2021 Research Leaders: Leading NPO/NGO institutions

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

Table criteria

Position Institution Share 2019 Share 2020 Count 2020 Change in Adjusted Share* 2019–2020
1 Max Planck Society, Germany 767.61 793.84 2680 -0.3% Decrease
2 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany 489.94 582.64 2521 14.7% Increase
3 Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Russia 197.30 236.21 935 15.4% Increase
4 Leibniz Association, Germany 201.01 199.30 993 -4.4% Decrease
5 Scripps Research, United States of America (USA) 119.60 119.37 268 -3.8% Decrease
6 Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Spain 104.17 100.43 384 -7.1% Decrease
7 The Francis Crick Institute, United Kingdom (UK) 51.50 58.84 179 10.2% Increase
8 Pasteur Institute, France 33.65 47.38 274 35.7% Increase
9 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), United States of America (USA) 42.68 46.46 224 4.9% Increase
10 National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), United States of America (USA) 42.95 46.41 175 4.2% Increase
11 Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), India 40.64 45.43 88 7.8% Increase
12 Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI), Canada 41.72 44.44 125 2.7% Increase
13 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), United States of America (USA) 39.77 37.59 151 -8.9% Decrease
14 HHMI Janelia Research Campus, United States of America (USA) 46.31 34.10 92 -29.0% Decrease
15 Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS), United States of America (USA) 37.07 29.26 183 -23.9% Decrease
16 Salk Institute for Biological Studies (Salk), United States of America (USA) 43.09 28.79 111 -35.6% Decrease
17 Wellcome Sanger Institute, United Kingdom (UK) 36.66 28.20 207 -25.8% Decrease
18 Simons Foundation, United States of America (USA) 18.97 26.92 156 36.8% Increase
19 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), United States of America (USA) 20.74 26.34 82 22.4% Increase
20 Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), Belgium 24.12 25.87 159 3.4% Increase
21 Vienna Biocenter (VBC), Austria 19.04 23.62 88 19.6% Increase
22 The Jackson Laboratory (JAX), United States of America (USA) 15.20 21.60 81 37.0% Increase
23 Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Spain 20.56 20.62 331 -3.3% Decrease
24 John Innes Centre (JIC), United Kingdom (UK) 18.77 20.22 58 3.8% Increase
25 Fraunhofer Society, Germany 22.73 18.75 142 -20.5% Decrease
26 Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP), United States of America (USA) 19.56 18.12 74 -10.7% Decrease
27 Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research (HPSTAR), China 11.98 17.51 55 40.9% Increase
28 Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Netherlands 17.79 17.04 125 -7.6% Decrease
29 Stowers Institute for Medical Research, United States of America (USA) 14.83 16.54 31 7.5% Increase
30 Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), United States of America (USA) 12.20 15.80 90 24.9% Increase
31 Rudjer Boskovic Institute (RBI), Croatia 12.01 15.04 123 20.7% Increase
32 Chan Zuckerberg Biohub (CZ Biohub), United States of America (USA) 8.59 14.68 159 64.7% Increase
33 Ames Laboratory, United States of America (USA) 12.81 14.51 41 9.2% Increase
34 Curie Institute, France 19.32 14.09 136 -29.7% Decrease
35 Oncode Institute, Netherlands 14.82 13.43 98 -12.6% Decrease
36 Van Andel Research Institute (VAI), United States of America (USA) 11.13 12.51 48 8.4% Increase
37 QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Australia 9.87 12.29 86 20.0% Increase
38 Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI), Australia 8.52 12.29 80 39.0% Increase
39 Allen Institute, United States of America (USA) 10.40 12.18 30 12.9% Increase
40 Institut Laue Langevin (ILL), France 12.69 11.30 75 -14.2% Decrease
41 La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), United States of America (USA) 13.35 11.27 50 -18.6% Decrease
42 Champalimaud Foundation, Portugal 10.89 11.21 25 -0.8% Decrease
43 Cancer Research UK (CRUK), United Kingdom (UK) 9.69 10.89 116 8.4% Increase
44 Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC), Belgium 7.03 10.66 39 46.3% Increase
45 California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3), United States of America (USA) 11.92 10.48 76 -15.3% Decrease
46 Gladstone Institutes, United States of America (USA) 11.94 10.29 65 -16.9% Decrease
47 Italian Foundation for Cancer Research (FIRC), Italy 4.99 10.21 33 97.2% Increase
48 The Wistar Institute, United States of America (USA) 12.00 10.20 47 -18.1% Decrease
49 Universities Space Research Association (USRA), United States of America (USA) 5.11 10.16 115 91.8% Increase
50 Gulbenkian Science Institute (IGC), Portugal 6.88 10.13 31 42.0% Increase
