnam 2.17 2.46 61 4.9% Increase
1 Callaghan Innovation, New Zealand 0.65 0.52 12 -25.8% Decrease
1 Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), India 35.97 36.79 150 -5.4% Decrease
1 Academia Sinica, Taiwan 14.15 17.28 194 13.1% Increase
1 Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Indonesia 0.31 0.42 23 25.4% Increase
1 United Nations (UN), International 0.36 0.85 30 118.2% Increase
1 Forestry Development Authority (FDA) - Republic of Liberia, Liberia 0.00 0.01 1 0.0% Increase
1 Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS), Hungary 18.94 17.06 187 -16.6% Decrease
1 Institute for Basic Science (IBS), South Korea 41.36 57.38 215 28.4% Increase
1 National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina 21.26 21.98 151 -4.3% Decrease
1 French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France 267.35 258.98 1717 -10.3% Decrease
1 The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia 7.32 8.32 48 5.2% Increase
1 Academy of Sciences of Moldova (ASM), Moldova 0.53 0.50 7 -12.7% Decrease
1 Brazil Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communication (MCTIC), Brazil 14.19 13.10 124 -14.6% Decrease
1 Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB), Belgium 0.27 1.34 10 359.9% Increase
1 Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM), Iran 17.50 14.72 78 -22.1% Decrease
1 Ireland Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (DJEI), Ireland 1.61 0.57 4 -66.9% Decrease
1 Latvian Academy of Sciences (LAS), Latvia 0.00 0.01 4 0.0% Increase
1 Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS), Slovakia 4.78 4.15 87 -19.6% Decrease
1 Jacob A. Riis Museum - Museum of Southwest Jutland, Denmark 0.00 0.25 1 0.0% Increase
1 European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Switzerland 51.50 48.75 355 -12.4% Decrease
1 Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN HH), Romania 3.82 4.39 126 6.3% Increase
1 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), United States of America (USA) 89.07 96.10 536 -0.1% Decrease
1 The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU), Ukraine 7.11 6.74 129 -12.3% Decrease

Footnote

Each year, the Nature Index publishes tables based on counts of high-quality research outputs in the previous calendar year. Users please note:

  1. The data behind the tables are based on a relatively small proportion of total research papers, they cover the natural sciences and health sciences only and outputs are non-normalized (that is, they don’t reflect the size of the country or institution, or its overall research output).
  2. The Nature Index is one indicator of institutional research performance. The metrics of Count and Share used to order Nature Index listings are based on an institution’s or country’s publication output in 145 natural-science and health-science journals. The journals were selected on reputation by an independent panel of leading scientists in their fields. The list is reviewed periodically and journals may be removed or added. Articles from eLife were no longer included in the Nature Index from 2023 after the journal changed its publishing model.
  3. Nature Index recognizes that many other factors must be taken into account when considering research quality and institutional performance; Nature Index metrics alone should not be used to assess institutions or individuals.
  4. Nature Index data and methods are transparent and available under a creative commons licence at nature.com/nature-index/.
  5. Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

The Nature Index database undergoes regular updating, corrections, adjustment of institutional hierarchies, and removal of retracted papers and thus the live website can differ from the frozen research leaders.