2023 Research Leaders: Leading institutions in physical sciences

The 2023 Research Leaders are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022.

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Position Institution Share 2021 Share 2022 Count 2022 Change in Adjusted Share* 2021–2022
1 Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China 641.21 701.77 2583 16.7% Increase
2 Max Planck Society, Germany 336.46 313.66 1139 -0.6% Decrease
3 University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), China 226.20 271.83 819 28.2% Increase
4 Tsinghua University, China 210.70 257.92 830 30.5% Increase
5 French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France 258.98 226.36 1524 -6.8% Decrease
6 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), China 179.74 217.78 1142 29.2% Increase
7 Nanjing University (NJU), China 171.42 205.65 538 27.9% Increase
8 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany 225.81 196.60 946 -7.2% Decrease
9 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States of America (USA) 236.11 191.96 710 -13.3% Decrease
10 Peking University (PKU), China 185.79 191.78 829 10.1% Increase
11 Stanford University, United States of America (USA) 203.80 179.95 577 -5.8% Decrease
12 Harvard University, United States of America (USA) 206.25 174.89 625 -9.6% Decrease
13 The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Japan 202.01 156.88 515 -17.2% Decrease
14 Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), China 146.79 154.74 506 12.4% Increase
15 National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), Italy 167.36 153.72 735 -2.0% Decrease
16 Zhejiang University (ZJU), China 165.30 153.16 496 -1.2% Decrease
17 University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK) 155.08 141.59 438 -2.6% Decrease
18 Fudan University, China 129.12 134.46 454 11.1% Increase
19 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland 142.12 126.30 355 -5.2% Decrease
20 University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), United States of America (USA) 138.65 118.05 585 -9.2% Decrease
21 Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU), China 68.87 113.42 261 75.6% Increase
22 Soochow University, China 108.25 110.58 279 8.9% Increase
23 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), South Korea 108.71 106.56 206 4.5% Increase
24 Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China 97.86 104.38 282 13.8% Increase
25 National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore 127.50 103.91 325 -13.1% Decrease
26 Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), China 90.53 103.17 355 21.5% Increase
27 Tianjin University (TJU), China 80.85 102.40 243 35.1% Increase
28 Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), China 87.30 100.61 283 22.9% Increase
29 Jilin University (JLU), China 69.28 99.45 236 53.1% Increase
30 University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK) 125.76 99.21 461 -15.9% Decrease
31 Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore 118.87 98.20 307 -11.9% Decrease
32 Princeton University, United States of America (USA) 112.60 97.73 411 -7.4% Decrease
33 Shandong University (SDU), China 69.69 92.89 279 42.2% Increase
34 Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Russia 128.01 91.17 448 -24.0% Decrease
35 Nankai University (NKU), China 76.45 88.97 245 24.1% Increase
36 Wuhan University (WHU), China 68.88 88.90 266 37.6% Increase
37 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), United States of America (USA) 100.67 86.48 306 -8.4% Decrease
38 University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), United States of America (USA) 99.70 84.39 297 -9.7% Decrease
39 Sichuan University (SCU), China 81.47 84.39 200 10.5% Increase
40 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland 96.73 83.05 282 -8.4% Decrease
41 California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States of America (USA) 99.37 82.43 402 -11.5% Decrease
42 Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain 93.82 82.35 617 -6.4% Decrease
43 Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), China 73.62 81.02 197 17.4% Increase
44 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), United States of America (USA) 87.21 80.76 324 -1.2% Decrease
45 The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), United States of America (USA) 76.74 79.48 329 10.5% Increase
46 University of Michigan (U-M), United States of America (USA) 101.44 79.40 370 -16.5% Decrease
47 Northwestern University (NU), United States of America (USA) 105.94 78.61 237 -20.9% Decrease
48 Kyoto University, Japan 86.95 78.49 224 -3.7% Decrease
49 Imperial College London (ICL), United Kingdom (UK) 82.74 77.97 339 0.5% Increase
50 The University of Chicago (UChicago), United States of America (USA) 74.81 77.19 324 10.0% Increase
