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Austria vs Switzerland

On research quality in 2022-now, Switzerland ranks #6 in the world and Austria #17, of 189 countries. Austria stands higher in 0 of the 26 fields both publish in, Switzerland in 26.

Research profiles alike: 0.69similar shapes of research, whatever their size. How it is measured

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Austria

World rank, 2022-now
#17
#16 all time
Works, 2022-now
90k
fractional
Top-10% rate
10.7%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
37%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Classics, Software, History and Philosophy of Science.

Switzerland

World rank, 2022-now
#6
#6 all time
Works, 2022-now
142k
fractional
Top-10% rate
13.3%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
47%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Structural Biology, Medical Terminology, Nuclear and High Energy Physics.

Who leads, measure by measure?

Switzerland leads on 8 of 9 measures: research quality, citation excellence for its fields, output, top-10% rate, citations per work, institutions in the world top 100, open access and international co-authorship. Austria leads on 1 of 9 measures: growth.

Austria 18 Switzerland
  1. #17Research qualityworld rank of 189 countries, 2022-now#6
  2. 1.20×Citation excellence for its fieldsits top-10% rate against what its topics predict; 1.00× is as expected1.42×
  3. 90kOutputfractional works, 2022-now142k
  4. 10.7%Top-10% rateshare of its works among the world's most cited13.3%
  5. 22.2Citations per workall time, per fractional work31.9
  6. 0World top 100institutions it holds among the world's best 1005
  7. 37%Open accessof its works free to read, all time47%
  8. 29%Internationalof its works written with co-authors abroad, all time34%
  9. +4%Growthworks in 2022-25 against 2018-21; half a bar is no change+0%

A rank is drawn as its standing: the longer the bar, the nearer the top. Anything else is drawn against the larger of the two, and two values a hair apart are called level. Quality, citation excellence and the top-10% rate are explained in the methodology.

Who leads in each field?

Austria stands higher in 0 of 26 fields, Switzerland in 26. Switzerland leads most in Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics (#7 against #21). Each bar is that side's standing among all countries ranked in the field: the full bar is first place.

Austria 026 Switzerland
  1. #18Agricultural and Biological Sciences#8
  2. #11Arts and Humanities#7
  3. #17Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#5
  4. #14Business, Management and Accounting#10
  5. #21Chemical Engineering#9
  6. #22Chemistry#6
  7. #15Computer Science#5
  8. #21Decision Sciences#6
  9. #17Dentistry#5
  10. #19Earth and Planetary Sciences#7
  11. #13Economics, Econometrics and Finance#7
  12. #27Energy#14
  13. #20Engineering#9
  14. #19Environmental Science#6
  15. #17Health Professions#10
  16. #18Immunology and Microbiology#6
  17. #21Materials Science#8
  18. #16Mathematics#7
  19. #17Medicine#8
  20. #18Neuroscience#6
  21. #19Nursing#11
  22. #21Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics#7
  23. #14Physics and Astronomy#6
  24. #17Psychology#8
  25. #13Social Sciences#9
  26. -Veterinary#7

Standing is the percentile of world rank within each field, 2022-now; the printed number is the rank itself. A dash means the field is too small there to rank. How sides are compared.

The numbers behind each field

Click a heading to sort. The side that does better in a pair of columns is shaded: a lower rank, a higher rate, more works.

Field Austria rankSwitzerland rank Austria top 10%Switzerland top 10% Austria worksSwitzerland works
Agricultural and Biological Sciences #18 #8 12.9% 15.7% 2.4k 4k
Arts and Humanities #11 #7 11.6% 11.6% 4.9k 6.1k
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology #17 #5 11.0% 13.7% 5.1k 8.7k
Business, Management and Accounting #14 #10 11.1% 11.3% 3.2k 4.1k
Chemical Engineering #21 #9 6.5% 9.7% 281 391
Chemistry #22 #6 8.7% 13.2% 1.2k 2.1k
Computer Science #15 #5 9.7% 13.3% 7.1k 8.7k
Decision Sciences #21 #6 11.8% 13.2% 924 1.4k
Dentistry #17 #5 15.0% 20.4% 256 833
Earth and Planetary Sciences #19 #7 10.6% 15.0% 1.4k 2.7k
Economics, Econometrics and Finance #13 #7 12.2% 13.3% 1.8k 3.4k
Energy #27 #14 9.0% 11.8% 535 785
Engineering #20 #9 7.8% 12.2% 13k 15k
Environmental Science #19 #6 11.6% 14.3% 3.9k 6.2k
Health Professions #17 #10 9.7% 12.8% 2k 4.3k
Immunology and Microbiology #18 #6 11.7% 14.0% 888 1.8k
Materials Science #21 #8 7.9% 11.8% 2.3k 3k
Mathematics #16 #7 11.6% 13.7% 1.5k 1.8k
Medicine #17 #8 12.2% 13.7% 17k 35k
Neuroscience #18 #6 10.1% 13.3% 1.7k 3.5k
Nursing #19 #11 11.7% 15.1% 231 498
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics #21 #7 9.3% 13.1% 205 395
Physics and Astronomy #14 #6 11.7% 14.6% 2.6k 5.7k
Psychology #17 #8 11.5% 13.1% 3.3k 5.5k
Social Sciences #13 #9 11.3% 13.3% 12k 16k
Veterinary - #7 - 12.7% - 392

What is each known for?

