2019 Research Leaders: Leading institutions in chemistry

The 2019 Research Leaders are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018.

Table criteria

Position Institution Share 2017 Share 2018 Count 2018 Change in Adjusted Share* 2017–2018
1 Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China 785.38 891.72 2224 6.8% Increase
2 French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France 238.97 241.25 1134 -5.1% Decrease
3 Max Planck Society, Germany 209.08 229.03 564 3.0% Increase
4 Nanjing University (NJU), China 157.39 209.05 380 24.9% Increase
5 Peking University (PKU), China 170.42 191.09 576 5.4% Increase
6 University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), China 167.16 185.75 434 4.5% Increase
7 Tsinghua University, China 164.09 185.65 473 6.4% Increase
8 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States of America (USA) 152.72 165.23 351 1.7% Increase
9 Northwestern University (NU), United States of America (USA) 134.16 160.11 304 12.2% Increase
10 Stanford University, United States of America (USA) 162.37 158.89 343 -8.0% Decrease
11 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), China 134.02 148.38 823 4.1% Increase
12 Kyoto University, Japan 172.54 148.36 286 -19.1% Decrease
13 Nankai University (NKU), China 118.67 147.54 394 16.9% Increase
14 Zhejiang University (ZJU), China 116.64 146.87 298 18.4% Increase
15 Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore 134.11 142.25 279 -0.3% Decrease
16 The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Japan 159.89 141.49 302 -16.8% Decrease
17 Sichuan University (SCU), China 92.53 136.25 201 38.5% Increase
18 University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK) 131.03 132.81 266 -4.7% Decrease
19 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland 133.27 129.66 252 -8.5% Decrease
20 Fudan University, China 101.53 126.75 253 17.4% Increase
21 Soochow University, China 105.30 124.48 218 11.2% Increase
22 Harvard University, United States of America (USA) 126.82 121.68 290 -9.8% Decrease
23 National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore 105.44 119.66 267 6.7% Increase
24 University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK) 128.01 119.36 257 -12.3% Decrease
25 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany 130.69 116.77 444 -16.0% Decrease
26 University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), United States of America (USA) 148.46 116.64 311 -26.1% Decrease
27 Wuhan University (WHU), China 92.25 110.07 175 12.2% Increase
28 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), United States of America (USA) 87.05 107.25 202 15.9% Increase
29 Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), China 74.49 102.92 248 29.9% Increase
30 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland 91.85 102.90 195 5.4% Increase
31 Xiamen University (XMU), China 98.51 102.77 177 -1.9% Decrease
32 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), United States of America (USA) 111.88 101.37 177 -14.8% Decrease
33 University of Toronto (U of T), Canada 85.15 97.62 157 7.8% Increase
34 University of Michigan (U-M), United States of America (USA) 94.05 95.96 165 -4.1% Decrease
35 Hunan University (HNU), China 64.48 95.27 166 38.9% Increase
36 East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), China 75.04 92.88 150 16.4% Increase
37 University of Minnesota (UMN), United States of America (USA) 76.15 92.05 142 13.7% Increase
38 Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), Germany 69.80 91.32 176 23.0% Increase
39 Osaka University, Japan 114.11 91.20 166 -24.8% Decrease
40 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), United States of America (USA) 77.43 90.04 187 9.3% Increase
41 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), United States of America (USA) 82.80 89.27 347 1.4% Increase
42 Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), China 90.43 86.89 168 -9.6% Decrease
43 Jilin University (JLU), China 73.13 86.36 178 11.1% Increase
44 South China University of Technology (SCUT), China 77.46 81.74 150 -0.8% Decrease
45 University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), United States of America (USA) 70.00 80.17 154 7.7% Increase
46 Tianjin University (TJU), China 49.15 79.01 344 51.2% Increase
47 University of Pennsylvania (Penn), United States of America (USA) 65.68 77.88 144 11.5% Increase
48 California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States of America (USA) 86.73 77.30 140 -16.2% Decrease
49 University of Münster (WWU), Germany 73.07 76.30 119 -1.8% Decrease
