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University · Bielefeld · Germany

Bielefeld University

In research, Bielefeld University stands highest in Social Sciences (#420 of 10,521 worldwide), Sociology and Political Science (#168 of 2,578 worldwide) and Social Sciences (#496 of 6,365 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Mathematical Physics, Nuclear and High Energy Physics and Literature and Literary Theory — Mathematical Physics is 7.2× its share of world research.

uni-bielefeld.deROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#1,086
of 28,054 · #492 all time
Rank in Germany
#54
of 1,178
Research works
33k
▲ 17% vs 2013–17
Citations
702k
21.3 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
20.0%
record average 16.5%
Open access
37%
world 28%

What is Bielefeld University known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022–2025, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Social SciencesDomain #420 of 10,521 20.2%2,401 #429
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #168 of 2,578 21.2%578 #258
Social SciencesField #496 of 6,365 21.0%1,231 #503
Physical SciencesDomain #1,119 of 12,888 19.0%1,297 #412
Arts and HumanitiesField #253 of 1,998 14.0%413 #353
Health SciencesDomain #1,531 of 11,982 20.4%566 #1989
Decision SciencesField #96 of 703 21.5%72 #232
MedicineField #1,611 of 10,443 18.5%370 #2243
Life SciencesDomain #1,482 of 7,800 21.6%543 #707
Political Science and International RelationsSubfield #229 of 1,201 19.5%203 #253

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Bielefeld University sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022–2025. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Social Sciences#429 #420
  2. Sociology and Political Science#258 #168
  3. Social Sciences#503 #496
  4. Physical Sciences#412 #1,119
  5. Arts and Humanities#353 #253
  6. Health Sciences#1,989 #1,531
  7. Decision Sciences#232 #96
  8. Medicine#2,243 #1,611
  9. Life Sciences#707 #1,482
  10. Political Science and International Relations#253 #229
all time2022–2025, better2022–2025, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

What does Bielefeld University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Mathematical Physics takes 7.2× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Mathematical PhysicsSubfield · 55.1 works7.2×
  2. Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsSubfield · 75.4 works5.0×
  3. Literature and Literary TheorySubfield · 106.8 works4.2×
  4. History and Philosophy of ScienceSubfield · 30.7 works4.1×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.47× its world share, 107 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.00× its world share, 257 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.36× its world share, 17 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.92× its world share, 150 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.75× its world share, 13 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.38× its world share, 6 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.73× its world share, 130 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.85× its world share, 318 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.23× its world share, 18 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.42× its world share, 18 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.31× its world share, 220 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.54× its world share, 129 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.42× its world share, 70 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 3.61× its world share, 204 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.72× its world share, 184 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.12× its world share, 3 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.45× its world share, 184 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.40× its world share, 370 worksMedicineNursing: 0.31× its world share, 7 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.22× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 2.98× its world share, 413 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.14× its world share, 176 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.55× its world share, 72 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.30× its world share, 134 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 2.55× its world share, 374 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 2.02× its world share, 1,231 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Mathematics, 3.6×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Bielefeld University?

Ranked on the composite score, Niklas Luhmann, Rudolf Ahlswede and Alexander Krämer lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Bielefeld University.

  1. 1 Niklas Luhmann · #53 worldwide 2.3k citations · 277 works
  2. 2 Rudolf Ahlswede · #2,461 worldwide 2.3k citations · 113 works
  3. 3 Alexander Krämer · #6,165 worldwide 759 citations · 66 works
  4. 4 Konrad Zuse · #7,166 worldwide 4.3k citations · 52 works
  5. 5 Peter Weingart · #20,067 worldwide 351 citations · 110 works
  6. 6 Claus Michael Ringel · #24,055 worldwide 540 citations · 59 works
  7. 7 Reinhart Koselleck · #41,687 worldwide 479 citations · 31 works
  8. 8 Alexander Goesmann · #41,758 worldwide 416 citations · 34 works
  9. 9 E. Laermann · #43,965 worldwide 593 citations · 43 works
  10. 10 R. Baier · #46,470 worldwide 542 citations · 49 works
All ranked researchers at Bielefeld University

Which keywords describe research at Bielefeld University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Governance, Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse, Identity, Gender, Bildungsungleichheit, Ethnografisches Schreiben, Leadership and Globalization.

