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Field · Neuroscience

Top Neuroscience Research Institutions

Harvard University ranks first in 2022–2025, out of 1,168 ranked institutions.

Composite score: field-normalised excellence, output and total citations weighted 50 / 30 / 20, each as a percentile so no single heavy-tailed measure dominates. Floor: 40 fractional works in this field.

Ranked by research quality, 2022–2025

#InstitutionScoreTop-10% rateWorksCitationsAll time
1 Harvard UniversityUnited States · Cambridge 100.0 29.0% 1.3k 18k#1
2 Stanford UniversityUnited States · Stanford 90.2 26.2% 919 12k#3
3 University College LondonUnited Kingdom · London 84.4 27.2% 1.2k 14k#6
4 Howard Hughes Medical InstituteUnited States · Chevy Chase 80.4 52.5% 169 5.4k#2
5 Yale UniversityUnited States · New Haven 77.2 24.7% 904 9.5k#4
6 Washington University in St. LouisUnited States · St Louis 74.6 24.6% 701 14k#10
7 University of California, San FranciscoUnited States · San Francisco 72.4 27.0% 540 7k#5
8 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina · Beijing 70.6 30.5% 660 10k#91
9 University of California San DiegoUnited States · San Diego 68.9 23.1% 779 8.8k#8
10 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States · Baltimore 67.4 21.5% 916 8.3k#12
11 Columbia UniversityUnited States · New York 66.1 25.6% 664 7.9k#7
12 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom · Oxford 64.8 28.6% 786 9.1k#19
13 University of California, Los AngelesUnited States · Los Angeles 63.7 24.2% 739 8.5k#11
14 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina · Shanghai 62.6 26.2% 794 8.9k—
15 King's College LondonUnited Kingdom · London 61.7 27.9% 568 6.3k#34
16 University of PennsylvaniaUnited States · Philadelphia 60.7 25.2% 744 7.7k#15
17 Zhejiang UniversityChina · Hangzhou 59.9 23.2% 738 8k—
18 Peking UniversityChina · Beijing 59.1 21.9% 712 7k—
19 University of TorontoCanada · Toronto 58.3 19.5% 978 7.8k#30
20 InsermFrance · Paris 57.6 21.9% 733 7.2k#23
21 Sichuan UniversityChina · Chengdu 56.9 26.2% 539 6.3k—
22 Cornell UniversityUnited States · Ithaca 56.2 25.3% 452 4.8k#22
23 Massachusetts General HospitalUnited States · Boston 55.6 25.0% 551 6.2k#26
24 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom · Cambridge 55.0 27.1% 659 7.4k#13
25 New York UniversityUnited States · New York 54.4 25.6% 737 7.6k#28
26 Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyChina · Wuhan 53.9 30.8% 509 7.3k—
27 University of CopenhagenDenmark · Copenhagen 53.3 26.0% 386 4.5k#87
28 Fudan UniversityChina · Shanghai 52.8 22.5% 608 6.5k—
29 Sun Yat-sen UniversityChina · Guangzhou 52.3 22.2% 650 6.2k—
30 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance · Paris 51.8 20.7% 904 7.7k#38
31 Karolinska InstitutetSweden · Stockholm 51.4 24.6% 439 4.7k#14
32 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina · Beijing 50.9 27.4% 504 6.7k—
33 McGill UniversityCanada · Montreal 50.5 22.8% 605 6.2k#37
34 Johns Hopkins MedicineUnited States · Baltimore 50.1 24.7% 442 4.8k#31
35 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical CollegeChina · Beijing 49.7 23.2% 545 5.8k—
36 Northwestern UniversityUnited States · Evanston 49.3 24.8% 516 5.5k#33
37 University of WashingtonUnited States · Seattle 48.9 21.5% 618 5.8k#21
38 University of ZurichSwitzerland · Zurich 48.5 27.4% 432 5.2k#44
39 University of MichiganUnited States · Ann Arbor 48.1 19.3% 718 6.2k#17
40 Allen Institute for Brain ScienceUnited States · Seattle 47.8 32.2% 309 4.7k#99
41 Emory UniversityUnited States · Atlanta 47.4 18.8% 587 5.2k#32
42 University of PittsburghUnited States · Pittsburgh 47.1 18.6% 763 6.3k#29
43 University of California, IrvineUnited States · Irvine 46.7 21.8% 555 5.5k#24
44 Central South UniversityChina · Changsha 46.4 26.4% 456 5.1k—
45 Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiUnited States · New York 46.1 22.9% 400 4.1k#45
46 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States · Chapel Hill 45.8 10.9% 984 5.4k#35
47 Tsinghua UniversityChina · Beijing 45.5 25.0% 489 5.9k—
48 University of Southern CaliforniaUnited States · Los Angeles 45.2 21.1% 562 5.1k#53
49 University of California, DavisUnited States · Davis 44.9 22.9% 522 5.3k#57
50 National Institutes of HealthUnited States · Bethesda 44.6 23.3% 336 4.2k#9
51 Nantong UniversityChina · Nantong 44.3 26.6% 282 3.4k—
52 University of California, BerkeleyUnited States · Berkeley 44.1 29.2% 389 4.9k#25
53 Duke UniversityUnited States · Durham 43.8 23.3% 480 4.7k#50
54 Capital Medical UniversityChina · Beijing 43.5 19.5% 710 6.6k—
55 Soochow UniversityChina · Suzhou 43.3 22.6% 380 4.6k—
56 Brigham and Women's HospitalUnited States · Boston 43.0 25.3% 277 3.3k#60
57 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States · Cambridge 42.8 34.4% 291 5.1k#27
58 Stanford MedicineUnited States · Stanford 42.5 33.3% 145 2.5k—
59 Baylor College of MedicineUnited States · Houston 42.3 23.2% 314 3.1k#46
60 Monash UniversityAustralia · Melbourne 42.0 24.3% 453 4.5k—
61 The University of SydneyAustralia · Sydney 41.8 22.0% 519 4.9k—
62 University of British ColumbiaCanada · Vancouver 41.6 18.5% 521 4.4k#39
63 China Medical UniversityChina · Shenyang 41.3 30.2% 233 3.2k—
64 National University of SingaporeSingapore · Singapore 41.1 28.9% 322 5.6k—
65 Imperial College LondonUnited Kingdom · London 40.9 24.9% 443 4.8k#59
66 Columbia University Irving Medical CenterUnited States · New York 40.7 25.5% 218 2.5k—
67 The University of MelbourneAustralia · Melbourne 40.5 23.7% 512 4.7k#79
68 University of FloridaUnited States · Gainesville 40.3 17.1% 651 4.6k#90
69 Nanjing Medical UniversityChina · Nanjing 40.1 21.1% 412 4.4k—
70 Princeton UniversityUnited States · Princeton 39.8 34.6% 225 3.3k#47
71 University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom · Edinburgh 39.6 23.4% 402 3.7k#62
72 University of Hong KongHong Kong · Pok Fu Lam 39.5 24.4% 369 3.5k—
73 Sapienza University of RomeItaly · Rome 39.3 23.9% 501 4.2k—
74 The Ohio State UniversityUnited States · Columbus 39.1 18.8% 466 3.4k#69
75 University of Alabama at BirminghamUnited States · Birmingham 38.9 19.7% 297 2.4k—
76 University of ChicagoUnited States · Chicago 38.7 16.9% 598 3.9k#42
77 Southern Medical UniversityChina · Guangzhou 38.5 25.5% 284 3.1k—
78 Charité - Universitätsmedizin BerlinGermany · Berlin 38.3 15.9% 446 3.4k#97
79 ETH ZurichSwitzerland · Zurich 38.1 31.5% 234 3.4k—
80 The University of Texas at AustinUnited States · Austin 38.0 21.8% 472 3.9k#83
81 University of BaselSwitzerland · Basel 37.8 26.3% 174 2.3k—
82 Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere ScientificoItaly · Rome 37.6 24.1% 314 3.2k—
83 University of MinnesotaUnited States · Minneapolis 37.4 19.8% 545 5.3k#52
84 Neurological SurgeryUnited States · Rockville Centre 37.3 23.6% 280 3.2k#88
85 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenGermany · Munich 37.1 19.5% 503 4.3k#81
86 Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina · Xi'an 36.9 23.2% 372 3.8k—
87 Wuhan UniversityChina · Wuhan 36.8 26.1% 309 3.6k—
88 The University of TokyoJapan · Tokyo 36.6 12.7% 692 4.5k#66
89 Shandong UniversityChina · Jinan 36.4 26.4% 328 3.6k—
90 Universidade de São PauloBrazil · São Paulo 36.3 12.5% 574 3.2k—
91 Jinan UniversityChina · Guangzhou 36.1 30.4% 185 2.6k—
92 Tongji UniversityChina · Shanghai 36.0 24.3% 264 2.6k—
93 Boston UniversityUnited States · Boston 35.8 22.9% 445 4.3k#58
94 University of Illinois ChicagoUnited States · Chicago 35.7 19.1% 282 2.3k—
95 West China Hospital of Sichuan UniversityChina · Chengdu 35.5 24.4% 281 2.8k—
96 Seoul National UniversitySouth Korea · Seoul 35.4 20.9% 371 3.6k—
97 Southeast UniversityChina · Nanjing 35.2 23.9% 334 3.8k—
98 Chinese Institute for Brain ResearchChina · Beijing 35.1 28.6% 278 3.8k—
99 Yonsei UniversitySouth Korea · Seoul 34.9 19.5% 350 3.3k—
100 University of Wisconsin–MadisonUnited States · Madison 34.8 18.6% 537 4k#36

