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Research facility · Upton · United States

Brookhaven National Laboratory

In research, Brookhaven National Laboratory stands highest in Physical Sciences (#341 of 10,670 worldwide), Materials Science (#124 of 2,276 worldwide) and Engineering (#402 of 5,901 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Structural Biology, Nuclear and High Energy Physics and Radiation (Structural Biology is 64.0× its share of world research).

bnl.gov/worldROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#664
of 22,385 · #379 all time
Rank in United States
#166
of 3,332
Research works
33k
▼ 8% vs 2018-21
Citations
1.3M
38.2 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
12.1%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
1.13×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
37%
world 40%
International
17%
world 18%
Brookhaven National Laboratory

What is Brookhaven National 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 #341 of 10,670 12.3%1,930 #200
Materials ScienceField #124 of 2,276 11.3%315 #93
EngineeringField #402 of 5,901 11.1%571 #263
Electrical and Electronic EngineeringSubfield #182 of 2,176 12.8%310 #168
Physics and AstronomyField #133 of 1,417 13.8%620 #76
Materials ChemistrySubfield #147 of 1,473 10.9%209 #118
Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsSubfield #27 of 254 16.7%326 #53
Computer ScienceField #530 of 4,417 14.7%129 #895
Life SciencesDomain #1,046 of 6,403 12.6%101 #643
ChemistryField #275 of 1,299 10.0%65 #144

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where Brookhaven National 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 of those standings moved

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

  1. Physical Sciences#200 #341
  2. Materials Science#93 #124
  3. Engineering#263 #402
  4. Electrical and Electronic Engineering#168 #182
  5. Physics and Astronomy#76 #133
  6. Materials Chemistry#118 #147
  7. Nuclear and High Energy Physics#53 #27
  8. Computer Science#895 #530
  9. Life Sciences#643 #1,046
  10. Chemistry#144 #275
all time2022-now, better2022-now, worse

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

Which fields of science does Brookhaven National Laboratory work in?

In 2022-now, 91% of research at Brookhaven National Laboratory is in Physical Sciences, 5% in Life Sciences. Its largest fields are Physics and Astronomy (29%), Engineering (27%), Materials Science (15%). It does 2.3× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 2,133 fractional works · 91.2% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 686 fractional works · 29.3% of its workNuclear and High Energy Physics: 359 fractional works · 15.4% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 126 fractional works · 5.4% of its workRadiation: 78 fractional works · 3.3% of its workCondensed Matter Physics: 66 fractional works · 2.8% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 36 fractional works · 1.5% of its workStatistical and Nonlinear Physics: 14 fractional works · 0.6% of its workInstrumentation: 6 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEngineering: 625 fractional works · 26.8% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 340 fractional works · 14.5% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 92 fractional works · 3.9% of its workAerospace Engineering: 66 fractional works · 2.8% of its workMechanical Engineering: 43 fractional works · 1.8% of its workAutomotive Engineering: 19 fractional works · 0.8% of its workComputational Mechanics: 15 fractional works · 0.6% of its workControl and Systems Engineering: 15 fractional works · 0.6% of its workOcean Engineering: 10 fractional works · 0.4% of its workMechanics of Materials: 8 fractional works · 0.3% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 7 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 10 fractional works · 0.4% of its workMaterials Science: 348 fractional works · 14.9% of its workMaterials Chemistry: 230 fractional works · 9.9% of its workElectronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials: 59 fractional works · 2.5% of its workSurfaces, Coatings and Films: 26 fractional works · 1.1% of its workPolymers and Plastics: 22 fractional works · 0.9% of its workBiomaterials: 7 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 4 fractional works · 0.2% of its workComputer Science: 141 fractional works · 6.1% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 63 fractional works · 2.7% of its workComputer Networks and Communications: 29 fractional works · 1.3% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 15 fractional works · 0.6% of its workComputational Theory and Mathematics: 12 fractional works · 0.5% of its workInformation Systems: 9 fractional works · 0.4% of its workHardware and Architecture: 8 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 4 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEnvironmental Science: 79 fractional works · 3.4% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 41 fractional works · 1.8% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 10 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPollution: 5 fractional works · 0.2% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 5 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEcology: 5 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 14 fractional works · 0.6% of its workChemistry: 70 fractional works · 3.0% of its workOrganic Chemistry: 23 fractional works · 1.0% of its workInorganic Chemistry: 22 fractional works · 0.9% of its workSpectroscopy: 10 fractional works · 0.4% of its workElectrochemistry: 8 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPhysical and Theoretical Chemistry: 7 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.0% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 62 fractional works · 2.7% of its workAtmospheric Science: 44 fractional works · 1.9% of its workGeophysics: 8 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 11 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEnergy: 57 fractional works · 2.4% of its workRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment: 55 fractional works · 2.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.1% of its workChemical Engineering: 52 fractional works · 2.2% of its workCatalysis: 38 fractional works · 1.6% of its workProcess Chemistry and Technology: 7 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 6 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMathematics: 11 fractional works · 0.5% of its workLife Sciences: 118 fractional works · 5.0% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 86 fractional works · 3.7% of its workMolecular Biology: 46 fractional works · 2.0% of its workStructural Biology: 24 fractional works · 1.0% of its workBiochemistry: 6 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 10 fractional works · 0.4% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 25 fractional works · 1.1% of its workPlant Science: 20 fractional works · 0.9% of its workSmaller subfields together: 5 fractional works · 0.2% of its workNeuroscience: 4 fractional works · 0.2% of its workImmunology and Microbiology: 2 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workHealth Sciences: 51 fractional works · 2.2% of its workMedicine: 47 fractional works · 2.0% of its workRadiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging: 23 fractional works · 1.0% of its workPulmonary and Respiratory Medicine: 10 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 14 fractional works · 0.6% of its workNursing: 2 fractional works · 0.1% of its workHealth Professions: 2 fractional works · 0.1% of its workSocial Sciences: 36 fractional works · 1.5% of its workDecision Sciences: 19 fractional works · 0.8% of its workInformation Systems and Management: 14 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSmaller subfields together: 6 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSocial Sciences: 5 fractional works · 0.2% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 4 fractional works · 0.2% of its workArts and Humanities: 3 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPsychology: 2 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 2 fractional works · 0.1% of its workALL ITS WORKBrookhavenNational…2,338fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences5%Physical Sciences91%Health Sciences2%Social Sciences2%

