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Science in France

France ranks #7 of 192 countries on research quality in 2022–2025 (#5 all time), with 553k research works and 13.3% of them in the world's top 10%.

World rank, 2022–2025
#7
of 192 · #5 all time
Works, 2022–2025
553k
▲ 5% vs 2013–17
Top-10% rate
13.3%
record average 16.5%
In the world top 100
1
18 in the top 1,000
Open access
36%
world 63%

What is France strongest at in science?

On research quality in 2022–2025, France ranks highest in Medicine (#8 of 155), Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (#6 of 108) and Agricultural and Biological Sciences (#7 of 126). Relative to its size it is most specialised in Industrial relations, History and Philosophy of Science and Anthropology.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorks
MedicineField #8 of 155 15.2%96,085 Institutions
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #6 of 108 18.9%28,833 Institutions
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #7 of 126 18.0%21,942 Institutions
Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield #3 of 51 25.8%5,875 Institutions
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #5 of 80 21.3%13,178 Institutions
Physics and AstronomyField #5 of 79 22.1%21,326 Institutions
GeophysicsSubfield #3 of 47 21.7%3,076 Institutions
Environmental ScienceField #8 of 125 18.4%23,549 Institutions
SurgerySubfield #6 of 88 13.9%11,621 Institutions
Immunology and MicrobiologyField #5 of 73 19.7%6,001 Institutions
OceanographySubfield #3 of 43 21.1%2,409 Institutions
GeneticsSubfield #5 of 69 20.5%5,244 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. Industrial relationsSubfield · 109.3 works6.4×
  2. History and Philosophy of ScienceSubfield · 4,616.7 works5.4×
  3. AnthropologySubfield · 7,604.4 works4.9×
  4. Linguistics and LanguageSubfield · 2,995.7 works4.7×
  5. ArcheologySubfield · 390.8 works4.6×
  6. ArcheologySubfield · 7,615.5 works4.6×
  7. HistorySubfield · 7,210.4 works4.1×
  8. ClassicsSubfield · 1,299.0 works4.0×
← 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: 0.84× its world share, 22k worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.98× its world share, 29k worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 1.08× its world share, 6,001 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.06× its world share, 9,517 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.68× its world share, 1,324 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.99× its world share, 1,920 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.06× its world share, 9,162 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.76× its world share, 33k worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.52× its world share, 13k worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.66× its world share, 3,341 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.78× its world share, 65k worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.86× its world share, 24k worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.91× its world share, 18k worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.45× its world share, 9,411 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.73× its world share, 21k worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.37× its world share, 1,004 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.28× its world share, 19k worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.90× its world share, 96k worksMedicineNursing: 0.55× its world share, 1,497 worksNursingVeterinary: 1.25× its world share, 940 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 2.69× its world share, 43k worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.62× its world share, 11k worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.73× its world share, 3,912 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.85× its world share, 10k worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.86× its world share, 14k worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.25× its world share, 87k worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Arts and Humanities, 2.7×. Every wedge is a field page.

Which keywords describe research in France?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Community Engagement, Territorial Governance, Local Development, Public Policy, Social Justice, Citizen Participation, Environmental Participation and Proximity and Innovation.

▲ 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. Epidemiology20k◆ 0.93×140 topics
  2. Climate Change19k▲ 1.27×131 topics
  3. Community Engagement17k▲ 9.3×22 topics
  4. Territorial Governance16k▲ 24×4 topics
  5. Local Development16k▲ 26×2 topics
  6. Globalization16k▲ 1.43×183 topics
  7. Public Policy16k▲ 5.7×34 topics
  8. Social Justice15k▲ 4.7×54 topics
  9. Sustainable Development15k▲ 1.69×111 topics
  10. Citizen Participation12k▲ 17×3 topics
  11. Environmental Participation11k▲ 26×1 topic
  12. Proximity and Innovation11k▲ 26×1 topic
  13. Gender11k▲ 3.7×58 topics
  14. Identity9,600▲ 2.4×80 topics
  15. Colonialism9,534▲ 3.6×52 topics
  16. Gender Studies9,016▲ 11×21 topics
  17. Religion8,001▲ 3.0×43 topics
  18. Migration7,363▲ 4.0×35 topics
  19. Social Determinants of Health7,257▲ 5.8×8 topics
  20. Palliative Care6,157▲ 6.9×6 topics
  21. Ethnographic Research5,800▲ 19×4 topics
  22. Educational Policies5,784▲ 9.0×3 topics
  23. Sociological Analysis5,722▲ 18×4 topics
  24. Professional Practices5,701▲ 26×1 topic
  25. Public Action5,701▲ 26×1 topic
  26. Sociolinguistics5,670▲ 5.4×9 topics
  27. Citizenship5,471▲ 8.2×13 topics
  28. Medical Ethics5,317▲ 7.2×7 topics
  29. Social Innovation5,316▲ 6.2×13 topics
  30. Institutionalization5,229▲ 10×5 topics
  31. End-of-Life Care5,219▲ 7.8×4 topics
  32. Psychological Trauma5,187▲ 14×2 topics
  33. Patient Rights5,145▲ 12×2 topics
  34. Ethical Practices5,128▲ 14×2 topics
  35. Healthcare Legislation5,126▲ 15×1 topic
  36. Professional Responsibility5,126▲ 15×1 topic
  37. Cooperatives5,025▲ 11×4 topics
  38. Solidarity Economy4,941▲ 14×2 topics
  39. Participative Evaluation4,828▲ 25×1 topic
  40. Healthcare Quality Indicators4,553▲ 14×2 topics

How many world-class institutions does France 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.

in the world top 501101st to 500th5501st to 1,000th12

Bands are exclusive, so the squares add up to 18 — the institutions it holds in the world top 1,000 — and not to four times it.