institutions ranked worldwide in Neuroscience (1,168). rank on the composite score within the stated pool. The score track runs 0 to 100; the rate track carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field.

How spread out this pool is

Every row above on one axis — one tick each, right is a higher score. A field where the top few are far clear of everyone and one that runs down evenly look identical as a table.

35 – 38: 21 places38 – 41: 16 places41 – 45: 13 places45 – 48: 11 places48 – 51: 8 places51 – 54: 6 places54 – 58: 6 places58 – 61: 4 places61 – 64: 3 places64 – 67: 2 places67 – 71: 3 places71 – 74: 1 places74 – 77: 1 places77 – 80: 2 places80 – 84: 0 places84 – 87: 1 places87 – 90: 1 places90 – 93: 0 places93 – 97: 0 places97 – 100: 1 places35100

One bar per band of score, counting the rows on this page.

Ranked by volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Harvard UniversityUnited States 1.3k works
  2. 2 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 1.2k works
  3. 3 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 984 works
  4. 4 University of TorontoCanada 978 works
  5. 5 Stanford UniversityUnited States 919 works
  6. 6 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 916 works
  7. 7 Yale UniversityUnited States 905 works
  8. 8 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 904 works
  9. 9 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 794 works
  10. 10 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 786 works
  11. 11 University of California San DiegoUnited States 779 works
  12. 12 University of PittsburghUnited States 763 works
  13. 13 University of PennsylvaniaUnited States 744 works
  14. 14 University of California, Los AngelesUnited States 739 works
  15. 15 Zhejiang UniversityChina 738 works

Neuroscience by country