Where the world's research happens

The research topics growing fastest, by output from 2018-21 to 2022-25, after the five above. Each links to who leads it.

6. 6 Education Systems and Policies Management of Technology and Innovation · Business, Management and Accounting +293% 11k works
7. 7 Sustainable Finance and Green Bonds Finance · Economics, Econometrics and Finance +287% 7.2k works
8. 8 Ethics and Social Impacts of AI Safety Research · Social Sciences +251% 28k works
9. 9 Brain Tumor Detection and Classification Neurology · Neuroscience +226% 26k works
10. 10 Medical Research and Islamic Perspectives Religious studies · Arts and Humanities +214% 4.6k works
11. 11 Poxvirus research and outbreaks Virology · Immunology and Microbiology +213% 12k works

Institutions climbing the ranking

1. 1 Peking UniversityChina · Beijing #32 → #11 up 21
2. 2 Zhejiang UniversityChina · Hangzhou #40 → #14 up 26
3. 3 Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityChina · Hong Kong #178 → #65 up 113
4. 4 Tsinghua UniversityChina · Beijing #26 → #10 up 16
5. 5 Sichuan UniversityChina · Chengdu #51 → #22 up 29

Rank on research quality over all time, then in 2022-now. A climb means the recent work is stronger than the record as a whole.

• What are the best research universities in the world?
• Which country leads the world in science?
• How much research is there on artificial intelligence?
• Who is researching a cure for cancer?
• Which countries lead climate change research?
• Which countries lead astronomy and astrophysics?

On research quality in 2022-now (excellence per paper, with output and breadth), United States, China and Germany rank highest overall. Every field has its own leaders: see a field's page for who leads it.

1. 1 United States #1 all time 1.02× excellence · 1.53× journals · 84% breadth 10.8% top 10% · 3.1M works
2. 2 China #2 all time 1.20× excellence · 1.03× journals · 76% breadth 13.3% top 10% · 4M works
3. 3 Germany #3 all time 1.22× excellence · 1.39× journals · 93% breadth 10.3% top 10% · 708k works
4. 4 United Kingdom #4 all time 1.20× excellence · 1.44× journals · 86% breadth 13.2% top 10% · 727k works
5. 5 France #5 all time 1.09× excellence · 1.25× journals · 88% breadth 8.4% top 10% · 553k works
6. 6 Switzerland #6 all time 1.42× excellence · 1.87× journals · 87% breadth 13.3% top 10% · 142k works
7. 7 Australia #8 all time 1.29× excellence · 1.19× journals · 88% breadth 15.0% top 10% · 343k works
8. 8 Canada #7 all time 1.10× excellence · 1.20× journals · 90% breadth 11.5% top 10% · 394k works
9. 9 Netherlands #9 all time 1.42× excellence · 1.45× journals · 87% breadth 14.6% top 10% · 191k works
10. 10 Spain #10 all time 1.08× excellence · 0.99× journals · 87% breadth 11.0% top 10% · 435k works

The track on each row is that row's top-10% rate. The tick is the average of all institutions, 10.0% (how it is set); teal is above it, red below. The ranking itself is the quality score, which compares the rate with what each place's own topics predict, adds its share of papers in the Nature Index journals, and counts output and breadth too.

Of the 25M research works published in 2022-now, 39% are in Physical Sciences, 25% in Social Sciences, 23% in Health Sciences and 13% in Life Sciences. The largest fields are Medicine (19%), Engineering (15%), Social Sciences (13%). Gaining share fastest since 2011-2015: Energy, Social Sciences and Business, Management and Accounting.

By the world's output in 2021-25: Epidemiology, Deep Learning, Machine Learning, Climate Change, Sustainability, Inflammation. Gaining share since 2011-15: Pandemic, COVID-19, Educational Technology, E-Learning, Social Media.

1. 1 Harvard University United States · Cambridge · #1 all time 16.7% top 10% · 66k works
2. 2 Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #3 all time 15.2% top 10% · 167k works
3. 3 Stanford University United States · Stanford · #2 all time 15.8% top 10% · 31k works
4. 4 University of Oxford United Kingdom · Oxford · #7 all time 15.8% top 10% · 29k works
5. 5 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France · Paris · #4 all time 7.9% top 10% · 152k works
6. 6 University of Cambridge United Kingdom · Cambridge · #12 all time 14.9% top 10% · 25k works
7. 7 Max Planck Society Germany · Munich · #5 all time 15.7% top 10% · 24k works
8. 8 Massachusetts Institute of Technology United States · Cambridge · #11 all time 16.9% top 10% · 15k works
9. 9 ETH Zurich Switzerland · Zurich · #6 all time 17.6% top 10% · 14k works
10. 10 Tsinghua University China · Beijing · #26 all time 16.6% top 10% · 48k works

The track on each row is that row's top-10% rate. The tick is the average of all institutions, 10.0% (how it is set); teal is above it, red below. The ranking itself is the quality score, which compares the rate with what each place's own topics predict, adds its share of papers in the Nature Index journals, and counts output and breadth too.

A map of science shows where research happens and how fields relate. Science Explorer draws every research institution on a world map, sized and coloured by output, excellence or specialisation in any chosen field, and links each place, field and researcher to a page of its own. It follows a tradition of science mapping that runs from citation maps to Katy Börner's Atlas of Science, built here on open data.

• Artificial intelligence
• Quantum computing algorithms and architecture
• Oncology
• Climate variability and models
• Neuroscience
• Materials science
• Crispr and genetic engineering
• Alzheimers disease research and treatments
• Economics econometrics and finance
• Psychology
• Physics and astronomy
• Mathematics
• Graphene research and applications
• Tuberculosis research and epidemiology
• Autism spectrum disorder research
• Dark matter and cosmic phenomena
• Advancements in battery materials
• Blockchain technology applications and security