The keywords that describe each side's research, by fractional works in 2022-now and weighted toward what it does more of than the world.

Austria

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's
All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Epidemiology3,551▼ 0.86×140 topics
  2. Climate Change3,088◆ 1.10×131 topics
  3. Machine Learning2,846▼ 0.83×93 topics
  4. Deep Learning2,629▼ 0.74×82 topics
  5. Sustainability2,573◆ 1.02×139 topics
  6. Inflammation2,161◆ 0.98×83 topics
  7. Globalization1,998◆ 0.98×178 topics
  8. Sustainable Development1,541◆ 0.95×109 topics
  9. Big Data1,464▲ 1.48×36 topics
  10. Renewable Energy1,433◆ 0.96×61 topics
  11. Education1,415▼ 0.80×153 topics
  12. Human Rights1,400▲ 1.33×90 topics
  13. Public Health1,387◆ 0.92×76 topics
  14. Identity1,384▲ 1.85×78 topics
  15. Artificial Intelligence1,380◆ 0.94×65 topics
  16. Quality of Life1,375◆ 0.92×61 topics
  17. Environmental Impact1,319▼ 0.75×71 topics
  18. Oxidative Stress1,319▼ 0.78×63 topics
  19. Gender1,204▲ 2.2×58 topics
  20. Treatment1,159◆ 0.92×52 topics
  21. Mechanical Properties1,144◆ 1.13×39 topics
  22. History1,105▲ 1.54×66 topics
  23. Innovation1,067◆ 1.00×88 topics
  24. Ethics1,063▲ 2.0×60 topics
  25. Governance1,020▲ 3.0×20 topics
  26. Nationalism836▲ 1.80×33 topics
  27. Literature831▲ 1.47×64 topics
  28. Religion802▲ 1.68×43 topics
  29. Philosophy800▲ 1.75×47 topics
  30. Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse749▲ 19×2 topics
  31. Neoliberalism696▲ 1.87×30 topics
  32. European Union620▲ 2.7×29 topics
  33. Bildungsungleichheit529▲ 19×1 topic
  34. Ethnografisches Schreiben529▲ 19×1 topic
  35. Bildung381▲ 12×3 topics
  36. Migration Law341▲ 23×2 topics
  37. Legal Methodology335▲ 18×2 topics
  38. Regulatory Agencies330▲ 15×2 topics
  39. Constitutional Courts328▲ 21×2 topics
  40. Digital Governance317▲ 28×1 topic

Switzerland

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's
All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Epidemiology7,969▲ 1.24×140 topics
  2. Climate Change5,217▲ 1.19×130 topics
  3. Machine Learning4,341▼ 0.81×96 topics
  4. Deep Learning3,854▼ 0.69×84 topics
  5. Inflammation3,527◆ 1.02×83 topics
  6. Sustainability3,017▼ 0.76×139 topics
  7. Globalization2,855◆ 0.90×182 topics
  8. Public Health2,728▲ 1.16×77 topics
  9. Quality of Life2,668◆ 1.14×61 topics
  10. Treatment2,429▲ 1.23×52 topics
  11. Mental Health2,403◆ 1.04×48 topics
  12. Oxidative Stress2,245▼ 0.84×63 topics
  13. Sustainable Development2,080▼ 0.82×107 topics
  14. Cardiovascular Disease1,986◆ 1.08×39 topics
  15. Diagnosis1,966▲ 1.30×41 topics
  16. Artificial Intelligence1,963▼ 0.85×66 topics
  17. Risk Factors1,952◆ 1.10×37 topics
  18. Neural Networks1,826▼ 0.73×41 topics
  19. Big Data1,748◆ 1.13×34 topics
  20. Cancer1,742▼ 0.80×59 topics
  21. Clinical Trials1,586▲ 1.47×19 topics
  22. Depression1,550◆ 1.09×26 topics
  23. Innovation1,537◆ 0.92×88 topics
  24. Identity1,526▲ 1.30×80 topics
  25. Management1,520▲ 1.18×40 topics
  26. Immunotherapy1,474▲ 1.26×19 topics
  27. Biodiversity1,400◆ 1.13×38 topics
  28. Gender1,400▲ 1.61×58 topics
  29. Complications1,382▲ 1.72×17 topics
  30. Neurological Disorders1,363▲ 1.47×20 topics
  31. Rehabilitation1,256▲ 1.94×13 topics
  32. Ethics1,247▲ 1.52×62 topics
  33. Mortality1,218▲ 1.32×13 topics
  34. Global Burden1,158▲ 1.31×12 topics
  35. Global Warming1,101▲ 1.59×16 topics
  36. Guidelines1,096▲ 1.43×13 topics
  37. Governance1,054▲ 2.0×20 topics
  38. Magnetic Resonance Imaging981▲ 2.4×8 topics
  39. Biomechanics950▲ 1.92×12 topics
  40. Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse674▲ 11×2 topics

Size is fractional works in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of the side's work against its share of the world's. Each word links to the topic it comes from most.

