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Science in New Zealand

New Zealand ranks #47 of 192 countries on research quality in 2022–2025 (#38 all time), with 48k research works and 22.0% of them in the world's top 10%.

World rank, 2022–2025
#47
of 192 · #38 all time
Works, 2022–2025
48k
▲ 7% vs 2013–17
Top-10% rate
22.0%
record average 16.5%
In the world top 100
0
2 in the top 1,000
Open access
37%
world 63%

What is New Zealand strongest at in science?

On research quality in 2022–2025, New Zealand ranks highest in Medicine (#44 of 155), Social Sciences (#45 of 151) and Education (#36 of 115). Relative to its size it is most specialised in Public Administration, Equine and Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorks
MedicineField #44 of 155 17.0%9,385 Institutions
Social SciencesField #45 of 151 27.3%7,295 Institutions
EducationSubfield #36 of 115 32.2%1,309 Institutions
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #40 of 122 28.9%2,373 Institutions
PsychologyField #36 of 109 23.9%2,608 Institutions
Arts and HumanitiesField #36 of 106 25.6%1,468 Institutions
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #44 of 126 25.5%2,842 Institutions
Environmental ScienceField #44 of 125 21.1%3,689 Institutions
Business, Management and AccountingField #41 of 113 33.8%1,627 Institutions
EcologySubfield #26 of 70 21.6%1,098 Institutions
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #42 of 108 20.9%2,554 Institutions
Computer ScienceField #51 of 131 22.8%2,714 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. Public AdministrationSubfield · 124.5 works4.8×
  2. EquineSubfield · 20.8 works3.3×
  3. Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality ManagementSubfield · 34.1 works3.1×
  4. HealthSubfield · 428.8 works3.0×
  5. EcologySubfield · 1,098.3 works2.9×
  6. Research and TheorySubfield · 34.8 works2.8×
  7. Nature and Landscape ConservationSubfield · 312.9 works2.7×
  8. Ecological ModelingSubfield · 95.1 works2.6×
← 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: 1.24× its world share, 2,842 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.99× its world share, 2,554 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.81× its world share, 393 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.23× its world share, 964 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.85× its world share, 145 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.60× its world share, 101 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.60× its world share, 452 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.72× its world share, 2,714 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.62× its world share, 1,227 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.59× its world share, 261 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.60× its world share, 4,356 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.54× its world share, 3,689 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.42× its world share, 701 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.68× its world share, 385 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.58× its world share, 624 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.88× its world share, 205 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.54× its world share, 1,952 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 1.01× its world share, 9,385 worksMedicineNursing: 1.50× its world share, 355 worksNursingVeterinary: 2.50× its world share, 164 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.05× its world share, 1,468 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.05× its world share, 1,626 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.21× its world share, 566 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.19× its world share, 1,230 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.77× its world share, 2,608 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.19× its world share, 7,295 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Veterinary, 2.5×. Every wedge is a field page.

Which keywords describe research in New Zealand?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Epidemiology, Sustainability, Vulnerability, Globalization, Mental Health, Resilience and Invasive Species.

▲ 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. Climate Change2,613▲ 2.0×115 topics
  2. Epidemiology2,303▲ 1.21×139 topics
  3. Sustainability1,472▲ 1.25×125 topics
  4. Globalization1,229▲ 1.30×151 topics
  5. Machine Learning1,100▼ 0.70×95 topics
  6. Mental Health1,073▲ 1.52×47 topics
  7. Deep Learning1,046▼ 0.63×83 topics
  8. Public Health1,019▲ 1.45×72 topics
  9. Inflammation968◆ 0.96×83 topics
  10. Environmental Impact912◆ 1.11×68 topics
  11. Quality of Life766◆ 1.10×59 topics
  12. Biodiversity712▲ 1.98×35 topics
  13. Resilience691▲ 3.0×18 topics
  14. Invasive Species660▲ 3.2×21 topics
  15. Risk Factors643▲ 1.21×37 topics
  16. Cardiovascular Disease612◆ 1.14×39 topics
  17. Vulnerability604▲ 5.5×9 topics
  18. Depression584▲ 1.38×26 topics
  19. Social Capital509▲ 2.0×20 topics
  20. Social Justice484▲ 1.71×48 topics
  21. Ecosystem Services451▲ 2.4×14 topics
  22. Conservation443▲ 2.1×24 topics
  23. Health Equity432▲ 3.3×6 topics
  24. Population Dynamics412▲ 3.4×13 topics
  25. Primary Care398▲ 2.2×15 topics
  26. Global Warming396▲ 2.0×14 topics
  27. Decolonization396▲ 10×8 topics
  28. Ethics393▲ 1.69×54 topics
  29. Neoliberalism392▲ 2.3×26 topics
  30. Ethical Considerations370▲ 2.2×19 topics
  31. Well-being361▲ 1.95×14 topics
  32. Habitat Fragmentation328▲ 3.1×5 topics
  33. Global Change320▲ 2.5×7 topics
  34. Biogeography308▲ 2.5×20 topics
  35. Reflective Practice300▲ 3.3×7 topics
  36. Settler Colonialism226▲ 11×2 topics
  37. Traditional Ecological Knowledge224▲ 11×2 topics
  38. Indigenous Knowledge Systems223▲ 15×3 topics
  39. Historical Trauma214▲ 32×1 topic
  40. Indigenous Health214▲ 32×1 topic

How many world-class institutions does New Zealand 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.