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. Physics and Astronomy68629.3%
    2. Engineering62526.8%
    3. Materials Science34814.9%
    4. Computer Science1416.1%
    5. Environmental Science793.4%
    6. Chemistry703.0%
    7. Earth and Planetary Sciences622.7%
    8. Energy572.4%
    9. Chemical Engineering522.2%
    10. Mathematics110.5%
    1. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology863.7%
    2. Agricultural and Biological Sciences251.1%
    3. Neuroscience40.2%
    4. Immunology and Microbiology20.1%
    5. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics10.1%
    1. Medicine472.0%
    2. Nursing20.1%
    3. Health Professions20.1%
    1. Decision Sciences190.8%
    2. Social Sciences50.2%
    3. Business, Management and Accounting40.2%
    4. Arts and Humanities30.1%
    5. Psychology20.1%
    6. Economics, Econometrics and Finance20.1%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does Brookhaven National Laboratory specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Structural Biology takes 64.0× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Structural BiologySubfield · 23.9 works64×
  2. Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsSubfield · 359.1 works49×
  3. RadiationSubfield · 78.0 works24×
  4. Condensed Matter PhysicsSubfield · 66.1 works18×
  5. Physics and AstronomyField · 685.7 works13×
  6. Surfaces, Coatings and FilmsSubfield · 25.9 works11×
  7. CatalysisSubfield · 38.5 works11×
  8. Atomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsSubfield · 125.9 works7.5×
← 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: 0.22× its world share, 25 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.69× its world share, 86 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.07× its world share, 2 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.12× its world share, 4 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.14× its world share, 1 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 6.32× its world share, 52 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.92× its world share, 70 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.78× its world share, 142 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.70× its world share, 62 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 2.65× its world share, 57 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.78× its world share, 625 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.68× its world share, 79 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 4.27× its world share, 348 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.41× its world share, 11 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 13.19× its world share, 686 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.03× its world share, 2 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.11× its world share, 47 worksMedicineNursing: 0.19× its world share, 2 worksNursingArts and Humanities: 0.05× its world share, 3 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.05× its world share, 4 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.86× its world share, 19 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.03× its world share, 2 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.03× its world share, 2 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.02× its world share, 5 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 13.2×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 24 fields, with their numbers
  1. Physics and Astronomy13.19×686 works
  2. Chemical Engineering6.32×52 works
  3. Materials Science4.27×348 works
  4. Energy2.65×57 works
  5. Chemistry1.92×70 works
  6. Engineering1.78×625 works
  7. Earth and Planetary Sciences1.70×62 works
  8. Decision Sciences0.86×19 works
  9. Computer Science0.78×142 works
  10. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.69×86 works
  11. Environmental Science0.68×79 works
  12. Mathematics0.41×11 works
  13. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.22×25 works
  14. Nursing0.19×2 works
  15. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics0.14×1 works
  16. Neuroscience0.12×4 works
  17. Medicine0.11×47 works
  18. Immunology and Microbiology0.07×2 works
  19. Arts and Humanities0.05×3 works
  20. Business, Management and Accounting0.05×4 works
  21. Health Professions0.03×2 works
  22. Economics, Econometrics and Finance0.03×2 works
  23. Psychology0.03×2 works
  24. Social Sciences0.02×5 works