50 Lanzhou University (LZU), China 71.56 75.61 143 -0.6% Decrease
51 The University of Manchester (UoM), United Kingdom (UK) 93.10 75.61 154 -23.6% Decrease
52 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), South Korea 66.35 74.34 149 5.4% Increase
53 Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), Japan 66.07 72.79 127 3.6% Increase
54 Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China 46.20 72.50 163 47.5% Increase
55 Leibniz Association, Germany 86.02 71.60 189 -21.7% Decrease
56 Princeton University, United States of America (USA) 62.26 70.54 114 6.5% Increase
57 University of Washington (UW), United States of America (USA) 69.51 69.87 121 -5.5% Decrease
58 Nagoya University, Japan 58.44 69.34 135 11.6% Increase
59 Yale University, United States of America (USA) 64.39 68.97 143 0.7% Increase
60 Seoul National University (SNU), South Korea 65.51 68.58 135 -1.6% Decrease
61 Cornell University, United States of America (USA) 70.29 68.10 161 -8.9% Decrease
62 East China Normal University (ECNU), China 61.22 67.81 113 4.2% Increase
63 The University of Chicago (UChicago), United States of America (USA) 55.41 66.90 170 13.5% Increase
64 University of California, Irvine (UCI), United States of America (USA) 61.09 66.38 115 2.2% Increase
65 Texas A&M University (TAMU), United States of America (USA) 78.81 66.34 103 -20.9% Decrease
66 Purdue University, United States of America (USA) 60.76 66.19 144 2.4% Increase
67 Imperial College London (ICL), United Kingdom (UK) 63.23 65.33 169 -2.8% Decrease
68 Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany 59.71 65.31 150 2.8% Increase
69 Shandong Normal University (SDNU), China 49.85 65.27 100 23.1% Increase
70 University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), United States of America (USA) 69.43 65.25 152 -11.6% Decrease
71 RWTH Aachen University (RWTH Aachen), Germany 57.69 65.10 144 6.1% Increase
72 Scripps Research, United States of America (USA) 80.27 64.88 104 -24.0% Decrease
73 University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), United States of America (USA) 93.72 64.27 117 -35.5% Decrease
74 Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), China 41.14 63.34 145 44.8% Increase
75 Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT), China 37.53 63.01 134 57.9% Increase
76 The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), United States of America (USA) 68.23 62.71 144 -13.6% Decrease
77 Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain 52.52 62.51 240 11.9% Increase
78 Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), United States of America (USA) 62.85 62.41 278 -6.6% Decrease
79 Hokkaido University, Japan 61.12 60.92 126 -6.3% Decrease
80 The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), United States of America (USA) 76.38 59.95 104 -26.2% Decrease
81 Tohoku University, Japan 52.26 59.39 134 6.9% Increase
82 Shandong University (SDU), China 45.95 58.60 123 19.9% Increase
83 University of Bristol (UoB), United Kingdom (UK) 65.51 58.26 96 -16.4% Decrease
84 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia 63.52 58.26 127 -13.8% Decrease
85 Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), China 48.24 57.94 135 13.0% Increase
86 Fuzhou University (FZU), China 36.98 56.83 91 44.5% Increase
87 Dalian University of Technology (DUT), China 44.57 56.66 105 19.6% Increase
88 Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Spain 52.77 55.58 124 -1.0% Decrease
89 Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Russia 67.20 54.75 148 -23.4% Decrease
90 Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), United States of America (USA) 56.05 54.74 135 -8.2% Decrease
91 Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India 72.08 53.95 105 -29.6% Decrease
92 Columbia University in the City of New York (CU), United States of America (USA) 69.41 53.21 125 -27.9% Decrease
93 National Institutes of Health (NIH), United States of America (USA) 32.28 52.07 113 51.7% Increase
94 University of California, Riverside (UCR), United States of America (USA) 45.64 50.05 94 3.1% Increase
95 RIKEN, Japan 45.53 48.55 162 0.3% Increase
96 The Ohio State University (OSU), United States of America (USA) 42.48 48.37 86 7.1% Increase
97 University of Göttingen, Germany 59.29 48.06 88 -23.8% Decrease
98 Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), South Korea 49.36 47.64 120 -9.2% Decrease
99 University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Germany 48.01 46.91 104 -8.1% Decrease
100 The University of Utah (Utah), United States of America (USA) 54.33 46.83 78 -19.0% 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.