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Science in Pakistan

Pakistan ranks #25 of 192 countries on research quality in 2022–2025 (#41 all time), with 170k research works and 15.1% of them in the world's top 10%.

World rank, 2022–2025
#25
of 192 · #41 all time
Works, 2022–2025
170k
▲ 141% vs 2013–17
Top-10% rate
15.1%
record average 16.5%
In the world top 100
0
6 in the top 1,000
Open access
61%
world 63%

What is Pakistan strongest at in science?

On research quality in 2022–2025, Pakistan ranks highest in Plant Science (#6 of 92), Economics, Econometrics and Finance (#10 of 110) and Economics and Econometrics (#10 of 101). Relative to its size it is most specialised in General Dentistry, Leadership and Management and Modeling and Simulation.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorks
Plant ScienceSubfield #6 of 92 25.1%6,240 Institutions
Economics, Econometrics and FinanceField #10 of 110 25.0%4,992 Institutions
Economics and EconometricsSubfield #10 of 101 27.5%3,750 Institutions
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #14 of 126 21.1%12,118 Institutions
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the EnvironmentSubfield #9 of 68 23.9%1,811 Institutions
Environmental ScienceField #17 of 125 20.6%6,898 Institutions
EnergyField #10 of 73 23.5%2,043 Institutions
Computer Networks and CommunicationsSubfield #10 of 71 26.5%1,469 Institutions
PollutionSubfield #9 of 60 21.4%1,079 Institutions
Information SystemsSubfield #15 of 93 22.2%2,772 Institutions
EngineeringField #22 of 134 19.7%17,689 Institutions
Computer ScienceField #22 of 131 22.8%11,374 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. General DentistrySubfield · 312.3 works4.2×
  2. Leadership and ManagementSubfield · 86.9 works3.3×
  3. Modeling and SimulationSubfield · 784.1 works3.3×
  4. Drug DiscoverySubfield · 44.0 works3.0×
  5. Applied Microbiology and BiotechnologySubfield · 237.5 works2.8×
  6. Pharmaceutical ScienceSubfield · 400.9 works2.2×
  7. Obstetrics and GynecologySubfield · 1,052.7 works2.2×
  8. Medical Laboratory TechnologySubfield · 111.2 works2.1×
← 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: 1.50× its world share, 12k worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.85× its world share, 7,712 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.86× its world share, 1,470 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.58× its world share, 1,604 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 1.86× its world share, 1,116 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.79× its world share, 472 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.00× its world share, 2,672 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.86× its world share, 11k worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.39× its world share, 1,030 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 1.31× its world share, 2,043 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.69× its world share, 18k worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.82× its world share, 6,898 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 1.07× its world share, 6,355 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.35× its world share, 2,707 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.72× its world share, 2,719 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 1.98× its world share, 1,632 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.95× its world share, 4,235 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 1.26× its world share, 41k worksMedicineNursing: 1.71× its world share, 1,427 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.84× its world share, 194 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.71× its world share, 3,507 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.25× its world share, 6,827 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.27× its world share, 2,085 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.37× its world share, 4,992 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.28× its world share, 6,615 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.89× its world share, 19k worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Dentistry, 2.0×. Every wedge is a field page.

Which keywords describe research in Pakistan?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Epidemiology, Machine Learning, Conflict, Heat Transfer, Deep Learning, Experimental Investigation, Security and Mental Health.

▲ 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. Epidemiology9,902▲ 1.47×140 topics
  2. Machine Learning6,526▲ 1.17×97 topics
  3. Deep Learning5,650◆ 0.97×85 topics
  4. Inflammation4,075◆ 1.15×83 topics
  5. Globalization3,837◆ 1.15×165 topics
  6. Mental Health3,750▲ 1.50×48 topics
  7. Oxidative Stress3,714▲ 1.34×63 topics
  8. Climate Change3,693▼ 0.81×122 topics
  9. Environmental Impact3,278◆ 1.13×73 topics
  10. COVID-193,229▲ 1.39×34 topics
  11. Quality of Life3,133▲ 1.28×60 topics
  12. Nanomaterials3,019▲ 1.68×21 topics
  13. Renewable Energy2,901▲ 1.18×55 topics
  14. Treatment2,859▲ 1.39×52 topics
  15. Heat Transfer2,851▲ 3.4×20 topics
  16. Cardiovascular Disease2,825▲ 1.50×39 topics
  17. Security2,777▲ 2.5×31 topics
  18. Social Media2,696◆ 1.11×39 topics
  19. Nanoparticles2,671▲ 1.25×44 topics
  20. Depression2,650▲ 1.77×26 topics
  21. Risk Factors2,576▲ 1.38×37 topics
  22. Healthcare2,512▲ 1.31×41 topics
  23. Metabolic Syndrome2,336▲ 1.69×24 topics
  24. Antioxidant2,167▲ 1.86×51 topics
  25. Conflict2,121▲ 7.6×11 topics
  26. Toxicity1,827▲ 2.5×20 topics
  27. Stress1,827▲ 2.9×11 topics
  28. Leadership1,779▲ 2.2×40 topics
  29. Reconstruction1,658▲ 5.6×6 topics
  30. Experimental Investigation1,620▲ 9.1×5 topics
  31. Central Asia1,484▲ 12×4 topics
  32. Nation-Building1,451▲ 16×4 topics
  33. State-Building1,448▲ 23×2 topics
  34. Afghanistan1,430▲ 34×1 topic
  35. Pakistan1,430▲ 34×1 topic
  36. Review1,188▲ 5.7×5 topics
  37. Viscosity1,063▲ 8.9×4 topics
  38. Nanofluids1,060▲ 7.6×2 topics
  39. Convective Transport1,018▲ 13×1 topic
  40. Enhancement1,018▲ 13×1 topic

How many world-class institutions does Pakistan 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.