Who are the top researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory?

Ranked on the quality score, J. H. Kang, D. V. Dedovich and J. Maneira lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Brookhaven National Laboratory.

  1. 1 J. H. Kang United States · #1,396 worldwide 44k citations · 413 works
  2. 2 D. V. Dedovich United States · #1,479 worldwide 62k citations · 505 works
  3. 3 J. Maneira United States · #1,549 worldwide 108k citations · 1,131 works
  4. 4 P. Yu. Nechaeva United States · #1,818 worldwide 48k citations · 490 works
  5. 5 Xiao‐Qing Yang United States · #1,853 worldwide 46k citations · 453 works
  6. 6 G. Cowan United States · #1,975 worldwide 52k citations · 418 works
  7. 7 H. Takai United States · #2,129 worldwide 99k citations · 1,216 works
  8. 8 Enyuan Hu United States · #2,146 worldwide 27k citations · 272 works
  9. 9 A. Olszewski United States · #2,235 worldwide 121k citations · 1,563 works
  10. 10 H. S. Hayward United States · #2,350 worldwide 36k citations · 352 works
All ranked researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory

What are the most cited papers from Brookhaven National Laboratory?

The most cited paper from Brookhaven National Laboratory is "Geant4—a simulation toolkit" (Stefano Agostinelli et al., 2003), with 25,572 citations. Next come "Crystallography & NMR System: A New Software Suite for Macromolecular Structure Determination" (15,809) and "Observation of a new particle in the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector at the LHC" (10,856).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Geant4—a simulation toolkit Stefano Agostinelli et al. · Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment Open access127 authors 21 Jun 2003 25,572
2 Crystallography & NMR System: A New Software Suite for Macromolecular Structure Determination Axel T. Brünger, Paul D. Adams, G. Marius Clore et al. · Acta Crystallographica Section D Biological Crystallography Sep 1998 15,809
3 Observation of a new particle in the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector at the LHC G. Aad et al. · Physics Letters B Open access2,932 authors 14 Aug 2012 10,856
4 A simple technique for quantitation of low levels of DNA damage in individual cells Narendra Prasad Singh, Michael T. McCoy, Raymond R. Tice et al. · Experimental Cell Research Mar 1988 10,851
5 The protein data bank: A computer-based archival file for macromolecular structures Frances C. Bernstein, Thomas F. Koetzle, G. J. B. Williams et al. · Journal of Molecular Biology May 1977 8,653
All 57 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at Brookhaven National Laboratory?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Lattice QCD, Dark Matter, Particle Physics, Higgs Boson, High-Energy Collider, Cathode Materials, Renormalization Group and Catalysis.

