2018 Research Leaders: Leading NPO/NGO institutions

The 2018 Research Leaders are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017.

Table criteria

Position Institution Share 2016 Share 2017 Count 2017 Change in Adjusted Share* 2016–2017
1 Max Planck Society, Germany 766.58 748.00 2331 -3.8% Decrease
2 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany 530.33 514.88 2097 -4.3% Decrease
3 Leibniz Association, Germany 208.56 186.77 767 -11.7% Decrease
4 Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Russia 172.05 176.80 820 1.3% Increase
5 Scripps Research, United States of America (USA) 153.80 148.17 322 -5.0% Decrease
6 Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Spain 119.22 107.99 384 -10.7% Decrease
7 The Francis Crick Institute, United Kingdom (UK) 44.79 62.19 150 36.9% Increase
8 Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI), Canada 33.70 50.72 128 48.3% Increase
9 Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS), United States of America (USA) 42.42 46.97 247 9.2% Increase
10 National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), United States of America (USA) 49.01 46.80 139 -5.9% Decrease
11 Pasteur Institute, France 38.83 37.96 213 -3.6% Decrease
12 Salk Institute for Biological Studies (Salk), United States of America (USA) 48.40 37.87 116 -22.9% Decrease
13 HHMI Janelia Research Campus, United States of America (USA) 45.67 36.95 84 -20.3% Decrease
14 Wellcome Sanger Institute, United Kingdom (UK) 25.89 32.31 167 23.0% Increase
15 Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), India 28.99 31.81 67 8.2% Increase
16 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), United States of America (USA) 35.85 31.08 133 -14.5% Decrease
17 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), United States of America (USA) 37.75 29.90 109 -21.9% Decrease
18 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), United States of America (USA) 18.61 24.49 65 29.7% Increase
19 Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP), United States of America (USA) 22.92 24.15 94 3.9% Increase
20 Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), Belgium 36.02 22.91 125 -37.3% Decrease
21 Vienna Biocenter (VBC), Austria 28.96 21.98 80 -25.2% Decrease
22 Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Spain 25.09 19.80 282 -22.2% Decrease
23 John Innes Centre (JIC), United Kingdom (UK) 22.44 19.07 55 -16.2% Decrease
24 Cluster of Excellence - Munich Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich (CiPS-M), LMU, Germany 14.12 18.61 92 29.9% Increase
25 Stowers Institute for Medical Research, United States of America (USA) 10.77 18.45 36 69.0% Increase
26 Ames Laboratory, United States of America (USA) 16.50 17.70 57 5.8% Increase
27 Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), United States of America (USA) 19.13 16.17 97 -16.7% Decrease
28 Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Netherlands 20.80 16.13 110 -23.6% Decrease
29 CIC nanoGUNE Consolider, Spain 11.92 15.63 41 29.2% Increase
30 Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI), Australia 14.09 15.10 82 5.6% Increase
31 Rudjer Boskovic Institute (RBI), Croatia 8.89 14.74 130 63.5% Increase
32 Curie Institute, France 13.34 13.97 114 3.2% Increase
33 Fraunhofer Society, Germany 21.96 13.97 95 -37.3% Decrease
34 California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3), United States of America (USA) 14.02 13.88 94 -2.4% Decrease
35 Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC), Belgium 19.33 11.99 47 -38.8% Decrease
36 Cancer Research UK (CRUK), United Kingdom (UK) 9.98 11.23 114 10.9% Increase
37 The Wistar Institute, United States of America (USA) 12.34 10.67 30 -14.7% Decrease
38 Institut Laue Langevin (ILL), France 14.12 10.36 79 -27.7% Decrease
39 Ludwig Cancer Research, United States of America (USA) 9.10 10.28 110 11.4% Increase
40 Cluster of Excellence - Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden (CFAED), TU Dresden, Germany 10.62 10.09 50 -6.4% Decrease
41 Institute of Microbial Chemistry (IMC), Japan 3.33 10.05 11 197.5% Increase
42 International Solvay Institutes, Belgium 10.25 10.00 41 -3.9% Decrease
43 La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), United States of America (USA) 13.32 9.88 45 -26.9% Decrease
44 Babraham Institute, United Kingdom (UK) 10.87 9.27 38 -16.0% Decrease
45 Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF), United States of America (USA) 4.58 8.94 21 92.7% Increase
46 Elettra - Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A., Italy 9.31 8.92 47 -5.5% Decrease
47 National Interuniversity Consortium of Materials Science and Technology (INSTM), Italy 5.87 8.89 45 49.3% Increase
48 Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research (HPSTAR), China 7.38 8.85 40 18.3% Increase
49 Gladstone Institutes, United States of America (USA) 13.52 8.50 40 -38.1% Decrease
50 Van Andel Research Institute (VAI), United States of America (USA) 5.53 8.42 34 50.1% Increase
