Science Explorer Back to mapMap
Discussion
Research facility · Bristol · United Kingdom

Bristol Robotics Laboratory

In research, Bristol Robotics Laboratory stands highest in Physical Sciences (#1,604 of 10,670 worldwide) and Engineering (#1,269 of 5,901 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Biomedical Engineering and Control and Systems Engineering (Biomedical Engineering is 7.5× its share of world research).

brl.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#4,371
of 22,385 · #2,006 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#192
of 862
Research works
2.4k
▼ 8% vs 2018-21
Citations
100k
42.1 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
12.5%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
1.06×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
33%
world 40%
International
23%
world 18%
Bristol Robotics Laboratory

What is Bristol Robotics Laboratory known for in research?

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

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Physical SciencesDomain #1,604 of 10,670 12.9%231 #1182
EngineeringField #1,269 of 5,901 14.2%122 #1027

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where Bristol Robotics Laboratory 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 average mark, because the average differs by field (from about 6% in Dentistry to 21% in Economics).

Which fields of science does Bristol Robotics Laboratory work in?

In 2022-now, 78% of research at Bristol Robotics Laboratory is in Physical Sciences, 9% in Life Sciences. Its largest fields are Engineering (40%), Computer Science (16%), Physics and Astronomy (14%). It does 2.0× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 256 fractional works · 78.2% of its workEngineering: 131 fractional works · 40.2% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 51 fractional works · 15.7% of its workControl and Systems Engineering: 23 fractional works · 7.0% of its workMechanical Engineering: 19 fractional works · 5.8% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 15 fractional works · 4.4% of its workAerospace Engineering: 8 fractional works · 2.4% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 4 fractional works · 1.1% of its workOcean Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.8% of its workComputational Mechanics: 2 fractional works · 0.6% of its workMechanics of Materials: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workAutomotive Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSafety, Risk, Reliability and Quality: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workMedia Technology: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workComputer Science: 52 fractional works · 16.0% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 24 fractional works · 7.5% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 10 fractional works · 3.2% of its workHuman-Computer Interaction: 6 fractional works · 2.0% of its workComputer Networks and Communications: 6 fractional works · 1.9% of its workComputational Theory and Mathematics: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workComputer Science Applications: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workInformation Systems: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workHardware and Architecture: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 45 fractional works · 13.9% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 19 fractional works · 5.7% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 10 fractional works · 3.1% of its workCondensed Matter Physics: 7 fractional works · 2.1% of its workStatistical and Nonlinear Physics: 4 fractional works · 1.3% of its workInstrumentation: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workNuclear and High Energy Physics: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workRadiation: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workAcoustics and Ultrasonics: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMaterials Science: 14 fractional works · 4.4% of its workMaterials Chemistry: 9 fractional works · 2.8% of its workElectronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials: 2 fractional works · 0.6% of its workBiomaterials: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPolymers and Plastics: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEnvironmental Science: 6 fractional works · 1.8% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.6% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEcology: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.6% of its workChemistry: 3 fractional works · 0.9% of its workOrganic Chemistry: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSpectroscopy: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workMathematics: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEnergy: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workChemical Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workLife Sciences: 30 fractional works · 9.3% of its workNeuroscience: 19 fractional works · 5.7% of its workCognitive Neuroscience: 16 fractional works · 4.9% of its workCellular and Molecular Neuroscience: 2 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 7 fractional works · 2.1% of its workMolecular Biology: 2 fractional works · 0.7% of its workGenetics: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workBiophysics: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.7% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 5 fractional works · 1.4% of its workPlant Science: 2 fractional works · 0.7% of its workFood Science: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workHealth Sciences: 22 fractional works · 6.7% of its workMedicine: 18 fractional works · 5.4% of its workRehabilitation: 4 fractional works · 1.2% of its workSurgery: 3 fractional works · 1.0% of its workRadiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging: 2 fractional works · 0.6% of its workPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 7 fractional works · 2.1% of its workHealth Professions: 3 fractional works · 1.0% of its workOccupational Therapy: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPhysical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workVeterinary: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmall Animals: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workDentistry: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workSocial Sciences: 19 fractional works · 5.9% of its workPsychology: 11 fractional works · 3.5% of its workSocial Psychology: 9 fractional works · 2.7% of its workClinical Psychology: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSocial Sciences: 4 fractional works · 1.2% of its workSafety Research: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSociology and Political Science: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workDecision Sciences: 2 fractional works · 0.7% of its workInformation Systems and Management: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workManagement Science and Operations Research: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workArts and Humanities: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workALL ITS WORKBristol RoboticsLaboratory327fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences9%Physical Sciences78%Health Sciences7%Social Sciences6%

Each ring splits the one inside it: the four domains of science, their fields, their subfields. Size is fractional works in 2022-now. Every slice is a page; the interactive view zooms down to single topics and colours each by how much more of it this institution does than the world.

