2021 Research Leaders: Leading institutions in chemistry

The 2021 Research Leaders are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020.

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Position Institution Share 2019 Share 2020 Count 2020 Change in Adjusted Share* 2019–2020
1 Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China 959.80 951.16 2559 -1.2% Decrease
2 University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), China 260.35 246.15 558 -5.7% Decrease
3 Max Planck Society, Germany 223.01 239.71 617 7.2% Increase
4 French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France 233.30 219.91 1116 -6.0% Decrease
5 Nanjing University (NJU), China 229.72 215.28 409 -6.6% Decrease
6 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), China 201.92 195.48 1066 -3.5% Decrease
7 Peking University (PKU), China 194.98 180.12 619 -7.9% Decrease
8 Tsinghua University, China 198.25 173.72 453 -12.6% Decrease
9 Zhejiang University (ZJU), China 170.88 169.16 354 -1.3% Decrease
10 The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Japan 148.05 162.21 343 9.3% Increase
11 Nankai University (NKU), China 183.59 155.63 357 -15.5% Decrease
12 Sichuan University (SCU), China 172.75 153.90 222 -11.2% Decrease
13 Northwestern University (NU), United States of America (USA) 152.75 145.51 275 -5.0% Decrease
14 Stanford University, United States of America (USA) 156.84 144.67 336 -8.0% Decrease
15 Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), China 121.82 142.94 312 17.0% Increase
16 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States of America (USA) 146.00 142.30 308 -2.8% Decrease
17 Soochow University, China 159.53 138.99 260 -13.1% Decrease
18 Jilin University (JLU), China 123.73 138.78 289 11.8% Increase
19 Fudan University, China 132.05 138.33 297 4.5% Increase
20 National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore 118.69 137.52 346 15.5% Increase
21 Kyoto University, Japan 135.81 134.75 277 -1.1% Decrease
22 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany 125.77 130.92 524 3.8% Increase
23 University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), United States of America (USA) 126.28 128.52 333 1.5% Increase
24 Xiamen University (XMU), China 143.42 128.09 243 -11.0% Decrease
25 University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK) 116.02 125.07 287 7.5% Increase
26 Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), China 79.10 124.42 279 56.8% Increase
27 University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK) 129.69 120.87 261 -7.1% Decrease
28 Wuhan University (WHU), China 128.79 120.79 207 -6.5% Decrease
29 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland 134.50 120.63 269 -10.6% Decrease
30 Tianjin University (TJU), China 101.37 117.80 362 15.9% Increase
31 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland 138.33 115.26 211 -16.9% Decrease
32 Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), China 133.08 114.03 232 -14.6% Decrease
33 Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore 130.57 112.91 251 -13.8% Decrease
34 Osaka University, Japan 101.31 107.51 204 5.8% Increase
35 Harvard University, United States of America (USA) 105.01 104.17 261 -1.1% Decrease
36 University of Toronto (U of T), Canada 91.29 103.88 176 13.5% Increase
37 Hunan University (HNU), China 109.79 101.74 188 -7.6% Decrease
38 Seoul National University (SNU), South Korea 67.57 97.40 187 43.7% Increase
39 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), United States of America (USA) 91.57 96.88 214 5.5% Increase
40 East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), China 100.16 96.76 159 -3.7% Decrease
41 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), United States of America (USA) 86.43 96.24 203 11.0% Increase
42 University of Michigan (U-M), United States of America (USA) 94.46 92.48 174 -2.4% Decrease
43 Cornell University, United States of America (USA) 88.05 90.95 202 3.0% Increase
44 Texas A&M University (TAMU), United States of America (USA) 59.61 89.67 152 50.0% Increase
45 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), South Korea 66.81 86.70 160 29.4% Increase
46 Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Russia 58.04 86.06 219 47.9% Increase
47 East China Normal University (ECNU), China 81.09 85.72 183 5.4% Increase
48 Leibniz Association, Germany 88.20 84.49 271 -4.5% Decrease
49 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), United States of America (USA) 97.89 83.70 161 -14.7% Decrease
50 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), United States of America (USA) 69.19 83.60 347 20.5% Increase