101st to 500th1501st to 1,000th1

Bands are exclusive, so the squares add up to 2 — the institutions it holds in the world top 1,000 — and not to four times it.

Which universities in New Zealand lead research?

University of Auckland, University of Otago and Victoria University of Wellington rank highest in New Zealand on research quality in 2022–2025.

0%50%100%mean 27.4267%fractional works (log) →share in the world top 10% →University of Auckland: 11k, 24.7%University of Otago: 5,862, 21.9%Victoria University of Wellington: 4,162, 22.5%University of Canterbury: 3,340, 22.7%Massey University: 3,717, 26.4%Auckland University of Technology: 3,687, 21.5%Springer Nature (New Zealand): 427, 33.2%Ministry of Education: 502, 31.1%University of Waikato: 2,332, 25.7%Bayer (New Zealand): 116, 75.0%MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology: 240, 14.8%Lincoln University: 829, 28.1%GNS Science: 353, 26.7%National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research: 407, 22.2%The Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies: 128, 14.9%University of AucklandUniversity of Canter…Victoria University …University of Otago
above the meannear itbelow it

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

  1. 1University of AucklandUniversity · Auckland · #267 worldwide24.7% top 10% · 11k works
  2. 2University of OtagoUniversity · Dunedin · #711 worldwide21.9% top 10% · 5.9k works
  3. 3Victoria University of WellingtonUniversity · Wellington · #1,092 worldwide22.5% top 10% · 4.2k works
  4. 4University of CanterburyUniversity · Christchurch · #1,161 worldwide22.7% top 10% · 3.3k works
  5. 5Massey UniversityUniversity · Palmerston North · #1,234 worldwide26.4% top 10% · 3.7k works
  6. 6Auckland University of TechnologyUniversity · Auckland · #1,481 worldwide21.5% top 10% · 3.7k works
  7. 7Springer Nature (New Zealand)Company · Auckland · #1,883 worldwide33.2% top 10% · 427 works
  8. 8Ministry of EducationGovernment institution · Wellington · #2,165 worldwide31.1% top 10% · 502 works
  9. 9University of WaikatoUniversity · Hamilton · #2,311 worldwide25.7% top 10% · 2.3k works
  10. 10Bayer (New Zealand)Company · Auckland · #3,708 worldwide75.0% top 10% · 116 works
  11. 11MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and NanotechnologyResearch facility · Wellington · #3,989 worldwide14.8% top 10% · 240 works
  12. 12Lincoln UniversityUniversity · Lincoln · #4,181 worldwide28.1% top 10% · 829 works
  13. 13GNS ScienceResearch facility · Lower Hutt · #4,406 worldwide26.7% top 10% · 353 works
  14. 14National Institute of Water and Atmospheric ResearchResearch facility · Auckland · #4,428 worldwide22.2% top 10% · 407 works
  15. 15The Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum TechnologiesResearch facility · Dunedin · #5,533 worldwide14.9% top 10% · 128 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 New Zealand

Who are the top researchers in New Zealand?

Valery L. Feigin, Edward Gane and Richard Beasley rank highest among researchers based in New Zealand.

  1. 1 Valery L. Feigin · #390 worldwide 7.9k citations · 101 works
  2. 2 Edward Gane · #970 worldwide 1.7k citations · 121 works
  3. 3 Richard Beasley · #1,305 worldwide 1.6k citations · 132 works
  4. 4 John L. Harper · #1,396 worldwide 2.9k citations · 84 works
  5. 5 John Hodgson · #2,291 worldwide 2.1k citations · 180 works
  6. 6 Yusuf Chisti · #3,055 worldwide 2.2k citations · 104 works
  7. 7 Rod Ellis · #3,086 worldwide 1.8k citations · 70 works
  8. 8 Harvey D. White · #3,184 worldwide 2k citations · 165 works
  9. 9 Eric H. C. McKenzie · #4,466 worldwide 1.7k citations · 84 works
  10. 10 David Bryant · #5,543 worldwide 1.9k citations · 59 works
Top researchers in New Zealand

Which cities in New Zealand are research hubs?

  1. 1 Auckland New Zealand 116k works
  2. 2 Wellington New Zealand 50k works
  3. 3 Dunedin New Zealand 49k works
  4. 4 Christchurch New Zealand 37k works
  5. 5 Palmerston North New Zealand 31k works
  6. 6 Hamilton New Zealand 21k works
  7. 7 Lincoln New Zealand 18k works

How much of it is in the largest

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

Auckland: 35.9%Wellington: 15.5%Dunedin: 15.2%Christchurch: 11.5%3 others listed: 21.9%36%largest
Auckland116k · 35.9%Wellington50k · 15.5%Dunedin49k · 15.2%Christchurch37k · 11.5%3 others listed71k · 21.9%

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

How open and international is New Zealand's research?

37% of its research is openly available (world: 40%), and 26% is written with international co-authors (world: 18%).

openly available36.7%not open63.3%

World: 63% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors26.1%domestic only73.9%

World: 22% is written across borders.

How has New Zealand's research grown?

Output in 2018–2022 was 7% 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 New Zealand