51 Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany 75.86 76.92 313 8.1% Increase
52 Hunan University (HNU), China 64.61 76.00 208 25.4% Increase
53 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), United States of America (USA) 92.09 74.92 287 -13.2% Decrease
54 Seoul National University (SNU), South Korea 89.98 73.95 251 -12.4% Decrease
55 Xiamen University (XMU), China 49.22 71.94 155 55.9% Increase
56 Cornell University, United States of America (USA) 100.38 71.43 238 -24.1% Decrease
57 Beihang University (BUAA), China 62.84 70.60 319 19.8% Increase
58 Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), China 51.74 70.27 157 44.8% Increase
59 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), United States of America (USA) 96.10 69.64 424 -22.7% Decrease
60 University of Pennsylvania (Penn), United States of America (USA) 67.35 68.77 170 8.9% Increase
61 South China University of Technology (SCUT), China 61.46 68.53 166 18.9% Increase
62 Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS), Israel 68.78 66.49 175 3.1% Increase
63 City University of Hong Kong (CityU), China 54.68 65.21 197 27.2% Increase
64 University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), United States of America (USA) 95.68 65.17 415 -27.4% Decrease
65 Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), South Korea 64.00 64.86 225 8.1% Increase
66 Leibniz Association, Germany 61.42 63.38 405 10.0% Increase
67 National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Japan 81.82 62.86 286 -18.1% Decrease
68 University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), United States of America (USA) 71.25 62.33 190 -6.7% Decrease
69 Columbia University in the City of New York (CU), United States of America (USA) 77.02 60.49 232 -16.2% Decrease
70 Central South University (CSU), China 35.05 59.59 143 81.3% Increase
71 Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), South Korea 68.42 59.10 153 -7.9% Decrease
72 Yale University, United States of America (USA) 51.57 59.00 304 22.0% Increase
73 Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), United States of America (USA) 57.10 58.30 305 8.9% Increase
74 Zhengzhou University (ZZU), China 39.76 58.30 241 56.4% Increase
75 Shenzhen University (SZU), China 53.37 57.77 173 15.4% Increase
76 European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Switzerland 48.75 57.13 319 25.0% Increase
77 University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB), China 41.87 56.35 119 43.5% Increase
78 RIKEN, Japan 68.96 55.40 259 -14.3% Decrease
79 University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), China 41.50 55.25 135 42.0% Increase
80 Rice University, United States of America (USA) 43.59 55.24 179 35.2% Increase
81 National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), United States of America (USA) 61.83 55.03 221 -5.1% Decrease
82 University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder), United States of America (USA) 58.71 54.38 303 -1.2% Decrease
83 Johns Hopkins University (JHU), United States of America (USA) 42.92 53.77 295 33.6% Increase
84 Tohoku University, Japan 56.32 53.29 280 0.9% Increase
85 Durham University, United Kingdom (UK) 55.48 53.27 175 2.4% Increase
86 Southeast University (SEU), China 47.69 52.93 192 18.4% Increase
87 The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), France 45.52 52.48 446 23.0% Increase
88 Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), Germany 50.67 52.44 253 10.4% Increase
89 The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), China 54.49 52.20 211 2.2% Increase
90 University of Minnesota (UMN), United States of America (USA) 49.59 52.07 292 12.0% Increase
91 Chongqing University (CQU), China 38.57 51.56 128 42.6% Increase
92 Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT), China 39.71 50.33 104 35.2% Increase
93 Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU), China 36.19 49.97 139 47.3% Increase
94 University of Toronto (U of T), Canada 64.32 49.88 173 -17.3% Decrease
95 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia 44.45 49.11 105 17.8% Increase
96 University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), United States of America (USA) 54.97 48.25 277 -6.4% Decrease
97 Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Spain 45.22 47.89 178 13.0% Increase
98 Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), United States of America (USA) 62.06 46.84 225 -19.5% Decrease
99 The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), China 47.81 46.75 199 4.3% Increase
100 University of Washington (UW), United States of America (USA) 52.79 46.48 310 -6.1% 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.


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