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Science in Germany

Germany ranks #5 of 192 countries on research quality in 2022–2025 (#4 all time), with 708k research works and 17.8% of them in the world's top 10%.

World rank, 2022–2025
#5
of 192 · #4 all time
Works, 2022–2025
708k
▲ 8% vs 2013–17
Top-10% rate
17.8%
record average 16.5%
In the world top 100
1
51 in the top 1,000
Open access
31%
world 63%

What is Germany strongest at in science?

On research quality in 2022–2025, Germany ranks highest in Political Science and International Relations (#3 of 97), Medicine (#5 of 155) and Sociology and Political Science (#4 of 122). Relative to its size it is most specialised in Theoretical Computer Science, Structural Biology and Classics.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorks
Political Science and International RelationsSubfield #3 of 97 19.2%16,110 Institutions
MedicineField #5 of 155 16.1%136,987 Institutions
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #4 of 122 19.3%34,989 Institutions
PsychologyField #4 of 109 22.9%26,772 Institutions
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #4 of 108 20.8%41,001 Institutions
Arts and HumanitiesField #4 of 106 12.6%34,369 Institutions
Physics and AstronomyField #3 of 79 24.5%26,310 Institutions
Computer ScienceField #5 of 131 18.3%48,379 Institutions
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #5 of 126 28.8%17,575 Institutions
Social SciencesField #6 of 151 20.3%85,109 Institutions
Environmental ScienceField #5 of 125 24.2%27,743 Institutions
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and SystematicsSubfield #3 of 70 30.8%3,340 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. Theoretical Computer ScienceSubfield · 509.4 works4.2×
  2. Structural BiologySubfield · 386.1 works3.4×
  3. ClassicsSubfield · 1,395.5 works3.3×
  4. General Decision SciencesSubfield · 372.1 works2.8×
  5. BiochemistrySubfield · 1,643.6 works2.8×
  6. History and Philosophy of ScienceSubfield · 2,900.6 works2.7×
  7. Management of Technology and InnovationSubfield · 5,195.2 works2.4×
  8. MuseologySubfield · 2,079.8 works2.4×
← 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: 0.52× its world share, 18k worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.09× its world share, 41k worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 1.05× its world share, 7,495 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.47× its world share, 17k worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.63× its world share, 1,569 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.13× its world share, 2,786 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.14× its world share, 13k worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.88× its world share, 48k worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.99× its world share, 11k worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.76× its world share, 4,929 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.01× its world share, 107k worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.79× its world share, 28k worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.82× its world share, 20k worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.09× its world share, 9,084 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.67× its world share, 26k worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.68× its world share, 2,344 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.97× its world share, 18k worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 1.01× its world share, 137k worksMedicineNursing: 0.49× its world share, 1,709 worksNursingVeterinary: 1.14× its world share, 1,099 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.68× its world share, 34k worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.16× its world share, 27k worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.04× its world share, 7,134 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.86× its world share, 13k worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.24× its world share, 27k worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.95× its world share, 85k worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Arts and Humanities, 1.7×. Every wedge is a field page.

Which keywords describe research in Germany?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Governance, Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse, Epidemiology, Sustainability, Climate Change, Big Data, Bildungsungleichheit and Ethnografisches Schreiben.

▲ 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. Epidemiology24k▼ 0.85×140 topics
  2. Machine Learning18k▼ 0.79×97 topics
  3. Deep Learning18k▼ 0.74×85 topics
  4. Sustainability18k◆ 1.03×140 topics
  5. Climate Change17k◆ 0.91×131 topics
  6. Sustainable Development13k◆ 1.15×113 topics
  7. Inflammation13k◆ 0.88×83 topics
  8. Globalization11k▼ 0.81×186 topics
  9. Big Data11k▲ 1.71×37 topics
  10. Renewable Energy11k◆ 1.04×61 topics
  11. Artificial Intelligence11k◆ 1.08×67 topics
  12. Public Health10k◆ 0.99×77 topics
  13. Governance9,522▲ 4.1×20 topics
  14. Identity9,392▲ 1.82×80 topics
  15. Gender8,250▲ 2.1×58 topics
  16. Digital Transformation8,155▲ 2.2×32 topics
  17. History7,594▲ 1.53×66 topics
  18. Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse6,757▲ 23×2 topics
  19. Leadership6,709▲ 1.99×42 topics
  20. Ethics6,395▲ 1.87×62 topics
  21. Bildungsungleichheit4,900▲ 24×1 topic
  22. Ethnografisches Schreiben4,900▲ 24×1 topic
  23. Mobile Health4,527▲ 4.7×3 topics
  24. Customer Experience4,431▲ 4.2×4 topics
  25. Fluid Dynamics4,260▲ 4.4×6 topics
  26. Business Models3,727▲ 7.4×4 topics
  27. Socioeconomic Status3,529▲ 9.5×4 topics
  28. Epidemiological Study3,488▲ 7.4×4 topics
  29. Healthcare Utilization3,471▲ 6.2×4 topics
  30. Bildung3,440▲ 15×3 topics
  31. Technology Innovation3,347▲ 15×3 topics
  32. Omni-Channel Strategy3,306▲ 22×1 topic
  33. Data Collection3,251▲ 16×3 topics
  34. Materials Science3,218▲ 11×4 topics
  35. Strategic Marketing3,185▲ 20×2 topics
  36. Digital Capital3,170▲ 24×1 topic
  37. Value Chains3,170▲ 24×1 topic
  38. Germany3,152▲ 22×1 topic
  39. Health Surveys3,152▲ 22×1 topic
  40. Engineering3,125▲ 9.6×7 topics

How many world-class institutions does Germany 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 100th1101st to 500th22501st to 1,000th28

Bands are exclusive, so the squares add up to 51 — the institutions it holds in the world top 1,000 — and not to four times it.