▲ 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. Lattice QCD141▲ 103×2 topics
  2. Dark Matter110▲ 41×3 topics
  3. Particle Physics108▲ 63×2 topics
  4. Higgs Boson92▲ 79×1 topic
  5. High-Energy Collider92▲ 79×1 topic
  6. Catalysis88▲ 5.6×23 topics
  7. Cathode Materials87▲ 9.6×3 topics
  8. Energy Storage81▲ 5.3×11 topics
  9. Renormalization Group79▲ 60×2 topics
  10. Nanoparticles78▲ 2.6×34 topics
  11. Hydrodynamics72▲ 48×3 topics
  12. Heavy-Ion Collisions72▲ 123×1 topic
  13. Quark-Gluon Plasma72▲ 123×1 topic
  14. QCD70▲ 88×1 topic
  15. charmonium70▲ 88×1 topic
  16. Electronic Structure70▲ 17×8 topics
  17. Superconductivity67▲ 17×9 topics
  18. X-ray Imaging65▲ 81×2 topics
  19. Lithium-ion Batteries62▲ 6.5×3 topics
  20. Synchrotron Radiation59▲ 52×3 topics
  21. Rechargeable Batteries56▲ 9.0×2 topics
  22. Photon Counting53▲ 34×3 topics
  23. Crystal Growth52▲ 8.1×12 topics
  24. Electron Acceleration52▲ 33×2 topics
  25. Free-Electron Lasers50▲ 183×1 topic
  26. X-Ray50▲ 183×1 topic
  27. CMOS Technology49▲ 26×5 topics
  28. Detector Performance48▲ 65×2 topics
  29. Electrocatalysis47▲ 7.0×5 topics
  30. Tomography47▲ 11×5 topics
  31. Battery Technology41▲ 6.3×3 topics
  32. Battery Materials41▲ 10×1 topic
  33. Nanostructured Anodes41▲ 10×1 topic
  34. Catalysts40▲ 8.5×3 topics
  35. Carbon Dioxide39▲ 10×4 topics
  36. Molecular Dynamics39▲ 9.4×6 topics
  37. Negative Ion Sources38▲ 93×1 topic
  38. Superconducting Cavities38▲ 93×1 topic
  39. Particle Detectors38▲ 84×1 topic
  40. Silicon Detectors38▲ 84×1 topic

Which research topics does Brookhaven National Laboratory publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies, High-Energy Particle Collisions Research, Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions and Particle Accelerators and Free-Electron Lasers.

Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies: 92 fractional worksHigh-Energy Particle Collisions Research: 72 fractional worksQuantum Chromodynamics a…70Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions: 70 fractional worksParticle Accelerators an…50Particle Accelerators and Free-Electron Lasers: 50 fractional worksAdvancements in Battery Materials: 41 fractional worksParticle accelerators and beam dynamics: 38 fractional worksParticle Detector Develo…38Particle Detector Development and Performance: 38 fractional worksCatalytic Processes in Materials Science: 34 fractional worksAdvanced Battery Materials and Technologies: 31 fractional worksAdvanced X-ray Imaging Techniques: 28 fractional works
Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsElectrical and Electronic EngineeringAerospace EngineeringMaterials Chemistry1 others

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

  1. 1 Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies Nuclear and High Energy Physics 92 works
  2. 2 High-Energy Particle Collisions Research Nuclear and High Energy Physics 72 works
  3. 3 Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions Nuclear and High Energy Physics 70 works
  4. 4 Particle Accelerators and Free-Electron Lasers Electrical and Electronic Engineering 50 works
  5. 5 Advancements in Battery Materials Electrical and Electronic Engineering 41 works
  6. 6 Particle accelerators and beam dynamics Aerospace Engineering 38 works
  7. 7 Particle Detector Development and Performance Nuclear and High Energy Physics 38 works
  8. 8 Catalytic Processes in Materials Science Materials Chemistry 34 works
  9. 9 Advanced Battery Materials and Technologies Electrical and Electronic Engineering 31 works
  10. 10 Advanced X-ray Imaging Techniques Radiation 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 available37.4%not open62.6%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors17.4%domestic only82.6%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has Brookhaven National 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 Brookhaven National Laboratory as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.010% in 2024.

still counting0.10%0.20%Brookhaven National Laboratory0.0092% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Brookhaven National 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 counting10%20%Brookhaven National Laboratory11.5% 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 16.2% in 2013.

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Brookhaven National Laboratory on Science Explorer

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Its overall standing, then the domains, fields and subfields where Brookhaven National Laboratory is in the world's top ten or its top 1%. Each has an image of its own.

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