501st to 1,000th6

Bands are exclusive, so the squares add up to 6 — the institutions it holds in the world top 1,000 — and not to four times it.

Which universities in Pakistan lead research?

University of the Punjab, COMSATS University Islamabad and Islamia University of Bahawalpur rank highest in Pakistan on research quality in 2022–2025.

0%10%20%30%mean 20.9467%fractional works (log) →share in the world top 10% →University of the Punjab: 5,955, 17.8%COMSATS University Islamabad: 4,833, 26.2%Islamia University of Bahawalpur: 3,354, 22.6%Government College University, Faisalabad: 3,246, 22.0%University of Agriculture Faisalabad: 3,142, 20.5%National University of Sciences and Technology: 4,185, 23.4%Quaid-i-Azam University: 3,138, 22.4%University of Lahore: 3,629, 17.3%Riphah International University: 2,857, 17.4%Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan: 1,859, 23.8%University of Management and Technology: 1,968, 25.3%Government College University, Lahore: 1,925, 20.2%University of Sargodha: 2,367, 18.1%University of Gujrat: 1,763, 18.7%Bahauddin Zakariya University: 2,784, 18.5%COMSATS University I…Islamia University o…Government College U…University of the Pu…
above the meannear itbelow it

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

  1. 1University of the PunjabUniversity · Lahore · #708 worldwide17.8% top 10% · 6k works
  2. 2COMSATS University IslamabadUniversity · Islamabad · #718 worldwide26.2% top 10% · 4.8k works
  3. 3Islamia University of BahawalpurUniversity · Bahawalpur · #872 worldwide22.6% top 10% · 3.4k works
  4. 4Government College University, FaisalabadUniversity · Faisalabad · #898 worldwide22.0% top 10% · 3.2k works
  5. 5University of Agriculture FaisalabadUniversity · Faisalabad · #917 worldwide20.5% top 10% · 3.1k works
  6. 6National University of Sciences and TechnologyUniversity · Islamabad · #933 worldwide23.4% top 10% · 4.2k works
  7. 7Quaid-i-Azam UniversityUniversity · Islamabad · #1,064 worldwide22.4% top 10% · 3.1k works
  8. 8University of LahoreUniversity · Lahore · #1,121 worldwide17.3% top 10% · 3.6k works
  9. 9Riphah International UniversityUniversity · Rawalpindi · #1,265 worldwide17.4% top 10% · 2.9k works
  10. 10Abdul Wali Khan University MardanUniversity · Mardan · #1,313 worldwide23.8% top 10% · 1.9k works
  11. 11University of Management and TechnologyUniversity · Lahore · #1,338 worldwide25.3% top 10% · 2k works
  12. 12Government College University, LahoreUniversity · Lahore · #1,438 worldwide20.2% top 10% · 1.9k works
  13. 13University of SargodhaUniversity · Sargodha · #1,531 worldwide18.1% top 10% · 2.4k works
  14. 14University of GujratUniversity · Gujrat · #1,546 worldwide18.7% top 10% · 1.8k works
  15. 15Bahauddin Zakariya UniversityUniversity · Multan · #1,561 worldwide18.5% top 10% · 2.8k 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 Pakistan

Who are the top researchers in Pakistan?

Zulfiqar A Bhutta, Syed Amir Gilani and Nauman Khalid rank highest among researchers based in Pakistan.

  1. 1 Zulfiqar A Bhutta · #29 worldwide 7k citations · 258 works
  2. 2 Syed Amir Gilani · #2,563 worldwide 874 citations · 87 works
  3. 3 Nauman Khalid · #4,524 worldwide 1.9k citations · 62 works
  4. 4 Muhammad Usman · #5,556 worldwide 2.6k citations · 57 works
  5. 5 Jai K Das · #8,710 worldwide 767 citations · 60 works
  6. 6 Asif Hanif · #11,510 worldwide 621 citations · 51 works
  7. 7 Muhammad Naveed · #12,643 worldwide 827 citations · 60 works
  8. 8 Saira Afzal · #14,460 worldwide 719 citations · 45 works
  9. 9 Tauseef Ahmad · #18,095 worldwide 616 citations · 51 works
  10. 10 S. M. A. Basra · #19,407 worldwide 533 citations · 48 works
Top researchers in Pakistan

Which cities in Pakistan are research hubs?

  1. 1 Islamabad Pakistan 92k works
  2. 2 Lahore Pakistan 85k works
  3. 3 Karachi Pakistan 75k works
  4. 4 Rawalpindi Pakistan 31k works
  5. 5 Peshawar Pakistan 28k works
  6. 6 Faisalabad Pakistan 26k works

How much of it is in the largest

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

Islamabad: 27.2%Lahore: 25.2%Karachi: 22.2%Rawalpindi: 9.2%2 others listed: 16.2%27%largest
Islamabad92k · 27.2%Lahore85k · 25.2%Karachi75k · 22.2%Rawalpindi31k · 9.2%2 others listed55k · 16.2%

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

How open and international is Pakistan's research?

61% of its research is openly available (world: 40%), and 33% is written with international co-authors (world: 18%).

openly available61.1%not open38.9%

World: 63% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors32.8%domestic only67.2%

World: 22% is written across borders.

How has Pakistan's research grown?

Output in 2018–2022 was 141% 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 Pakistan