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City · Belgium

Research in Leuven

Science Explorer records 48 research institutions in Leuven, Belgium. The highest-ranked on research quality in 2022–2025 are KU Leuven, IMEC and VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research.

Research institutions
48
8 of them ranked worldwide
Research works
169k
▲ 3% vs 2013–17
Top-10% rate, 2022–2025
22.0%
record average 16.5%

A city carries no overall standing here. The composite score is built for institutions and countries, the units its floors and field normalisation were designed around. An empty rank on this page is a statement about the measure, not about the place.

Which research institutions are in Leuven?

#InstitutionWorksAgainst the largest hereWorld rank
1KU LeuvenUniversity 143,572 #108
2IMECNonprofit 11,804 #1,834
3Universitair Ziekenhuis LeuvenHospital / health system 5,263 #4,701
4Rega Institute for Medical ResearchResearch facility 3,587 #3,077
5VIB-KU Leuven Center for MicrobiologyResearch facility 1,110 #4,099
6VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease ResearchResearch facility 866 #2,968
7VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer BiologyResearch facility 778 #3,265
8Evangelical Theological FacultyUniversity 416 #18,023
9Leuven Institute for Fertility and EmbryologyInstitution 284 #17,018 all time
10University Colleges Leuven-LimburgUniversity 200 #22,098 all time
11D2S International (Belgium)Company 155 #31,513 all time
12Anheuser-Busch InBev (Belgium)Company 150 #39,638 all time
13NXP (Belgium)Company 150 #23,036 all time
14Neuroelectronics Research FlandersResearch facility 136 #21,694 all time
15ASM International (Belgium)Company 127 #28,036 all time
16Materialise (Belgium)Company 119 not ranked
17The European Academy of Gynaecological SurgeryNonprofit 111 not ranked
18Septentrio (Belgium)Company 72 not ranked
19Icometrix (Belgium)Company 59 not ranked
20Terumo (Belgium)Company 57 not ranked
21Elsyca (Belgium)Company 45 not ranked
22Noesis Solutions (Belgium)Company 43 not ranked
23Transport & Mobility Leuven (Belgium)Company 42 not ranked
24Xenics (Belgium)Company 39 not ranked
25IPCOS (Belgium)Company 37 not ranked
26Magwel (Belgium)Company 27 not ranked
273D Systems (Belgium)Company 25 not ranked
28European Pathway AssociationNonprofit 25 not ranked
29Synopsys (Belgium)Company 24 not ranked
30St John Berchmans University CollegeUniversity 24 not ranked
31AlmaInstitution 23 not ranked
32DH Consultancy BVBA (Belgium)Company 22 not ranked
33Geographic Information Management (Belgium)Company 19 not ranked
34ATLAS Neuroengineering (Belgium)Company 18 not ranked
35Oxurion (Belgium)Company 15 not ranked
36GC Europe (Belgium)Company 8 not ranked
37TE Connectivity (Belgium)Company 7 not ranked
38VredeseilandenNonprofit 5 not ranked
39GlobalSign (Belgium)Company 5 not ranked
40EuropaceNonprofit 4 not ranked
41Belgian Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and NutritionInstitution 3 not ranked
42Mobiel 21Nonprofit 3 not ranked
43League of European Research UniversitiesInstitution 3 not ranked
44Life Sciences Research PartnersNonprofit 2 not ranked
45European Society for Diseases of the EsophagusInstitution 2 not ranked
46Alamire FoundationInstitution 2 not ranked
47Leuven Security Excellence ConsortiumInstitution 1 not ranked
48Gibson Innovations (Belgium)Company 1 not ranked

By fractional works over the whole record; world rank on research quality in 2022–2025. Bars are scaled to the largest institution in this city, not to anything off the page.

How concentrated the city is

The same institutions as shares of everything the list accounts for. A city that is one university and a city that is twelve read alike as a table and not at all alike here.

KU Leuven: 84.7%IMEC: 7.0%Universitair Ziekenhuis Leuven: 3.1%Rega Institute for Medical Research: 2.1%44 others listed: 3.1%85%largest
KU Leuven144k · 84.7%IMEC12k · 7.0%Universitair Ziekenhuis Leuven5,263 · 3.1%Rega Institute for Medical Research3,587 · 2.1%44 others listed5,264 · 3.1%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

What is Leuven strongest at in research?