51 QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Australia 6.91 7.90 63 12.7% Increase
52 Allen Institute, United States of America (USA) 5.37 7.65 24 40.5% Increase
53 Champalimaud Foundation, Portugal 7.22 7.50 22 2.4% Increase
54 Italian Foundation for Cancer Research (FIRC), Italy 6.18 7.46 41 19.0% Increase
55 American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), United States of America (USA) 6.94 7.44 40 5.7% Increase
56 High Pressure Collaborative Access Team (HPCAT), United States of America (USA) 5.13 7.32 28 40.5% Increase
57 Cluster of Excellence - Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD), UoC, Germany 7.27 7.26 47 -1.5% Decrease
58 Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), United States of America (USA) 2.76 7.01 19 150.1% Increase
59 Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Australia 5.33 7.00 41 29.5% Increase
60 National Institute of Chemistry, Slovenia, Slovenia 4.23 6.96 13 62.1% Increase
61 Gulbenkian Science Institute (IGC), Portugal 8.95 6.88 21 -24.2% Decrease
62 Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), UChicago, United States of America (USA) 4.45 6.77 37 49.8% Increase
63 Santa Fe Institute (SFI), United States of America (USA) 4.34 6.67 42 51.4% Increase
64 Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), Luxembourg 4.38 6.63 22 49.2% Increase
65 Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE), Spain 6.26 6.61 23 4.0% Increase
66 Cluster of Excellence - Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN), Uni Tübingen, Germany 8.18 6.52 16 -21.4% Decrease
67 Planetary Science Institute (PSI), United States of America (USA) 4.29 6.40 40 47.0% Increase
68 Buck Institute for Research on Aging, United States of America (USA) 6.77 6.37 20 -7.3% Decrease
69 Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), Canada 7.84 6.27 71 -21.2% Decrease
70 The Jackson Laboratory (JAX), United States of America (USA) 13.10 6.23 42 -53.1% Decrease
71 Clinical Research Institute of Montreal (IRCM), Canada 5.26 6.17 19 15.5% Increase
72 Cluster of Excellence - Hamburg Center for Ultrafast Imaging (CUI), UHH, Germany 4.20 5.90 36 38.7% Increase
73 Institute of Molecular Biology gGmbH (IMB), Germany 3.37 5.85 17 71.3% Increase
74 National Health Research Institutes (NHRI), Taiwan 4.41 5.78 30 29.1% Increase
75 Universities Space Research Association (USRA), United States of America (USA) 5.85 5.75 90 -3.1% Decrease
76 Centre for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials (CIC biomaGUNE), Spain 7.17 5.62 29 -22.7% Decrease
77 New York Genome Center (NYGC), United States of America (USA) 2.05 5.50 42 164.3% Increase
78 Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Netherlands 5.53 5.23 35 -6.7% Decrease
79 Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, Germany 3.20 5.21 19 60.4% Increase
80 National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics (NICPB), Estonia 4.53 5.12 84 11.5% Increase
81 Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM), Portugal 4.12 5.02 26 20.1% Increase
82 National Graduate School of Engineering and Research Center (ENSICAEN), France 3.23 4.96 44 51.6% Increase
83 TUM Cluster of Excellence - Origin and Structure of the Universe (Excellence Cluster Universe), Germany 4.29 4.78 49 9.9% Increase
84 J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), United States of America (USA) 4.11 4.74 24 13.8% Increase
85 Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research (JFCR), Japan 2.90 4.63 13 57.2% Increase
86 Raman Research Institute (RRI), India 2.44 4.54 8 83.8% Increase
87 SRI International, United States of America (USA) 4.18 4.38 27 3.3% Increase
88 Cluster of Excellence - Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM), LMU, Germany 4.73 4.38 31 -8.8% Decrease
89 Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Norway 3.78 4.35 28 13.2% Increase
90 Ligue Contre Le Cancer, France 1.57 4.33 31 171.5% Increase
91 Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), United States of America (USA) 6.04 4.31 26 -29.7% Decrease
92 International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Italy 2.43 4.24 23 71.6% Increase
93 Wetsus Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology, Netherlands 4.78 4.23 12 -12.7% Decrease
94 Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, United States of America (USA) 0.39 4.23 20 975.1% Increase
95 Center for Scientific Studies (CECs), Chile 6.57 4.16 8 -37.6% Decrease
96 Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Taiwan 1.00 4.01 12 295.6% Increase
97 Telethon Foundation, Italy 3.33 3.99 20 18.2% Increase
98 European Magnetic Field Laboratory (EMFL), Germany 4.63 3.92 32 -16.6% Decrease
99 Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar, India 4.41 3.91 79 -12.6% Decrease
100 National Center for Theoretical Sciences (NCTS), MOST, Taiwan 4.20 3.83 28 -9.9% 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.