How has their output grown?

Switzerland has out-published Austria every year since 1980.

still counting20k40kSwitzerland35k in 2025Austria23k in 20251990200020102020

Fractional works per year.

Their share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share, because all of science grows. Each line is a side as a percentage of every work published that year.

still counting0.50%1.0%1.5%Switzerland0.60% in 2025Austria0.39% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

The share of each side's works, year by year, that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. The average of all institutions is 10.0% (why not 10%).

still counting10%20%Switzerland12.8% in 2025Austria10.6% in 2025200020102020

A year with under 1% of the side's peak output is left out: a rate over a handful of papers says nothing. The latest years are still being cited.

Who holds more of the world's best institutions?

A country's average quality and the number of institutions it holds at the very top can disagree, and both are worth knowing. The counts are nested: an institution in the top 50 is also in the top 100.

Austria 05 Switzerland
  1. 0In the world top 501
  2. 0In the top 1005
  3. 4In the top 5009
  4. 9In the top 1,00019
  5. #20Elite capacityrank among 204 countries#10

Institutions ranked on research quality, 2022-now. Elite capacity counts a country's institutions by their worldwide rank, weighted so a place at #1 counts for more than one at #480.

Which publishes more research, Austria or Switzerland?

Switzerland publishes 1.6× as much research as Austria in 2022-now (142k against 90k fractional works).

Whose research has more impact, Austria or Switzerland?

13.3% of Switzerland's research reaches the world's top 10% most cited, against 10.7% for Austria.

Is Austria or Switzerland growing faster?

Output in 2022-25 was +4% against 2018-21 for Austria, and +0% for Switzerland.

Which has more open access research, Austria or Switzerland?

47% of Switzerland's research is free to read, against 37% of Austria's.

Which has more world-class institutions, Austria or Switzerland?

Switzerland holds 5 of the world's top 100 research institutions and Austria 0; in the top 1,000 it is 19 against 9.

Which institutions lead in each country?

The highest-ranked institutions on each side on research quality, 2022-now. The percentage is each institution's own top-10% rate: the share of its works that are among the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. Every figure stands alone, so they do not add up to 100%.

Austria

  1. 1University of Vienna12.4% top 10% · 11k works
  2. 2Austrian Academy of Sciences13.5% top 10% · 2.9k works
  3. 3Universität Innsbruck11.7% top 10% · 5.8k works
  4. 4Medical University of Vienna12.3% top 10% · 6.7k works
  5. 5TU Wien8.6% top 10% · 6.4k works
  6. 6Johannes Kepler University of Linz9.7% top 10% · 3.7k works

Switzerland

  1. 1ETH Zurich17.6% top 10% · 14k works
  2. 2University of Zurich14.9% top 10% · 15k works
  3. 3University of Basel14.8% top 10% · 7.8k works
  4. 4École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne14.3% top 10% · 8.6k works
  5. 5University of Lausanne13.2% top 10% · 9.4k works
  6. 6University of Geneva14.0% top 10% · 8.6k works

The number is the rank inside the country. The track on each row is the top-10% rate; the tick is the average of all institutions, 10.0% (how it is set): teal above it, red below. The ranking is the quality score, which compares the rate with what each institution's own topics predict and adds a small reward for size, so the rates do not fall in order.

Who are the top researchers on each side?

The most cited researchers on each side, among those ranked.

Austria

  1. 1 Jiřı́ Friml #255 worldwide 68k citations · 572 works
  2. 2 Joeri Rogelj #605 worldwide 45k citations · 454 works
  3. 3 Kim Nasmyth #833 worldwide 61k citations · 355 works
  4. 4 Thomas Jenuwein #1,397 worldwide 59k citations · 220 works
  5. 5 Yoshihide Wada #1,643 worldwide 57k citations · 642 works

Switzerland

  1. 1 Shubhanshu Tiwari #202 worldwide 84k citations · 277 works
  2. 2 Thomas Ward Crowther #324 worldwide 33k citations · 498 works
  3. 3 Michaël Grätzel #935 worldwide 458k citations · 2,524 works
  4. 4 Ruedi Aebersold #982 worldwide 176k citations · 1,184 works
  5. 5 Shinichi Sunagawa #1,118 worldwide 57k citations · 417 works

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