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Science in Australia

Australia ranks #8 of 192 countries on research quality in 2022–2025 (#9 all time), with 343k research works and 25.4% of them in the world's top 10%.

World rank, 2022–2025
#8
of 192 · #9 all time
Works, 2022–2025
343k
▲ 9% vs 2013–17
Top-10% rate
25.4%
record average 16.5%
In the world top 100
5
28 in the top 1,000
Open access
40%
world 63%

What is Australia strongest at in science?

On research quality in 2022–2025, Australia ranks highest in Social Sciences (#5 of 151), Engineering (#5 of 134) and Sociology and Political Science (#5 of 122). Relative to its size it is most specialised in Research and Theory, Public Administration and Health.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorks
Social SciencesField #5 of 151 29.6%47,442 Institutions
EngineeringField #5 of 134 24.3%36,570 Institutions
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #5 of 122 29.4%15,676 Institutions
EducationSubfield #5 of 115 39.4%7,788 Institutions
MedicineField #7 of 155 21.0%80,500 Institutions
PsychologyField #5 of 109 30.0%18,329 Institutions
General Health ProfessionsSubfield #4 of 86 26.0%10,290 Institutions
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational HealthSubfield #4 of 86 25.6%7,956 Institutions
Environmental ScienceField #6 of 125 26.9%21,127 Institutions
Clinical PsychologySubfield #4 of 76 29.6%7,483 Institutions
Civil and Structural EngineeringSubfield #4 of 73 25.1%3,786 Institutions
Health ProfessionsField #6 of 108 26.3%16,455 Institutions

Where its research is concentrated

Location quotient: how much more — or less — of each node it does than its size predicts. Drawn around 1×, where “twice the world share” and “half of it” are the same distance apart in opposite directions. A volume reading, which on a country axis is largely population and industrial structure.

  1. Research and TheorySubfield · 343.7 works3.9×
  2. Public AdministrationSubfield · 617.1 works3.3×
  3. HealthSubfield · 2,588.3 works2.5×
  4. Emergency Medical ServicesSubfield · 1,518.9 works2.4×
  5. EquineSubfield · 104.1 works2.3×
  6. Medical TerminologySubfield · 23.8 works2.3×
  7. Applied PsychologySubfield · 1,130.4 works2.3×
  8. Ecological ModelingSubfield · 598.1 works2.3×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

The whole field profile

All 26 fields at once. A specialist and a generalist produce the same ranked list and a completely different shape.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.75× its world share, 12k worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.88× its world share, 16k worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 1.04× its world share, 3,586 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.27× its world share, 7,097 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.67× its world share, 814 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.65× its world share, 779 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.52× its world share, 2,818 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.76× its world share, 20k worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.17× its world share, 6,319 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.86× its world share, 2,712 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.71× its world share, 37k worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.24× its world share, 21k worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.57× its world share, 6,777 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.61× its world share, 2,481 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.76× its world share, 5,770 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.68× its world share, 1,131 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.82× its world share, 16k worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 1.22× its world share, 81k worksMedicineNursing: 1.14× its world share, 1,916 worksNursingVeterinary: 1.58× its world share, 738 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.98× its world share, 9,697 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.89× its world share, 9,816 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.11× its world share, 3,690 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.10× its world share, 8,074 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.75× its world share, 18k worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.09× its world share, 47k worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Health Professions, 1.8×. Every wedge is a field page.

Which keywords describe research in Australia?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Epidemiology, Climate Change, Mental Health, Public Health, Quality of Life, Globalization, Machine Learning and Sustainability.