Its 4 domains and 24 fields, with their numbers
    1. Engineering13140.2%
    2. Computer Science5216.0%
    3. Physics and Astronomy4513.9%
    4. Materials Science144.4%
    5. Environmental Science61.8%
    6. Chemistry30.9%
    7. Earth and Planetary Sciences20.5%
    8. Mathematics10.2%
    9. Energy10.2%
    10. Chemical Engineering00.1%
    1. Neuroscience195.7%
    2. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology72.1%
    3. Agricultural and Biological Sciences51.4%
    4. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics00.0%
    1. Medicine185.4%
    2. Health Professions31.0%
    3. Veterinary10.3%
    4. Dentistry00.1%
    1. Psychology113.5%
    2. Social Sciences41.2%
    3. Decision Sciences20.7%
    4. Business, Management and Accounting10.4%
    5. Arts and Humanities00.1%
    6. Economics, Econometrics and Finance00.0%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does Bristol Robotics Laboratory specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Biomedical Engineering takes 7.5× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Biomedical EngineeringSubfield · 51.4 works7.5×
  2. Control and Systems EngineeringSubfield · 23.1 works6.5×
← 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: 0.30× its world share, 5 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.39× its world share, 7 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Neuroscience: 3.53× its world share, 19 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.23× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.57× its world share, 3 worksChemistryComputer Science: 2.06× its world share, 52 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.32× its world share, 2 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.21× its world share, 1 worksEnergyEngineering: 2.68× its world share, 132 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.36× its world share, 6 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 1.26× its world share, 14 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.20× its world share, 1 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 6.24× its world share, 45 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.14× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.37× its world share, 3 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.28× its world share, 18 worksMedicineVeterinary: 2.00× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.12× its world share, 1 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.69× its world share, 2 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.13× its world share, 11 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.10× its world share, 4 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 6.2×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 24 fields, with their numbers
  1. Physics and Astronomy6.24×45 works
  2. Neuroscience3.53×19 works
  3. Engineering2.68×132 works
  4. Computer Science2.06×52 works
  5. Veterinary2.00×1 works
  6. Materials Science1.26×14 works
  7. Psychology1.13×11 works
  8. Decision Sciences0.69×2 works
  9. Chemistry0.57×3 works
  10. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.39×7 works
  11. Health Professions0.37×3 works
  12. Environmental Science0.36×6 works
  13. Earth and Planetary Sciences0.32×2 works
  14. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.30×5 works
  15. Medicine0.28×18 works
  16. Chemical Engineering0.23×0 works
  17. Energy0.21×1 works
  18. Mathematics0.20×1 works
  19. Dentistry0.14×0 works
  20. Business, Management and Accounting0.12×1 works
  21. Social Sciences0.10×4 works
  22. Arts and Humanities0.05×0 works
  23. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics0.04×0 works
  24. Economics, Econometrics and Finance0.02×0 works

Who are the top researchers at Bristol Robotics Laboratory?

Ranked on the quality score, Michael Berry, Nathan F. Lepora and Haoran Li lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Bristol Robotics Laboratory.

  1. 1 Michael Berry United Kingdom · #222,378 worldwide 49k citations · 532 works
  2. 2 Nathan F. Lepora United Kingdom · #313,540 worldwide 5.2k citations · 272 works
  3. 3 Haoran Li United Kingdom · #392,845 worldwide 247 citations · 19 works
  4. 4 Weiyong Si United Kingdom · #507,722 worldwide 719 citations · 63 works
  5. 5 Marsha Berry United Kingdom · #553,889 worldwide 8.1k citations · 172 works
  6. 6 Alex Church United Kingdom · #700,190 worldwide 440 citations · 28 works
  7. 7 Yijiong Lin United Kingdom · #874,100 worldwide 221 citations · 34 works
  8. 8 Ning Wang United Kingdom · #1,008,363 worldwide 1.5k citations · 100 works
  9. 9 Efi Psomopoulou United Kingdom · #1,065,693 worldwide 336 citations · 45 works
  10. 10 Max Yang United Kingdom · #1,093,423 worldwide 257 citations · 38 works
All ranked researchers at Bristol Robotics Laboratory

What are the most cited papers from Bristol Robotics Laboratory?

The most cited paper from Bristol Robotics Laboratory is "The Elastic Behaviour of a Crystalline Aggregate" (R. Hill, 1952), with 11,561 citations. Next come "Quantal phase factors accompanying adiabatic changes" (9,285) and "Review of Particle Physics" (7,268).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The Elastic Behaviour of a Crystalline Aggregate R. Hill · Proceedings of the Physical Society Section A May 1952 11,561
2 Quantal phase factors accompanying adiabatic changes Michael Berry · Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A Mathematical and Physical Sciences 8 Mar 1984 9,285
3 Review of Particle Physics Masaharu Tanabashi et al. · Physical review. D/Physical review. D. Open access232 authors 17 Aug 2018 7,268
4 Review of Particle Physics Particle Data Group et al. · Progress of Theoretical and Experimental Physics Open access239 authors Aug 2022 6,346
5 The growth of crystals and the equilibrium structure of their surfaces W. K. Burton, N. Cabrera, Frederick Charles Frank · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series A Mathematical and Physical Sciences 12 Jun 1951 5,353
All 59 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at Bristol Robotics Laboratory?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Deep Learning, Robotic Manipulators, Biomedical Applications, Soft Robotics, Grasping, Robot Learning, Bioinspired Robotics and Continuum Robots.

