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Field · Physical Sciences

Materials Science research

Materials Science is a field of the Physical Sciences. Science Explorer counts 4.2M research works in it since 1950. 17.7% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: research, discovery and design of physical materials (especially solids).

Research works
4.2M
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
749k
per year above
Top-10% rate
17.7%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
123
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+21%
the tick is no change

What is Materials Science research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Biomedical Applications, Nanocomposites, Nanoparticles, Tissue Engineering, Catalysis, Nanomaterials. Gaining share since 2009–13: MXenes, Green Synthesis, Energy Storage, Metal-Organic Frameworks, Carbon-Based Materials. Losing share: Self-Assembly, Photodetectors, Crystal Growth, Microstructure.

▲ 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. Biomedical Applications181k▲ 1.22×17 topics
  2. Nanocomposites150k◆ 1.06×15 topics
  3. Nanoparticles108k◆ 0.89×14 topics
  4. Tissue Engineering73k▲ 1.24×6 topics
  5. Catalysis66k◆ 0.92×9 topics
  6. Nanomaterials65k▲ 1.50×7 topics
  7. Graphene63k▲ 1.52×4 topics
  8. Two-Dimensional Materials61k▲ 1.82×4 topics
  9. Mechanical Properties58k◆ 1.00×11 topics
  10. Drug Delivery57k◆ 0.91×8 topics
  11. Nanocrystals56k▲ 1.31×4 topics
  12. Nanofibers56k▲ 1.21×3 topics
  13. Nanostructures55k▼ 0.79×9 topics
  14. Bioimaging46k▲ 1.18×4 topics
  15. Energy Storage46k▲ 2.5×3 topics
  16. Metal-Organic Frameworks43k▲ 2.5×2 topics
  17. Electronic Structure43k◆ 1.15×6 topics
  18. Synthesis40k▼ 0.82×9 topics
  19. Transparent Conductors38k▼ 0.86×2 topics
  20. Raman Spectroscopy38k◆ 0.93×3 topics
  21. Biodegradable Polymers37k▲ 1.28×4 topics
  22. Conducting Polymers37k◆ 1.05×2 topics
  23. Antimicrobial32k▲ 2.2×3 topics
  24. PEDOT:PSS32k▲ 1.19×1 topic
  25. Polyaniline32k▲ 1.19×1 topic
  26. Environmental Impact30k▲ 2.1×2 topics
  27. Green Synthesis30k▲ 2.9×3 topics
  28. Carbon Nanotubes29k▲ 1.19×2 topics
  29. Carbon-Based Materials28k▲ 2.3×1 topic
  30. Electrochemical Capacitors28k▲ 2.3×1 topic
  31. Ceria27k◆ 0.94×1 topic
  32. Oxidation27k◆ 0.94×1 topic
  33. Self-Assembly27k▼ 0.76×6 topics
  34. Magnetic Nanoparticles27k▲ 1.17×4 topics
  35. Characterization25k◆ 0.98×6 topics
  36. Microstructure24k▼ 0.78×7 topics
  37. Photodetectors24k▼ 0.76×2 topics
  38. Crystal Growth23k▼ 0.77×6 topics
  39. MXenes23k▲ 3.2×2 topics
  40. Biomaterials23k▲ 1.20×4 topics

Which countries lead Materials Science research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and India rank highest in Materials Science. By volume, China and India publish the most (271k and 71k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #2 all time 21.4% top 10% · 271k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 15.1% top 10% · 57k works
  3. 3 India · #7 all time 14.1% top 10% · 71k works
  4. 4 United Kingdom · #4 all time 18.1% top 10% · 13k works
  5. 5 South Korea · #8 all time 17.3% top 10% · 22k works
  6. 6 Germany · #3 all time 12.4% top 10% · 20k works
  7. 7 Australia · #10 all time 24.1% top 10% · 6.8k works
  8. 8 Japan · #5 all time 7.6% top 10% · 27k works
  9. 9 Russia · #11 all time 4.4% top 10% · 28k works
  10. 10 Saudi Arabia · #23 all time 22.6% top 10% · 9.8k 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 90 countries ranked in Materials Science. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Materials Science

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 271k works
  2. 2 India 71k works
  3. 3 United States 57k works
  4. 4 Russia 28k works
  5. 5 Japan 27k works
  6. 6 South Korea 22k works
  7. 7 Germany 20k works
  8. 8 France 18k works
  9. 9 Iran 14k works
  10. 10 United Kingdom 13k 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: 50.1%India: 13.1%United States: 10.6%Russia: 5.2%6 others listed: 21.0%50%largest
China271k · 50.1%India71k · 13.1%United States57k · 10.6%Russia28k · 5.2%6 others listed114k · 21.0%

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

Which institutions lead Materials Science research?

Chinese Academy of Sciences (China) ranks first in Materials Science on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Northwestern Polytechnical University and Tsinghua University.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #1 all time 23.7% top 10% · 6.7k works
  2. 2 Northwestern Polytechnical University China · Xi'an · #20 all time 28.8% top 10% · 2.6k works
  3. 3 Tsinghua University China · Beijing · #8 all time 25.6% top 10% · 2.8k works
  4. 4 University of Science and Technology Beijing China · Beijing · #34 all time 20.7% top 10% · 2.7k works
  5. 5 Central South University China · Changsha · #22 all time 25.0% top 10% · 2.7k works
  6. 6 Shanghai Jiao Tong University China · Shanghai · #25 all time 25.4% top 10% · 2.6k works
  7. 7 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #41 all time 24.0% top 10% · 3.1k works
  8. 8 Xi'an Jiaotong University China · Xi'an · #23 all time 21.8% top 10% · 3.4k works
  9. 9 Harbin Institute of Technology China · Harbin · #35 all time 22.7% top 10% · 3.2k works
  10. 10 Beijing Institute of Technology China · Beijing · #76 all time 22.5% top 10% · 2.2k 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 2,468 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Materials Science.

