Science Explorer Interactive view Map
Domain

Life Sciences research

Life Sciences is one of the four domains of science in the OpenAlex classification. Science Explorer counts 16.7M research works in it since 1950. 19.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: branch of science that involve the scientific study of life – such as microorganisms, plants, and animals including human beings.

Research works
16.7M
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
3.3M
per year above
Top-10% rate
19.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
614
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+23%
the tick is no change

What is Life Sciences research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Cancer, Oxidative Stress, Climate Change, Gene Expression, Inflammation, Epidemiology. Gaining share since 2009–13: Agriculture, Biogenesis, Food Security, Microbial Communities, Sustainability. Losing share: Pharmacology, Invasive Species, Metabolism.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Cancer211k◆ 1.04×36 topics
  2. Oxidative Stress148k◆ 1.00×29 topics
  3. Climate Change146k▲ 1.20×22 topics
  4. Gene Expression138k◆ 0.99×19 topics
  5. Inflammation129k◆ 0.89×29 topics
  6. Epidemiology119k◆ 1.07×22 topics
  7. Antioxidant Activity115k▲ 1.43×19 topics
  8. Food Security109k▲ 2.3×21 topics
  9. Sustainability105k▲ 1.97×22 topics
  10. Genetics93k◆ 1.10×13 topics
  11. Antioxidant92k◆ 0.99×29 topics
  12. Metabolism86k▼ 0.85×21 topics
  13. Genetic Diversity83k◆ 1.04×16 topics
  14. Innate Immunity82k◆ 1.02×11 topics
  15. Biodiversity77k◆ 1.00×15 topics
  16. Medicinal Plants75k◆ 1.08×17 topics
  17. Sustainable Agriculture74k▲ 1.76×14 topics
  18. Regulation72k▲ 1.34×11 topics
  19. Gut Microbiota68k▲ 1.54×4 topics
  20. Phylogenetic Analysis68k◆ 0.97×11 topics
  21. Environmental Impact65k▲ 1.66×13 topics
  22. Epigenetic Regulation62k▲ 1.18×6 topics
  23. Biomarkers62k▲ 1.67×5 topics
  24. Antioxidants60k▲ 1.32×9 topics
  25. Food Safety60k▲ 1.35×13 topics
  26. Agriculture59k▲ 2.8×11 topics
  27. Neurological Disorders59k◆ 0.91×7 topics
  28. Soil Fertility57k▲ 1.93×8 topics
  29. Cancer Therapy56k◆ 0.88×11 topics
  30. Genomics56k◆ 1.04×10 topics
  31. Nanoparticles56k▲ 1.27×5 topics
  32. Microbial Communities55k▲ 2.0×5 topics
  33. Nutrition55k▲ 1.46×8 topics
  34. Antibiotic Resistance54k▲ 1.19×6 topics
  35. Bioactive Compounds54k▲ 1.62×10 topics
  36. Biogenesis52k▲ 2.4×3 topics
  37. Immune Response52k◆ 0.89×11 topics
  38. Pharmacology51k▼ 0.79×16 topics
  39. Invasive Species49k▼ 0.81×11 topics
  40. Biogeography49k◆ 0.93×16 topics

Which countries lead Life Sciences research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and the United Kingdom rank highest in Life Sciences. By volume, China and the United States publish the most (572k and 427k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #3 all time 28.0% top 10% · 572k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 19.9% top 10% · 427k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom · #2 all time 24.1% top 10% · 78k works
  4. 4 Germany · #4 all time 22.1% top 10% · 85k works
  5. 5 India · #14 all time 13.8% top 10% · 218k works
  6. 6 Italy · #9 all time 24.7% top 10% · 64k works
  7. 7 France · #5 all time 18.3% top 10% · 68k works
  8. 8 Australia · #8 all time 25.8% top 10% · 40k works
  9. 9 Canada · #6 all time 21.5% top 10% · 48k works
  10. 10 Spain · #12 all time 21.5% top 10% · 52k works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 149 countries ranked in Life Sciences. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Life Sciences

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 572k works
  2. 2 United States 427k works
  3. 3 India 218k works
  4. 4 Indonesia 146k works
  5. 5 Brazil 90k works
  6. 6 Germany 85k works
  7. 7 Japan 81k works
  8. 8 United Kingdom 78k works
  9. 9 France 68k works
  10. 10 Russia 66k works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 31.2%United States: 23.3%India: 11.9%Indonesia: 8.0%6 others listed: 25.5%31%largest
China572k · 31.2%United States427k · 23.3%India218k · 11.9%Indonesia146k · 8.0%6 others listed467k · 25.5%

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

Which institutions lead Life Sciences research?

Harvard University (United States) ranks first in Life Sciences on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Stanford University and Chinese Academy of Sciences.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Harvard University United States · Cambridge · #1 all time 31.1% top 10% · 5k works
  2. 2 Stanford University United States · Stanford · #4 all time 28.5% top 10% · 3.6k works
  3. 3 Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #60 all time 33.1% top 10% · 7.9k works
  4. 4 Howard Hughes Medical Institute United States · Chevy Chase · #2 all time 50.8% top 10% · 1.2k works
  5. 5 Sichuan University China · Chengdu 30.7% top 10% · 4.7k works
  6. 6 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College China · Beijing 25.3% top 10% · 5.5k works
  7. 7 Sun Yat-sen University China · Guangzhou 28.2% top 10% · 5.2k works
  8. 8 Zhejiang University China · Hangzhou 33.4% top 10% · 5.7k works
  9. 9 University of Pennsylvania United States · Philadelphia · #10 all time 25.6% top 10% · 3.4k works
  10. 10 Washington University in St. Louis United States · St Louis · #9 all time 24.2% top 10% · 3k works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 7,800 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Life Sciences.