▲ 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-now 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. Deep Learning34▲ 3.0×42 topics
  2. Biomedical Applications22▲ 5.8×16 topics
  3. Robotic Manipulators20▲ 61×3 topics
  4. Soft Robotics18▲ 71×2 topics
  5. Grasping16▲ 130×1 topic
  6. Robot Learning16▲ 130×1 topic
  7. Bioinspired Robotics14▲ 114×1 topic
  8. Continuum Robots14▲ 114×1 topic
  9. Haptic Interfaces14▲ 72×2 topics
  10. Health Monitoring13▲ 20×2 topics
  11. Flexible Electronics13▲ 23×2 topics
  12. Nanogenerators13▲ 29×1 topic
  13. Wearable13▲ 29×1 topic
  14. Neural Networks13▲ 2.5×23 topics
  15. Entanglement12▲ 25×4 topics
  16. Actuators10▲ 19×3 topics
  17. Robotics10▲ 12×4 topics
  18. Self-Assembly10▲ 9.1×8 topics
  19. Multi-Agent Systems10▲ 15×5 topics
  20. Biosensors9▲ 5.4×7 topics
  21. Cross-modal Plasticity8▲ 60×1 topic
  22. Tactile Perception8▲ 60×1 topic
  23. Distributed Control8▲ 23×2 topics
  24. Collective Behavior8▲ 35×2 topics
  25. Modular Robots8▲ 60×1 topic
  26. Self-Reconfiguration8▲ 60×1 topic
  27. Autonomous Vehicles7▲ 11×3 topics
  28. Communication7▲ 7.0×3 topics
  29. Quantum7▲ 27×2 topics
  30. Cryptography7▲ 17×2 topics
  31. Superconducting Circuits7▲ 30×2 topics
  32. Adaptive Control7▲ 15×4 topics
  33. Computation7▲ 29×1 topic
  34. Metrology7▲ 35×1 topic
  35. Biomechanics6▲ 6.5×5 topics
  36. Quantum Information6▲ 17×3 topics
  37. Hydrogels6▲ 9.6×4 topics
  38. Virtual Environments6▲ 55×2 topics
  39. Gait Analysis6▲ 18×2 topics
  40. Colloidal Particles6▲ 29×3 topics

Which research topics does Bristol Robotics Laboratory publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Robot Manipulation and Learning, Soft Robotics and Applications, Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials and Tactile and Sensory Interactions.

Robot Manipulation and Learning: 16 fractional worksSoft Robotics and Applications: 14 fractional worksAdvanced Sensor and Ener…13Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials: 13 fractional worksTactile and Sensory Inte…8Tactile and Sensory Interactions: 8 fractional worksModular Robots and Swarm Intelligence: 8 fractional worksQuantum Information and Cryptography: 7 fractional worksMuscle activation and el…5Muscle activation and electromyography studies: 5 fractional worksTeleoperation and Haptic Systems: 5 fractional worksMicro and Nano Robotics: 5 fractional worksProsthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics: 5 fractional works
Control and Systems EngineeringBiomedical EngineeringCognitive NeuroscienceMechanical Engineering2 others

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

  1. 1 Robot Manipulation and Learning Control and Systems Engineering 16 works
  2. 2 Soft Robotics and Applications Biomedical Engineering 14 works
  3. 3 Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials Biomedical Engineering 13 works
  4. 4 Tactile and Sensory Interactions Cognitive Neuroscience 8 works
  5. 5 Modular Robots and Swarm Intelligence Mechanical Engineering 8 works
  6. 6 Quantum Information and Cryptography Artificial Intelligence 7 works
  7. 7 Muscle activation and electromyography studies Biomedical Engineering 5 works
  8. 8 Teleoperation and Haptic Systems Mechanical Engineering 5 works
  9. 9 Micro and Nano Robotics Condensed Matter Physics 5 works
  10. 10 Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics Biomedical Engineering 5 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 available32.7%not open67.3%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors22.6%domestic only77.4%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has Bristol Robotics Laboratory's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 8% lower than in 2018-2021.

still counting1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Bristol Robotics Laboratory as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0012% in 2024.

still counting0.0050%0.010%Bristol Robotics Laboratory0.0011% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Bristol Robotics Laboratory over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year, against all institutions in the same year.

still counting20%40%60%Bristol Robotics Laboratory12.3% in 2025all institutions10.0% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 41.6% in 1991.

Other research institutions in Bristol

All research institutions in Bristol

Share Bristol Robotics Laboratory's ranking

Bristol Robotics Laboratory on Science Explorer

A card with Bristol Robotics Laboratory's standing and the fields it leads in, for a post or a slide. A link to this page previews as the same card.

Download the card

1200 × 630 PNG, sized for social posts, drawn from the latest snapshot.

Badges for a website1Each links back here and updates with every snapshot

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners have tabs of their own, above.

Discussion

Ask a question or share a note about Bristol Robotics Laboratory. Posts are plain text and can be reported.