▲ 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 country'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. Epidemiology19k▲ 1.37×140 topics
  2. Climate Change13k▲ 1.46×130 topics
  3. Machine Learning9,514▼ 0.85×97 topics
  4. Deep Learning9,419▼ 0.80×85 topics
  5. Mental Health8,736▲ 1.74×48 topics
  6. Sustainability8,229◆ 0.98×138 topics
  7. Globalization7,863▲ 1.17×183 topics
  8. Public Health7,765▲ 1.56×76 topics
  9. Inflammation7,437◆ 1.04×83 topics
  10. Quality of Life7,418▲ 1.50×61 topics
  11. Risk Factors5,712▲ 1.51×37 topics
  12. Environmental Impact5,274◆ 0.90×74 topics
  13. Cardiovascular Disease5,168▲ 1.35×39 topics
  14. Depression5,024▲ 1.67×26 topics
  15. Treatment4,975▲ 1.19×52 topics
  16. Oxidative Stress4,549▼ 0.81×63 topics
  17. Healthcare4,436◆ 1.15×44 topics
  18. Social Media4,314◆ 0.88×41 topics
  19. Resilience3,648▲ 2.2×19 topics
  20. Metabolic Syndrome3,569▲ 1.28×24 topics
  21. Social Support3,398▲ 1.78×20 topics
  22. Biodiversity3,390▲ 1.32×38 topics
  23. Genetics3,362▲ 1.40×27 topics
  24. Identity3,300▲ 1.32×78 topics
  25. Mortality3,287▲ 1.66×13 topics
  26. Prevalence3,196▲ 2.3×15 topics
  27. Global Burden3,099▲ 1.68×12 topics
  28. Anxiety3,055▲ 1.88×12 topics
  29. Aging3,054▲ 1.66×19 topics
  30. Physical Activity3,014▲ 1.79×13 topics
  31. Ethics2,894▲ 1.75×62 topics
  32. Primary Care2,796▲ 2.2×15 topics
  33. Adolescents2,757▲ 2.1×11 topics
  34. Ethical Considerations2,734▲ 2.3×21 topics
  35. Neoliberalism2,645▲ 2.2×29 topics
  36. Health Equity2,481▲ 2.6×6 topics
  37. Vulnerability2,339▲ 3.0×9 topics
  38. Population Dynamics2,260▲ 2.6×13 topics
  39. Health Disparities2,226▲ 2.5×9 topics
  40. Decolonization1,516▲ 5.5×8 topics

How many world-class institutions does Australia hold?

Average quality and elite capacity disagree by construction, and both are worth knowing: the first is decided by a country’s whole institution population, the second counts the institutions it holds at the top. One square per institution.

51st to 100th5101st to 500th12501st to 1,000th11

Bands are exclusive, so the squares add up to 28 — the institutions it holds in the world top 1,000 — and not to four times it.

Which universities in Australia lead research?

UNSW Sydney, Monash University and The University of Queensland rank highest in Australia on research quality in 2022–2025.

0%20%40%mean 27.8%fractional works (log) →share in the world top 10% →UNSW Sydney: 17k, 26.8%Monash University: 17k, 28.7%The University of Queensland: 17k, 27.4%The University of Melbourne: 20k, 26.2%The University of Sydney: 20k, 24.9%The University of Adelaide: 8,742, 26.2%Australian National University: 10k, 23.9%University of Technology Sydney: 9,208, 29.4%RMIT University: 7,274, 31.2%The University of Western Australia: 8,079, 26.2%Queensland University of Technology: 7,052, 30.0%Griffith University: 7,917, 29.9%Deakin University: 9,281, 30.7%Curtin University: 6,462, 28.8%University of Wollongong: 5,490, 26.7%Monash UniversityThe University of Qu…UNSW SydneyThe University of Me…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per institution in the list below. The upper left is the interesting corner.