Which universities in Germany lead research?

Technical University of Munich, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and Heidelberg University rank highest in Germany on research quality in 2022–2025.

0%10%20%30%mean 21.34%fractional works (log) →share in the world top 10% →Technical University of Munich: 16k, 23.1%Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München: 13k, 21.1%Heidelberg University: 11k, 21.5%Universität Hamburg: 11k, 20.9%University of Tübingen: 7,736, 23.7%RWTH Aachen University: 15k, 15.3%Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz: 6,150, 22.3%Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg: 9,512, 18.1%University of Göttingen: 5,574, 25.5%Freie Universität Berlin: 7,916, 20.9%University of Münster: 7,024, 20.6%Karlsruhe Institute of Technology: 11k, 17.8%University of Bonn: 6,890, 23.2%Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin: 7,302, 25.1%University of Freiburg: 7,225, 21.0%Technical University…Heidelberg UniversityLudwig-Maximilians-U…Universität Hamburg
above the meannear itbelow it

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

  1. 1Technical University of MunichUniversity · Munich · #76 worldwide23.1% top 10% · 16k works
  2. 2Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenUniversity · Munich · #105 worldwide21.1% top 10% · 13k works
  3. 3Heidelberg UniversityUniversity · Heidelberg · #141 worldwide21.5% top 10% · 11k works
  4. 4Universität HamburgUniversity · Hamburg · #156 worldwide20.9% top 10% · 11k works
  5. 5University of TübingenUniversity · Tübingen · #210 worldwide23.7% top 10% · 7.7k works
  6. 6RWTH Aachen UniversityUniversity · Aachen · #216 worldwide15.3% top 10% · 15k works
  7. 7Johannes Gutenberg University MainzUniversity · Mainz · #225 worldwide22.3% top 10% · 6.2k works
  8. 8Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-NürnbergUniversity · Erlangen · #248 worldwide18.1% top 10% · 9.5k works
  9. 9University of GöttingenUniversity · Göttingen · #254 worldwide25.5% top 10% · 5.6k works
  10. 10Freie Universität BerlinUniversity · Berlin · #258 worldwide20.9% top 10% · 7.9k works
  11. 11University of MünsterUniversity · Münster · #262 worldwide20.6% top 10% · 7k works
  12. 12Karlsruhe Institute of TechnologyUniversity · Karlsruhe · #274 worldwide17.8% top 10% · 11k works
  13. 13University of BonnUniversity · Bonn · #280 worldwide23.2% top 10% · 6.9k works
  14. 14Humboldt-Universität zu BerlinUniversity · Berlin · #294 worldwide25.1% top 10% · 7.3k works
  15. 15University of FreiburgUniversity · Freiburg im Breisgau · #300 worldwide21.0% top 10% · 7.2k 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 Germany

Who are the top researchers in Germany?

Jost B. Jonas, Y. Doi and Niklas Luhmann rank highest among researchers based in Germany.

  1. 1 Jost B. Jonas · #12 worldwide 7.7k citations · 243 works
  2. 2 Y. Doi · #40 worldwide 3.4k citations · 345 works
  3. 3 Niklas Luhmann · #53 worldwide 2.3k citations · 277 works
  4. 4 Wolfram Burgard · #103 worldwide 6.3k citations · 232 works
  5. 5 Matthias Mann · #116 worldwide 5.1k citations · 154 works
  6. 6 Till Bärnighausen · #139 worldwide 5.4k citations · 123 works
  7. 7 Marko Sarstedt · #145 worldwide 11k citations · 117 works
  8. 8 Bernt Schiele · #159 worldwide 6.9k citations · 215 works
  9. 9 T. Dohmae · #229 worldwide 4.2k citations · 150 works
  10. 10 A. Khodinov · #236 worldwide 5.6k citations · 184 works
Top researchers in Germany

Which cities in Germany are research hubs?

  1. 1 Munich Germany 504k works
  2. 2 Berlin Germany 433k works
  3. 3 Heidelberg Germany 199k works
  4. 4 Hamburg Germany 192k works
  5. 5 Cologne Germany 153k works
  6. 6 Stuttgart Germany 145k works
  7. 7 Frankfurt am Main Germany 132k works
  8. 8 Bonn Germany 129k works
  9. 9 Hanover Germany 117k works
  10. 10 Aachen Germany 114k works
  11. 11 Freiburg Germany 113k works
  12. 12 Dresden Germany 112k works

How much of it is in the largest

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

Munich: 21.5%Berlin: 18.5%Heidelberg: 8.5%Hamburg: 8.2%8 others listed: 43.3%22%largest
Munich504k · 21.5%Berlin433k · 18.5%Heidelberg199k · 8.5%Hamburg192k · 8.2%8 others listed1.0M · 43.3%

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

How open and international is Germany's research?

31% of its research is openly available (world: 40%), and 20% is written with international co-authors (world: 18%).

openly available30.8%not open69.2%

World: 63% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors20.2%domestic only79.8%

World: 22% is written across borders.

How has Germany's research grown?

Output in 2018–2022 was 8% 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 Germany