Relative to its size, research in Leuven is most concentrated in Hardware and Architecture, Surfaces, Coatings and Films and Classics (3.8× the world share in Hardware and Architecture).

  1. Hardware and ArchitectureSubfield · 94.7 works3.8×
  2. Surfaces, Coatings and FilmsSubfield · 72.5 works3.3×
  3. ClassicsSubfield · 41.6 works3.1×
  4. TransplantationSubfield · 29.4 works3.0×
  5. Public AdministrationSubfield · 31.4 works2.6×
← less than its size predictsmore →

Location quotient against the world baseline. Inside a single field a city is a meaningful unit, which is why this is where a city is measured at all.

Which keywords describe research in Leuven?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Epidemiology, Deep Learning, Nanoelectronics, Semiconductor Devices, Atomic Layer Deposition, High-k Dielectrics, Machine Learning and Inflammation.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this city's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Epidemiology907◆ 1.03×130 topics
  2. Deep Learning681◆ 0.90×77 topics
  3. Machine Learning591▼ 0.81×88 topics
  4. Inflammation481◆ 1.04×83 topics
  5. Globalization411◆ 0.94×139 topics
  6. Climate Change369▼ 0.62×104 topics
  7. Quality of Life356◆ 1.11×57 topics
  8. Neural Networks353◆ 1.03×38 topics
  9. Sustainability345▼ 0.64×102 topics
  10. Oxidative Stress274▼ 0.76×60 topics
  11. Treatment263◆ 0.98×51 topics
  12. Genetics230▲ 1.48×26 topics
  13. Energy Efficiency218◆ 1.05×39 topics
  14. Diagnosis215◆ 1.04×39 topics
  15. Religion211▲ 2.0×42 topics
  16. Ethics191▲ 1.78×56 topics
  17. Nanoelectronics185▲ 9.5×2 topics
  18. Integrated Circuits184▲ 5.3×3 topics
  19. Biosensors182▲ 1.59×12 topics
  20. Neurological Disorders178▲ 1.41×20 topics
  21. Semiconductor Devices164▲ 10×2 topics
  22. Atomic Layer Deposition163▲ 11×1 topic
  23. High-k Dielectrics163▲ 11×1 topic
  24. Emotion Regulation148▲ 2.1×9 topics
  25. Thin Films134▲ 3.1×10 topics
  26. Neuromorphic Computing124▲ 4.8×2 topics
  27. Process Variation118▲ 9.1×2 topics
  28. Failure Analysis98▲ 4.5×6 topics
  29. Fault Localization96▲ 6.4×2 topics
  30. Nanowire Transistors94▲ 11×1 topic
  31. Tunnel Field-Effect Transistors94▲ 11×1 topic
  32. Nanofabrication89▲ 6.5×3 topics
  33. Cryptanalysis89▲ 4.8×4 topics
  34. High-Resolution Patterning88▲ 19×2 topics
  35. Laser Voltage Probing88▲ 13×1 topic
  36. Photon Emission Microscopy88▲ 13×1 topic
  37. Side-Channel Attacks81▲ 7.8×3 topics
  38. Electron Beam Lithography73▲ 34×1 topic
  39. Resolution Limits73▲ 34×1 topic
  40. Electromigration71▲ 12×2 topics

What research is done in Leuven?

  1. 1 Semiconductor materials and devices Electrical and Electronic Engineering 163 works
  2. 2 Advancements in Semiconductor Devices and Circuit Design Electrical and Electronic Engineering 94 works
  3. 3 Integrated Circuits and Semiconductor Failure Analysis Electrical and Electronic Engineering 88 works
  4. 4 Advancements in Photolithography Techniques Electrical and Electronic Engineering 73 works
  5. 5 Advanced Memory and Neural Computing Electrical and Electronic Engineering 69 works
  6. 6 Photonic and Optical Devices Electrical and Electronic Engineering 66 works
  7. 7 Inflammatory Bowel Disease Genetics 57 works
  8. 8 3D IC and TSV technologies Electrical and Electronic Engineering 56 works
  9. 9 Ferroelectric and Negative Capacitance Devices Electrical and Electronic Engineering 55 works
  10. 10 EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces Cognitive Neuroscience 53 works

Research output over time

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more.