51 Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), China 93.33 81.78 155 -12.6% Decrease
52 Zhengzhou University (ZZU), China 61.11 79.23 273 29.3% Increase
53 The University of Manchester (UoM), United Kingdom (UK) 76.57 78.97 186 2.8% Increase
54 University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), United States of America (USA) 81.35 78.38 132 -3.9% Decrease
55 Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), Japan 92.00 77.70 153 -15.8% Decrease
56 South China University of Technology (SCUT), China 86.26 76.06 194 -12.1% Decrease
57 The University of Chicago (UChicago), United States of America (USA) 65.82 75.92 151 15.0% Increase
58 Purdue University, United States of America (USA) 54.87 75.79 142 37.7% Increase
59 University of Münster (WWU), Germany 64.02 74.95 114 16.7% Increase
60 University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), United States of America (USA) 84.73 74.16 145 -12.7% Decrease
61 Imperial College London (ICL), United Kingdom (UK) 64.71 73.48 218 13.2% Increase
62 University of Pennsylvania (Penn), United States of America (USA) 69.49 71.39 150 2.4% Increase
63 Shandong University (SDU), China 73.56 71.07 176 -3.7% Decrease
64 Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China 89.73 70.91 184 -21.2% Decrease
65 University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), United States of America (USA) 59.73 70.55 150 17.8% Increase
66 Lanzhou University (LZU), China 77.32 70.25 150 -9.4% Decrease
67 Nagoya University, Japan 56.19 67.20 129 19.3% Increase
68 The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), United States of America (USA) 58.50 66.20 142 12.8% Increase
69 Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain 59.16 65.72 300 10.8% Increase
70 Princeton University, United States of America (USA) 62.16 65.65 101 5.3% Increase
71 University of Minnesota (UMN), United States of America (USA) 81.10 65.03 122 -20.0% Decrease
72 Scripps Research, United States of America (USA) 53.91 64.79 106 19.9% Increase
73 California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States of America (USA) 78.34 64.39 128 -18.0% Decrease
74 Shandong Normal University (SDNU), China 61.88 63.96 100 3.1% Increase
75 Columbia University in the City of New York (CU), United States of America (USA) 62.88 63.58 138 0.8% Increase
76 Tohoku University, Japan 56.56 62.35 141 9.9% Increase
77 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia 54.26 61.33 138 12.7% Increase
78 Hokkaido University, Japan 66.19 60.54 132 -8.8% Decrease
79 Kyushu University, Japan 58.03 60.49 129 3.9% Increase
80 The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), United States of America (USA) 56.53 60.28 100 6.3% Increase
81 Yale University, United States of America (USA) 62.25 59.62 115 -4.5% Decrease
82 University of Würzburg (JMU), Germany 56.06 59.52 104 5.9% Increase
83 Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT), China 67.22 59.41 139 -11.9% Decrease
84 Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany 65.46 59.06 151 -10.0% Decrease
85 Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), Germany 73.23 58.95 136 -19.7% Decrease
86 University of Washington (UW), United States of America (USA) 58.72 58.78 121 -0.2% Decrease
87 RWTH Aachen University (RWTH Aachen), Germany 69.40 58.59 135 -15.8% Decrease
88 City University of Hong Kong (CityU), China 35.49 57.93 176 62.8% Increase
89 RIKEN, Japan 37.63 57.71 201 52.9% Increase
90 Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU), China 62.59 57.51 136 -8.4% Decrease
91 University of Göttingen, Germany 53.82 56.93 113 5.5% Increase
92 The Ohio State University (OSU), United States of America (USA) 55.64 56.31 93 0.9% Increase
93 Southwest University (SWU), China 63.38 55.60 69 -12.5% Decrease
94 Dalian University of Technology (DUT), China 73.48 55.45 130 -24.8% Decrease
95 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), United States of America (USA) 56.59 53.90 131 -5.0% Decrease
96 Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), United States of America (USA) 55.69 53.78 276 -3.7% Decrease
97 Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), China 61.22 53.61 129 -12.7% Decrease
98 Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), South Korea 49.48 53.24 114 7.3% Increase
99 Shaanxi Normal University (SNNU), China 44.62 53.06 89 18.6% Increase
100 Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), China 40.33 52.37 123 29.5% Increase

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.


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