Top 100 Materials Science institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of Sciences China 6.7k works
  2. 2 Xi'an Jiaotong University China 3.4k works
  3. 3 Sichuan University China 3.2k works
  4. 4 Harbin Institute of Technology China 3.2k works
  5. 5 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China 3.1k works
  6. 6 Tsinghua University China 2.8k works
  7. 7 University of Science and Technology Beijing China 2.7k works
  8. 8 Central South University China 2.7k works
  9. 9 University of Science and Technology of China China 2.7k works
  10. 10 South China University of Technology China 2.6k works

Who are the leading researchers in Materials Science?

Among the most productive authors in Materials Science, J. Häfner, David Vanderbilt and Georg Kresse rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 J. Häfner Austria · #81 worldwide 11k citations · 132 works
  2. 2 David Vanderbilt United States · #102 worldwide 7.3k citations · 143 works
  3. 3 Georg Kresse Austria · #163 worldwide 24k citations · 113 works
  4. 4 Henry J. Snaith United Kingdom · #217 worldwide 6.6k citations · 125 works
  5. 5 Moungi G. Bawendi United States · #653 worldwide 4.1k citations · 131 works
  6. 6 Rodney S. Ruoff United States · #685 worldwide 5.5k citations · 134 works
  7. 7 Hongjie Dai United States · #840 worldwide 5.8k citations · 100 works
  8. 8 Marc A. Meyers United States · #1,008 worldwide 3.2k citations · 128 works
  9. 9 Jean‐Marie Tarascon France · #1,069 worldwide 4.9k citations · 166 works
  10. 10 Fujio Izumi Japan · #1,117 worldwide 5.8k citations · 88 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 5,662 highest-output authors in Materials Science. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Materials Science researchers

Where is Materials Science research done?

The largest centres of Materials Science research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Nanjing (China) and Xi'an (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Berlin and Iasi.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 42k works
  2. 2 Shanghai China 17k works
  3. 3 Nanjing China 14k works
  4. 4 Xi'an China 14k works
  5. 5 Wuhan China 11k works
  6. 6 Moscow Russia 9.8k works
  7. 7 Guangzhou China 9.8k works
  8. 8 Chengdu China 8.9k works
  9. 9 Seoul South Korea 8.7k works
  10. 10 Hangzhou China 8.3k works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. BerlinDE · 68.8 works11×
  2. Iasi36.5 works10.0×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Materials Science on the map

Materials Science research by country

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

Where is the best place to study Materials Science?

Among universities, judged by research, King Khalid University, Southern University of Science and Technology and Shenzhen 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 27.2%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →King Khalid University: 839, 25.7%Southern University of Science and Technology: 1,079, 28.1%Shenzhen University: 1,287, 26.0%Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University: 603, 22.7%Nanjing Forestry University: 1,289, 29.5%University of Chinese Academy of Sciences: 3,082, 24.0%Yeungnam University: 789, 27.4%Saveetha University: 1,390, 25.9%City University of Hong Kong: 893, 33.9%Northwestern Polytechnical University: 2,618, 28.8%Southern University …Shenzhen UniversityKing Khalid UniversityPrincess Nourah bint…
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
1King Khalid University Saudi Arabia 58.025.7%3.2×839 +405.3%
2Southern University of Science and Technology China 56.628.1%2.8×1,079 +1033.0%
3Shenzhen University China 53.426.0%2.4×1,287 +189.4%
4Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Saudi Arabia 53.422.7%3.2×603 +249.6%
5Nanjing Forestry University China 52.029.5%3.9×1,289 +61.3%
6University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China 51.924.0%2.6×3,082 +100.4%
7Yeungnam University South Korea 51.727.4%5.1×789 +38.4%
8Saveetha University India 51.625.9%2.0×1,390 +174.1%
9City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong 51.333.9%2.1×893 +6.4%
10Northwestern Polytechnical University China 51.028.8%3.2×2,618 +11.9%

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 Materials Science research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 21% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Supercapacitor Materials and Fabrication, Graphene research and applications and Luminescence and Fluorescent Materials.

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. Supercapacitor Materials and Fabrication+473%
  2. Graphene research and applications+201%
  3. Luminescence and Fluorescent Materials+174%
  4. Electrospun Nanofibers in Biomedical Applications+152%
  5. Quantum Dots Synthesis And Properties+110%
  6. Conducting polymers and applications+107%
  7. Electron and X-Ray Spectroscopy Techniques-9%
  8. Enzyme Structure and Function-13%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does Materials Science include?

Catalytic Processes in M…131kCatalytic Processes in Materials Science: 131k fractional worksConducting polymers and …116kConducting polymers and applications: 116k fractional worksGraphene research and applications: 83k fractional worksZnO doping and properties: 75k fractional worksQuantum Dots Synthesis A…75kQuantum Dots Synthesis And Properties: 75k fractional worksbiodegradable polymer synthesis and properties: 73k fractional worksSupercapacitor Materials and Fabrication: 72k fractional worksAdvanced ceramic materials synthesis: 68k fractional worksCorrosion Behavior and Inhibition: 61k fractional worksElectron and X-Ray Spectroscopy Techniques: 61k fractional worksDiamond and Carbon-based Materials Research: 61k fractional worksElectrospun Nanofibers in Biomedical Applications: 60k fractional works

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