  1. 1UNSW SydneyUniversity · Sydney · #67 worldwide26.8% top 10% · 17k works
  2. 2Monash UniversityUniversity · Melbourne · #72 worldwide28.7% top 10% · 17k works
  3. 3The University of QueenslandUniversity · Brisbane · #74 worldwide27.4% top 10% · 17k works
  4. 4The University of MelbourneUniversity · Melbourne · #75 worldwide26.2% top 10% · 20k works
  5. 5The University of SydneyUniversity · Sydney · #78 worldwide24.9% top 10% · 20k works
  6. 6The University of AdelaideUniversity · Adelaide · #167 worldwide26.2% top 10% · 8.7k works
  7. 7Australian National UniversityUniversity · Canberra · #226 worldwide23.9% top 10% · 10k works
  8. 8University of Technology SydneyUniversity · Sydney · #235 worldwide29.4% top 10% · 9.2k works
  9. 9RMIT UniversityUniversity · Melbourne · #237 worldwide31.2% top 10% · 7.3k works
  10. 10The University of Western AustraliaUniversity · Perth · #312 worldwide26.2% top 10% · 8.1k works
  11. 11Queensland University of TechnologyUniversity · Brisbane · #321 worldwide30.0% top 10% · 7.1k works
  12. 12Griffith UniversityUniversity · Brisbane · #325 worldwide29.9% top 10% · 7.9k works
  13. 13Deakin UniversityUniversity · Burwood · #330 worldwide30.7% top 10% · 9.3k works
  14. 14Curtin UniversityUniversity · Perth · #332 worldwide28.8% top 10% · 6.5k works
  15. 15University of WollongongUniversity · Wollongong · #360 worldwide26.7% top 10% · 5.5k works

The track on each row is its top-10% rate; the tick is the world’s rate in this record, 16.5% — teal above it, red below.

All ranked institutions in Australia

Who are the top researchers in Australia?

Graeme J. Hankey, Wei Liu and Perminder S. Sachdev rank highest among researchers based in Australia.

  1. 1 Graeme J. Hankey · #15 worldwide 7.2k citations · 205 works
  2. 2 Wei Liu · #55 worldwide 9.7k citations · 149 works
  3. 3 Perminder S. Sachdev · #56 worldwide 4.6k citations · 215 works
  4. 4 Louisa Degenhardt · #80 worldwide 5.7k citations · 164 works
  5. 5 Seyedali Mirjalili · #98 worldwide 7.6k citations · 164 works
  6. 6 John J. McGrath · #105 worldwide 5.3k citations · 193 works
  7. 7 James G. Scott · #112 worldwide 4.3k citations · 219 works
  8. 8 Lídia Morawska · #114 worldwide 6.4k citations · 210 works
  9. 9 Philip B. Mitchell · #134 worldwide 3.7k citations · 146 works
  10. 10 Rachelle Buchbinder · #147 worldwide 3.5k citations · 131 works
Top researchers in Australia

Which cities in Australia are research hubs?

  1. 1 Melbourne Australia 463k works
  2. 2 Sydney Australia 441k works
  3. 3 Brisbane Australia 261k works
  4. 4 Canberra Australia 234k works
  5. 5 Adelaide Australia 165k works
  6. 6 Perth Australia 148k works
  7. 7 Wollongong Australia 42k works
  8. 8 Burwood Australia 42k works
  9. 9 Newcastle Australia 41k works
  10. 10 Hobart Australia 37k works
  11. 11 Townsville Australia 28k works
  12. 12 Richmond Australia 25k works

How much of it is in the largest

The same cities as shares of everything these twelve account for.

Melbourne: 24.0%Sydney: 22.9%Brisbane: 13.6%Canberra: 12.1%8 others listed: 27.4%24%largest
Melbourne463k · 24.0%Sydney441k · 22.9%Brisbane261k · 13.6%Canberra234k · 12.1%8 others listed528k · 27.4%

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

How open and international is Australia's research?

40% of its research is openly available (world: 40%), and 26% is written with international co-authors (world: 18%).

openly available39.7%not open60.3%

World: 63% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors25.9%domestic only74.1%

World: 22% is written across borders.

How has Australia's research grown?

Output in 2018–2022 was 9% higher than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Research fields in Australia