Question 1

Which countries lead Materials Science research?

Accepted Answer

On research quality in 2022-now, China, the United States and the United Kingdom rank highest in Materials Science. By volume, China and India publish the most (313k and 81k works in 2022-now).

Question 2

Which institutions lead Materials Science research?

Accepted Answer

Chinese Academy of Sciences (China) ranks first in Materials Science on research quality in 2022-now, followed by Tsinghua University and University of Science and Technology of China.

Question 3

Who are the leading researchers in Materials Science?

Accepted Answer

Counting only their work in Materials Science, Zhong Lin Wang, Ben Zhong Tang and Michaël Grätzel have the most papers in the world top 10% for their subfield and year beyond the 10% expected.

Question 4

Where is Materials Science research done?

Accepted Answer

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

Question 5

Where is the best place to study Materials Science?

Accepted Answer

Among universities, judged by research, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tsinghua University score highest, combining standing in the field's ranking, excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

Question 6

Is Materials Science research growing?

Accepted Answer

Output in 2022-2025 was 14% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are biodegradable polymer synthesis and properties, Catalytic Processes in Materials Science and Electrospun Nanofibers in Biomedical Applications.

Question 7

What are the most cited papers in Materials Science?

Accepted Answer

The most cited paper in Materials Science is "A short history of SHELX" (George M. Sheldrick, 2007), with 87,903 citations. Next come "From ultrasoft pseudopotentials to the projector augmented-wave method" (85,965) and "VMD: Visual molecular dynamics" (68,537).