▲ 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 institution'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. Governance179▲ 11×12 topics
  2. Globalization171▲ 1.81×94 topics
  3. Identity168▲ 4.8×52 topics
  4. Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse152▲ 77×2 topics
  5. Mental Health143▲ 2.0×39 topics
  6. Gender140▲ 5.4×39 topics
  7. Bildungsungleichheit114▲ 81×1 topic
  8. Ethnografisches Schreiben114▲ 81×1 topic
  9. Education110▲ 1.33×70 topics
  10. Human Rights110▲ 2.2×48 topics
  11. Leadership108▲ 4.7×21 topics
  12. Public Health101▲ 1.44×46 topics
  13. Ethics95▲ 4.1×39 topics
  14. History88▲ 2.6×35 topics
  15. Nationalism84▲ 3.8×23 topics
  16. Literature76▲ 2.9×33 topics
  17. Philosophy68▲ 3.2×29 topics
  18. Cultural Studies65▲ 3.6×21 topics
  19. Bildung60▲ 38×3 topics
  20. Complex Systems59▲ 11×6 topics
  21. Social Innovation58▲ 7.8×7 topics
  22. Digitalization56▲ 5.9×7 topics
  23. Lattice QCD50▲ 18×2 topics
  24. Gender Studies49▲ 6.7×9 topics
  25. Organizational Change47▲ 13×6 topics
  26. Autorschaft46▲ 46×1 topic
  27. Literaturkritik46▲ 46×1 topic
  28. Narrative46▲ 6.0×12 topics
  29. Participation46▲ 9.6×5 topics
  30. Public Administration44▲ 11×2 topics
  31. Teacher Education44▲ 7.2×7 topics
  32. Sociology44▲ 6.7×19 topics
  33. Direct Democracy44▲ 67×1 topic
  34. Policy Change44▲ 67×1 topic
  35. Cultural Memory43▲ 18×4 topics
  36. Socioeconomic Status42▲ 17×4 topics
  37. Curriculum40▲ 8.9×5 topics
  38. Social Theory39▲ 29×4 topics
  39. Aesthetics38▲ 10×10 topics
  40. Art38▲ 9.1×8 topics

Which research topics does Bielefeld University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Sociology and Education Studies, German Literature and Culture Studies, Public Administration and Political Analysis and Education Methods and Technologies.

Sociology and Education …114Sociology and Education Studies: 114 fractional worksGerman Literature and Culture Studies: 46 fractional worksPublic Administration and Political Analysis: 44 fractional worksEducation Methods and Technologies: 37 fractional worksLaw and Political Science: 35 fractional worksHealth and Medical Studies: 31 fractional worksCorporate Management and…31Corporate Management and Leadership: 31 fractional worksGerman legal, social, an…30German legal, social, and political studies: 30 fractional worksEuropean history and pol…29European history and politics: 29 fractional worksLinguistic research and …28Linguistic research and analysis: 28 fractional works
Sociology and Political ScienceLiterature and Literary TheoryPolitical Science and International RelationsEducation4 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Sociology and Education StudiesSociology and Political Science 114 works
  2. 2 German Literature and Culture StudiesLiterature and Literary Theory 46 works
  3. 3 Public Administration and Political AnalysisPolitical Science and International Relations 44 works
  4. 4 Education Methods and TechnologiesEducation 37 works
  5. 5 Law and Political ScienceLaw 35 works
  6. 6 Health and Medical StudiesGeneral Health Professions 31 works
  7. 7 Corporate Management and LeadershipOrganizational Behavior and Human Resource Management 31 works
  8. 8 German legal, social, and political studiesSociology and Political Science 30 works
  9. 9 European history and politicsPolitical Science and International Relations 29 works
  10. 10 Linguistic research and analysisLanguage and Linguistics 28 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world’s own shares — the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available37.0%not open63.0%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors18.0%domestic only82.0%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Bielefeld University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 17% 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.

Other research institutions in Bielefeld

All research institutions in Bielefeld

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.