51 Cluster of Excellence - Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden (CFAED), TU Dresden, Germany 9.71 10.03 50 -0.4% Decrease
52 Institute for Systems Biology (ISB), United States of America (USA) 3.57 9.20 82 148.5% Increase
53 Elettra - Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A., Italy 7.71 9.09 44 13.6% Increase
54 CIC nanoGUNE Consolider, Spain 8.87 8.74 34 -5.0% Decrease
55 Cluster of Excellence - Munich Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich (CiPS-M), LMU, Germany 14.13 8.56 48 -41.6% Decrease
56 Cluster of Excellence - Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD), UoC, Germany 6.36 8.44 57 27.9% Increase
57 Babraham Institute, United Kingdom (UK) 9.82 8.35 32 -18.0% Decrease
58 International Solvay Institutes, Belgium 9.04 7.81 37 -16.7% Decrease
59 National Interuniversity Consortium of Materials Science and Technology (INSTM), Italy 5.40 7.73 51 38.2% Increase
60 Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Australia 7.44 7.72 58 0.0% Increase
61 Ludwig Cancer Research, United States of America (USA) 12.79 7.48 115 -43.6% Decrease
62 International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria 7.54 6.95 46 -11.1% Decrease
63 Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), UChicago, United States of America (USA) 6.94 6.91 31 -4.1% Decrease
64 Santa Fe Institute (SFI), United States of America (USA) 4.53 6.87 54 46.2% Increase
65 Institute of Microbial Chemistry (IMC), Japan 9.88 6.71 10 -34.5% Decrease
66 Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Netherlands 10.44 6.59 40 -39.1% Decrease
67 Institute of Molecular Biology gGmbH (IMB), Germany 8.34 6.50 14 -24.9% Decrease
68 Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, United States of America (USA) 4.59 6.37 23 33.6% Increase
69 Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, Germany 4.38 6.26 77 37.9% Increase
70 World Health Organization (WHO), Switzerland 4.76 6.26 62 26.9% Increase
71 International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), Portugal 3.89 6.12 30 51.8% Increase
72 Buck Institute for Research on Aging, United States of America (USA) 3.22 6.08 25 82.1% Increase
73 Telethon Foundation, Italy 6.22 6.03 27 -6.5% Decrease
74 Canadian Light Source Inc., Canada 3.65 5.82 40 53.9% Increase
75 Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), United States of America (USA) 4.80 5.77 32 15.8% Increase
76 Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE), Spain 5.96 5.76 30 -6.8% Decrease
77 Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (inStem), India 3.61 5.72 20 52.7% Increase
78 Center for Scientific Studies (CECs), Chile 5.36 5.65 12 1.7% Increase
79 Ligue Contre Le Cancer, France 2.90 5.65 42 87.9% Increase
80 VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., Finland 6.14 5.55 91 -12.9% Decrease
81 Centre for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials (CIC biomaGUNE), Spain 4.45 5.34 37 15.7% Increase
82 Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF), United States of America (USA) 4.25 5.24 23 18.7% Increase
83 American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), United States of America (USA) 6.58 5.08 43 -25.5% Decrease
84 The Aerospace Corporation, United States of America (USA) 2.74 5.03 21 77.0% Increase
85 European X-ray Free-Electron Laser Facility GmbH (XFEL), Germany 2.77 4.90 38 70.8% Increase
86 Cluster of Excellence - Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN), Uni Tübingen, Germany 3.92 4.75 18 16.6% Increase
87 Chang Gung Medical Foundation, Taiwan 2.21 4.73 27 106.5% Increase
88 European Magnetic Field Laboratory (EMFL), Germany 3.40 4.60 42 30.5% Increase
89 Raman Research Institute (RRI), India 0.77 4.60 10 475.2% Increase
90 Center of Advanced European Studies and Research (CAESAR), Germany 3.64 4.50 24 19.1% Increase
91 Clinical Research Institute of Montreal (IRCM), Canada 7.05 4.36 17 -40.4% Decrease
92 Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), Canada 4.49 4.34 53 -6.8% Decrease
93 National Health Research Institutes (NHRI), Taiwan 3.55 4.23 14 14.9% Increase
94 Bruno Kessler Foundation (FBK), Italy 2.64 4.20 75 53.5% Increase
95 UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific Research, India 2.96 4.13 11 34.7% Increase
96 Kawasaki Institute of Industry Promotion, Japan 1.87 4.11 9 112.0% Increase
97 Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar, India 2.19 4.11 64 80.8% Increase
98 Wetsus Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology, Netherlands 3.38 4.02 11 14.7% Increase
99 Spintronics Research Network of Japan (Spin-RnJ), Japan 3.50 3.98 62 9.6% Increase
100 Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), Luxembourg 5.42 3.90 12 -30.6% 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.