Top 100 Life Sciences institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of Sciences China 7.9k works
  2. 2 Zhejiang University China 5.7k works
  3. 3 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States 5.6k works
  4. 4 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France 5.5k works
  5. 5 China Agricultural University China 5.5k works
  6. 6 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College China 5.5k works
  7. 7 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs China 5.4k works
  8. 8 Sun Yat-sen University China 5.2k works
  9. 9 Universidade de São Paulo Brazil 5.1k works
  10. 10 Shanghai Jiao Tong University China 5.1k works

Who are the leading researchers in Life Sciences?

Among the most productive authors in Life Sciences, Gad Getz, Giuseppe Remuzzi and Mark J. Daly rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Gad Getz United States · #31 worldwide 6.2k citations · 179 works
  2. 2 Giuseppe Remuzzi Italy · #34 worldwide 8.1k citations · 312 works
  3. 3 Mark J. Daly United States · #47 worldwide 9.6k citations · 152 works
  4. 4 Rob Knight United States · #97 worldwide 4.9k citations · 202 works
  5. 5 Matthias Mann Germany · #116 worldwide 5.1k citations · 154 works
  6. 6 Amirhossein Sahebkar Iran · #123 worldwide 5.6k citations · 243 works
  7. 7 Kāri Stefánsson Iceland · #127 worldwide 4.2k citations · 145 works
  8. 8 Mark I. McCarthy United Kingdom · #148 worldwide 4.9k citations · 194 works
  9. 9 Matthew Meyerson United States · #149 worldwide 4.2k citations · 138 works
  10. 10 Charles M. Perou United States · #156 worldwide 4.2k citations · 229 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 5,679 highest-output authors in Life Sciences. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Life Sciences researchers

Where is Life Sciences research done?

The largest centres of Life Sciences research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Guangzhou (China) and Nanjing (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Khed, Kaifeng and Byron.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 89k works
  2. 2 Shanghai China 36k works
  3. 3 Guangzhou China 32k works
  4. 4 Nanjing China 26k works
  5. 5 Paris France 26k works
  6. 6 Moscow Russia 25k works
  7. 7 Hangzhou China 22k works
  8. 8 Tokyo Japan 22k works
  9. 9 London United Kingdom 22k works
  10. 10 Wuhan China 21k works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. KhedIN · 81.9 works7.0×
  2. Kaifeng33.4 works6.9×
  3. ByronUS · 41.7 works6.9×
  4. LobnyaRU · 194.1 works6.8×
  5. Bikaner34.7 works6.8×
  6. EinbeckDE · 27.3 works6.7×
  7. Gia LộcVN · 268.0 works6.7×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Life Sciences than the world average.

See Life Sciences on the map

Life Sciences research by country

The best places for Life Sciences research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Life Sciences?

Among universities, judged by research, Northwest A&F University, China Agricultural University and Nanjing Agricultural University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 33.35%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Northwest A&F University: 4,138, 43.4%China Agricultural University: 5,472, 42.0%Nanjing Agricultural University: 4,536, 38.0%Huazhong Agricultural University: 3,845, 38.0%Wageningen University & Research: 2,955, 37.4%Northeast Agricultural University: 2,811, 44.9%Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research: 1,950, 9.3%Tamil Nadu Agricultural University: 3,368, 9.8%Gansu Agricultural University: 2,008, 37.2%Sichuan Agricultural University: 2,908, 33.5%Northwest A&F Univer…China Agricultural U…Nanjing Agricultural…Huazhong Agricultura…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Northwest A&F University China 60.643.4%3.9×4,138 +18.9%
2China Agricultural University China 59.842.0%3.7×5,472 -8.4%
3Nanjing Agricultural University China 58.938.0%4.3×4,536 +1.2%
4Huazhong Agricultural University China 57.638.0%4.3×3,845 +8.6%
5Wageningen University & Research Netherlands 53.537.4%3.0×2,955 +1.6%
6Northeast Agricultural University China 52.744.9%4.0×2,811 -36.5%
7Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research Ethiopia 51.09.3%6.1×1,950 +381.8%
8Tamil Nadu Agricultural University India 50.29.8%5.5×3,368 +134.7%
9Gansu Agricultural University China 48.937.2%5.0×2,008 -44.6%
10Sichuan Agricultural University China 48.733.5%3.9×2,908 +5.1%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Life Sciences research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 23% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces, RNA modifications and cancer and Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces+129%
  2. RNA modifications and cancer+122%
  3. Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques+108%
  4. Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies+70%
  5. Animal Nutrition and Physiology+68%
  6. Cancer, Hypoxia, and Metabolism+62%
  7. T-cell and B-cell Immunology-8%
  8. Receptor Mechanisms and Signaling-14%
  9. Ion channel regulation and function-17%
  10. Chemical Synthesis and Analysis-18%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Life Sciences include?

Neuroscience and Neuroph…146kNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research: 146k fractional worksPlant and animal studies123kPlant and animal studies: 123k fractional worksAdvanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques: 113k fractional worksImmune Cell Function and Interaction: 112k fractional worksRNA and protein synthesis mechanisms: 109k fractional worksGlycosylation and Glycop…90kGlycosylation and Glycoproteins Research: 90k fractional worksImmunotherapy and Immune Responses: 90k fractional worksChemical Synthesis and Analysis: 89k fractional worksRNA modifications and ca…89kRNA modifications and cancer: 89k fractional worksReceptor Mechanisms and Signaling: 88k fractional worksNeural dynamics and brain function: 87k fractional worksMetabolism and Genetic D…85kMetabolism and Genetic Disorders: 85k fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.