Which universities in France lead research?

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Inserm and Sorbonne Université rank highest in France on research quality in 2022–2025.

0%10%20%30%mean 18.2667%fractional works (log) →share in the world top 10% →Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique: 39k, 18.7%Inserm: 12k, 20.8%Sorbonne Université: 10k, 15.9%Université Paris Cité: 8,571, 18.4%Université Paris-Saclay: 7,841, 18.2%Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté: 2,068, 26.6%Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives: 3,714, 17.5%Université Grenoble Alpes: 6,700, 12.7%Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement: 6,294, 19.3%Université Paris Sciences et Lettres: 1,970, 25.4%Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1: 6,189, 15.1%Université de Montpellier: 4,977, 17.4%Aix-Marseille Université: 6,127, 13.4%Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris: 3,868, 20.0%Université de Strasbourg: 4,400, 14.6%InsermCentre National de l…Université Paris CitéSorbonne Université
above the meannear itbelow it

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

  1. 1Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueGovernment institution · Paris · #13 worldwide18.7% top 10% · 39k works
  2. 2InsermGovernment institution · Paris · #111 worldwide20.8% top 10% · 12k works
  3. 3Sorbonne UniversitéUniversity · Paris · #204 worldwide15.9% top 10% · 10k works
  4. 4Université Paris CitéUniversity · Paris · #238 worldwide18.4% top 10% · 8.6k works
  5. 5Université Paris-SaclayUniversity · Gif-sur-Yvette · #247 worldwide18.2% top 10% · 7.8k works
  6. 6Université Bourgogne Franche-ComtéUniversity · Besançon · #488 worldwide26.6% top 10% · 2.1k works
  7. 7Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies AlternativesGovernment institution · Paris · #534 worldwide17.5% top 10% · 3.7k works
  8. 8Université Grenoble AlpesUniversity · Saint-Martin-d'Hères · #591 worldwide12.7% top 10% · 6.7k works
  9. 9Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'EnvironnementGovernment institution · Paris · #603 worldwide19.3% top 10% · 6.3k works
  10. 10Université Paris Sciences et LettresUniversity · Paris · #610 worldwide25.4% top 10% · 2k works
  11. 11Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1University · Villeurbanne · #624 worldwide15.1% top 10% · 6.2k works
  12. 12Université de MontpellierUniversity · Montpellier · #663 worldwide17.4% top 10% · 5k works
  13. 13Aix-Marseille UniversitéUniversity · Marseille · #689 worldwide13.4% top 10% · 6.1k works
  14. 14Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de ParisHospital / health system · Paris · #717 worldwide20.0% top 10% · 3.9k works
  15. 15Université de StrasbourgUniversity · Strasbourg · #766 worldwide14.6% top 10% · 4.4k 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 France

Who are the top researchers in France?

Pierre Bourdıeu, Elisabete Weiderpass and Bruno Latour rank highest among researchers based in France.

  1. 1 Pierre Bourdıeu · #2 worldwide 10k citations · 235 works
  2. 2 Elisabete Weiderpass · #44 worldwide 6k citations · 183 works
  3. 3 Bruno Latour · #46 worldwide 2k citations · 198 works
  4. 4 Mathilde Touvier · #66 worldwide 4.5k citations · 157 works
  5. 5 Victor Aboyans · #74 worldwide 4.9k citations · 135 works
  6. 6 Jacques Derrida · #82 worldwide 1.3k citations · 192 works
  7. 7 Cordelia Schmid · #133 worldwide 5.8k citations · 172 works
  8. 8 Gilles Deleuze · #166 worldwide 4.6k citations · 114 works
  9. 9 Bernard Iung · #171 worldwide 3k citations · 141 works
  10. 10 Jean Tirole · #189 worldwide 4.4k citations · 118 works
Top researchers in France

Which cities in France are research hubs?

  1. 1 Paris France 1.3M works
  2. 2 Toulouse France 149k works
  3. 3 Lyon France 126k works
  4. 4 Marseille France 118k works
  5. 5 Montpellier France 93k works
  6. 6 Grenoble France 90k works
  7. 7 Gif-sur-Yvette France 79k works
  8. 8 Rennes France 77k works
  9. 9 Strasbourg France 71k works
  10. 10 Palaiseau France 69k works
  11. 11 Bordeaux France 68k works
  12. 12 Villeurbanne France 67k works

How much of it is in the largest

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

Paris: 57.2%Toulouse: 6.3%Lyon: 5.3%Marseille: 5.0%8 others listed: 26.1%57%largest
Paris1.3M · 57.2%Toulouse149k · 6.3%Lyon126k · 5.3%Marseille118k · 5.0%8 others listed613k · 26.1%

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

How open and international is France's research?

36% of its research is openly available (world: 40%), and 23% is written with international co-authors (world: 18%).

openly available35.9%not open64.1%

World: 63% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors23.5%domestic only76.5%

World: 22% is written across borders.

How has France's research grown?

Output in 2018–2022 was 5% 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 France