Research in Nairobi
Science Explorer records 176 research institutions in Nairobi, Kenya. The highest-ranked on research quality in 2022–2025 are University of Nairobi, World Agroforestry Centre and Kenya Medical Research Institute.
- Research institutions
- 176 15 of them ranked worldwide
- Research works
- 69k ▲ 73% vs 2013–17
- Top-10% rate, 2022–2025
- 14.1% 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 Nairobi?
| # | Institution | Works | Against the largest here | World rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of NairobiUniversity | 13,667 | #3,493 | |
| 2 | Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and TechnologyUniversity | 8,059 | #5,163 | |
| 3 | Kenyatta UniversityUniversity | 7,345 | #5,821 | |
| 4 | Kenya Medical Research InstituteResearch facility | 3,781 | #3,899 | |
| 5 | International Centre of Insect Physiology and EcologyResearch facility | 3,014 | #7,662 | |
| 6 | International Livestock Research InstituteResearch facility | 1,707 | #6,131 | |
| 7 | Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research OrganizationResearch facility | 1,311 | #14,513 | |
| 8 | Strathmore UniversityUniversity | 1,309 | #11,017 | |
| 9 | Technical University of KenyaUniversity | 1,296 | #9,223 | |
| 10 | World Agroforestry CentreNonprofit | 1,233 | #3,637 | |
| 11 | African Population and Health Research CenterHospital / health system | 1,232 | #12,392 | |
| 12 | Kenya Agricultural Research InstituteResearch facility | 1,221 | #13,805 all time | |
| 13 | Catholic University of Eastern AfricaUniversity | 1,130 | #19,659 | |
| 14 | Aga Khan University Hospital NairobiHospital / health system | 956 | #15,717 | |
| 15 | Kenya Methodist UniversityUniversity | 933 | #14,483 | |
| 16 | Centers for Disease Control and PreventionGovernment institution | 897 | #10,581 | |
| 17 | Institute of Economic AffairsInstitution | 821 | #27,682 | |
| 18 | Institute for Security StudiesNonprofit | 806 | #21,632 | |
| 19 | National Museums of KenyaArchive | 802 | #10,729 | |
| 20 | United Nations Environment ProgrammeInstitution | 802 | #18,973 | |
| 21 | Kenyatta National HospitalHospital / health system | 722 | #18,759 | |
| 22 | Aga Khan University NairobiUniversity | 707 | #9,332 | |
| 23 | Health Strat (Kenya)Company | 681 | #19,818 | |
| 24 | BirdLife InternationalNonprofit | 620 | #22,190 | |
| 25 | United States International University AfricaUniversity | 599 | #13,372 | |
| 26 | United Nations Human Settlements ProgrammeInstitution | 593 | #21,297 | |
| 27 | Institute of Primate ResearchResearch facility | 571 | #11,933 all time | |
| 28 | Practical ActionNonprofit | 559 | #22,476 all time | |
| 29 | Ministry of HealthGovernment institution | 557 | #11,972 | |
| 30 | International Center for Tropical AgricultureNonprofit | 545 | #12,416 | |
| 31 | Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and FisheriesGovernment institution | 534 | #24,896 all time | |
| 32 | Kenya School of GovernmentGovernment institution | 440 | #23,488 | |
| 33 | Africa International UniversityUniversity | 438 | #15,285 | |
| 34 | Daystar UniversityUniversity | 424 | #22,168 | |
| 35 | Kenya Wildlife ServiceArchive | 367 | #20,084 | |
| 36 | International Maize and Wheat Improvement CenterNonprofit | 357 | #14,864 | |
| 37 | Save the ElephantsInstitution | 281 | #22,255 | |
| 38 | Pan Africa Christian UniversityUniversity | 270 | #20,951 | |
| 39 | Kenya Forest ServiceGovernment institution | 270 | #26,546 all time | |
| 40 | KCA UniversityUniversity | 269 | #24,394 | |
| 41 | Amref Health AfricaNonprofit | 267 | #19,744 | |
| 42 | Nairobi HospitalHospital / health system | 267 | #24,197 | |
| 43 | Kenya Forestry Research InstituteResearch facility | 266 | #16,563 | |
| 44 | Go ShengInstitution | 257 | #38,198 all time | |
| 45 | Karen HospitalHospital / health system | 225 | #22,957 all time | |
| 46 | Africa Nazarene UniversityUniversity | 220 | #27,885 | |
| 47 | United States Army Medical Research Directorate - AfricaGovernment institution | 216 | #20,395 all time | |
| 48 | International Institute of Tropical AgricultureNonprofit | 202 | #15,511 | |
| 49 | Kenya Medical Training CollegeUniversity | 190 | #21,855 | |
| 50 | Multimedia University of KenyaUniversity | 189 | #26,284 | |
| 51 | Adventist University of AfricaUniversity | 187 | #18,352 | |
| 52 | African Centre for Technology StudiesNonprofit | 173 | #20,578 | |
| 53 | African Conservation CentreNonprofit | 173 | #25,397 all time | |
| 54 | British CouncilNonprofit | 158 | #35,014 all time | |
| 55 | International Potato CenterResearch facility | 144 | #23,897 all time | |
| 56 | British Institute in Eastern AfricaInstitution | 143 | #10,282 all time | |
| 57 | African Institute for Development PolicyNonprofit | 143 | #37,472 all time | |
| 58 | East African UniversityUniversity | 130 | #37,873 all time | |
| 59 | African Academy of SciencesResearch facility | 128 | #29,397 all time | |
| 60 | Riara UniversityUniversity | 126 | #42,526 all time |
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.
Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.
What is Nairobi strongest at in research?
Relative to its size, research in Nairobi is most concentrated in Business and International Management, Safety Research and Accounting (7.2× the world share in Business and International Management).
- Business and International ManagementSubfield · 131.5 works7.2×
- Safety ResearchSubfield · 268.9 works5.6×
- AccountingSubfield · 512.4 works4.8×
- Management Information SystemsSubfield · 329.3 works4.6×
- VirologySubfield · 44.1 works4.4×
- Strategy and ManagementSubfield · 635.7 works4.2×
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 Nairobi?
By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Risk Management, Poverty Reduction, Sustainability, Climate Change, Supply Chain Management, Social Capital, Epidemiology and Economic Growth.
- Antiretroviral Therapy
- Financial Inclusion
- School Subsidies
- Poverty Alleviation
- Empowerment
- Health Systems
- Socio-economic Factors
- Performance Measurement
- Social Networks
- Community Health Workers
- Entrepreneurship
- Smallholder Farmers
- Sustainable Agriculture
- Development
- Economic Development
- Poverty Reduction
- Economic Growth
- Risk Management
- Supply Chain Management
- Epidemiology
- Climate Change
- Sustainability
- Globalization
- Innovation
- Social Capital
- Corporate Governance
- Leadership
- Gender Equality
- Financial Performance
- Adaptation
- Maternal Mortality
- Rural Development
- Gender Inequality
- Health Inequalities
- Child Mortality
- Finance
- Social Protection
- Conditional Cash Transfers
- Financial Constraints
- Microfinance
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
- Climate Change940▲ 2.0×115 topics
- Epidemiology922▲ 1.35×135 topics
- Sustainability909▲ 2.1×109 topics
- Supply Chain Management644▲ 4.0×24 topics
- Globalization623▲ 1.83×127 topics
- Risk Management584▲ 7.0×15 topics
- Innovation534▲ 2.9×66 topics
- Economic Growth516▲ 3.5×30 topics
- Social Capital514▲ 5.6×20 topics
- Poverty Reduction511▲ 22×5 topics
- Corporate Governance430▲ 3.4×27 topics
- Economic Development389▲ 2.8×44 topics
- Leadership370▲ 4.5×28 topics
- Development359▲ 6.0×19 topics
- Gender Equality329▲ 6.9×18 topics
- Sustainable Agriculture329▲ 6.0×16 topics
- Financial Performance316▲ 3.1×15 topics
- Smallholder Farmers306▲ 8.0×6 topics
- Adaptation304▲ 6.1×14 topics
- Entrepreneurship303▲ 4.5×18 topics
- Maternal Mortality301▲ 7.9×5 topics
- Community Health Workers298▲ 20×2 topics
- Rural Development295▲ 4.9×21 topics
- Social Networks290▲ 6.3×12 topics
- Gender Inequality274▲ 11×7 topics
- Performance Measurement272▲ 5.5×6 topics
- Health Inequalities265▲ 13×5 topics
- Socio-economic Factors254▲ 13×2 topics
- Child Mortality252▲ 21×1 topic
- Health Systems252▲ 21×1 topic
- Finance223▲ 6.6×4 topics
- Empowerment217▲ 13×4 topics
- Social Protection213▲ 26×2 topics
- Poverty Alleviation212▲ 12×3 topics
- Conditional Cash Transfers212▲ 33×1 topic
- School Subsidies212▲ 33×1 topic
- Financial Constraints211▲ 11×2 topics
- Financial Inclusion210▲ 24×1 topic
- Microfinance210▲ 24×1 topic
- Antiretroviral Therapy207▲ 7.4×6 topics
What research is done in Nairobi?
Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.
- 1 Global Maternal and Child Health Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health 252 works
- 2 Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare Safety Research 212 works
- 3 Microfinance and Financial Inclusion Economics and Econometrics 210 works
- 4 Child Nutrition and Water Access Nutrition and Dietetics 178 works
- 5 Agricultural Innovations and Practices General Agricultural and Biological Sciences 177 works
- 6 Islamic Finance and Banking Studies Accounting 150 works
- 7 Construction Project Management and Performance Management Science and Operations Research 150 works
- 8 Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law 137 works
- 9 Innovation and Socioeconomic Development Business and International Management 130 works
- 10 Public Procurement and Policy Strategy and Management 126 works
Research output over time
The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more.