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University · Pasadena · United States

California Institute of Technology

In research, California Institute of Technology stands highest in Physical Sciences (#42 of 12,888 worldwide), Physics and Astronomy (#7 of 1,646 worldwide) and Astronomy and Astrophysics (#3 of 443 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation and Physics and Astronomy — Astronomy and Astrophysics is 19.2× its share of world research.

caltech.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#56
of 28,054 · #6 all time
Rank in United States
#15
of 4,192
Research works
85k
▼ 14% vs 2013–17
Citations
4.9M
57.5 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
27.5%
record average 16.5%
Open access
36%
world 28%

What is California Institute of Technology 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
Physical SciencesDomain #42 of 12,888 27.7%3,772 #6
Physics and AstronomyField #7 of 1,646 34.4%1,145 #6
Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield #3 of 443 36.5%484 #1
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsSubfield #4 of 565 30.1%332 #4
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #72 of 3,579 31.4%405 #23
Life SciencesDomain #189 of 7,800 30.6%601 #39
EngineeringField #228 of 6,636 20.9%996 #22
GeophysicsSubfield #12 of 237 40.1%155 #2
Artificial IntelligenceSubfield #98 of 1,884 35.2%209 #34
ChemistryField #70 of 1,330 31.7%202 #6

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where California Institute of Technology 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. Physical Sciences#6 #42
  2. Physics and Astronomy#6 #7
  3. Astronomy and Astrophysics#1 #3
  4. Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics#4 #4
  5. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#23 #72
  6. Life Sciences#39 #189
  7. Engineering#22 #228
  8. Geophysics#2 #12
  9. Artificial Intelligence#34 #98
  10. Chemistry#6 #70
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 California Institute of Technology specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Astronomy and Astrophysics takes 19.2× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 483.9 works19×
  2. InstrumentationSubfield · 45.3 works19×
  3. Physics and AstronomyField · 1,145.2 works11×
  4. Atomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsSubfield · 332.0 works9.5×
  5. GeophysicsSubfield · 155.2 works9.1×
  6. Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsSubfield · 132.6 works8.7×
← 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: 0.21× its world share, 48 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.56× its world share, 405 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.38× its world share, 19 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.52× its world share, 120 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.57× its world share, 10 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 2.47× its world share, 42 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 2.64× its world share, 202 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.09× its world share, 410 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 4.29× its world share, 327 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 1.34× its world share, 60 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.37× its world share, 996 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.73× its world share, 176 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 1.30× its world share, 220 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 3.40× its world share, 194 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 10.59× its world share, 1,145 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.06× its world share, 1 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.05× its world share, 7 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.20× its world share, 183 worksMedicineNursing: 0.34× its world share, 8 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.08× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.30× its world share, 42 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.11× its world share, 17 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.30× its world share, 61 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.35× its world share, 36 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.27× its world share, 40 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.15× its world share, 92 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 10.6×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at California Institute of Technology?

Ranked on the composite score, Pietro Perona, Richard P. Feynman and John C. Doyle lead among researchers whose main affiliation is California Institute of Technology.

  1. 1 Pietro Perona · #223 worldwide 11k citations · 109 works
  2. 2 Richard P. Feynman · #1,009 worldwide 4.6k citations · 89 works
  3. 3 John C. Doyle · #1,162 worldwide 3.3k citations · 93 works
  4. 4 Linus Pauling · #1,259 worldwide 2k citations · 150 works
  5. 5 Colin F. Camerer · #1,560 worldwide 3.6k citations · 90 works
  6. 6 R. D. Blandford · #1,587 worldwide 4.8k citations · 204 works
  7. 7 P. Vogel · #2,119 worldwide 2.4k citations · 85 works
  8. 8 Christof Koch · #2,536 worldwide 2.4k citations · 201 works
  9. 9 Nathan S. Lewis · #2,550 worldwide 3.4k citations · 156 works
  10. 10 H. J. Kimble · #2,561 worldwide 2.3k citations · 116 works
All ranked researchers at California Institute of Technology

Which keywords describe research at California Institute of Technology?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Entanglement, Gravitational Waves, Black Holes, Tomography, Supernovae, Machine Learning, Biosensors and Magnetic Fields.

▲ 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. Machine Learning211▲ 1.32×71 topics
  2. Entanglement112▲ 16×4 topics
  3. Biosensors107▲ 4.3×12 topics
  4. Gravitational Waves97▲ 36×2 topics
  5. Black Holes93▲ 20×3 topics
  6. Tomography90▲ 10×5 topics
  7. Supernovae81▲ 20×2 topics
  8. Magnetic Fields76▲ 24×3 topics
  9. Accretion Disks75▲ 33×2 topics
  10. Quantum Information73▲ 13×3 topics
  11. Plate Tectonics72▲ 9.7×3 topics
  12. Solar System Abundances72▲ 30×1 topic
  13. Terrestrial Planets72▲ 30×1 topic
  14. Exoplanets70▲ 36×1 topic
  15. Stellar Astrophysics70▲ 36×1 topic
  16. Star Formation70▲ 27×2 topics
  17. Dark Matter66▲ 12×4 topics
  18. Superconductivity62▲ 7.4×9 topics
  19. Optical Modulators58▲ 8.1×3 topics
  20. Quantum Simulation57▲ 15×2 topics
  21. Equation of State53▲ 20×2 topics
  22. Nucleosynthesis52▲ 22×3 topics
  23. Molecular Dynamics51▲ 6.4×6 topics
  24. Nonlinear Optics51▲ 9.5×4 topics
  25. Turbulence50▲ 12×5 topics
  26. Integrated Circuits50▲ 6.6×3 topics
  27. Binary Black Hole49▲ 35×1 topic
  28. Galactic Center49▲ 22×2 topics
  29. Neutron Star49▲ 35×1 topic
  30. Microcavities49▲ 9.1×2 topics
  31. Gamma-Ray Bursts48▲ 37×1 topic
  32. Neutron Stars48▲ 37×1 topic
  33. Geodetic Measurements47▲ 9.0×2 topics
  34. Raman Lasers47▲ 8.6×2 topics
  35. Silicon Photonics46▲ 8.8×2 topics
  36. Nanophotonic Waveguides46▲ 9.7×1 topic
  37. Whispering Gallery Mode46▲ 9.7×1 topic
  38. Renormalization Group46▲ 17×2 topics
  39. Quantum Gravity46▲ 12×4 topics
  40. Cosmology45▲ 14×4 topics

Which research topics does California Institute of Technology publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Astro and Planetary Science, Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies, Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research and Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae.

Astro and Planetary Scie…72Astro and Planetary Science: 72 fractional worksStellar, planetary, and …70Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies: 70 fractional worksPulsars and Gravitational Waves Research: 49 fractional worksGamma-ray bursts and supernovae: 48 fractional worksPhotonic and Optical Devices: 46 fractional worksAstrophysics and Star Formation Studies: 41 fractional worksAstronomy and Astrophysical Research: 39 fractional worksQuantum Computing Algori…39Quantum Computing Algorithms and Architecture: 39 fractional worksPlanetary Science and Exploration: 38 fractional worksHigh-pressure geophysics and materials: 38 fractional works
Astronomy and AstrophysicsElectrical and Electronic EngineeringInstrumentationArtificial Intelligence1 others

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

  1. 1 Astro and Planetary ScienceAstronomy and Astrophysics 72 works
  2. 2 Stellar, planetary, and galactic studiesAstronomy and Astrophysics 70 works
  3. 3 Pulsars and Gravitational Waves ResearchAstronomy and Astrophysics 49 works
  4. 4 Gamma-ray bursts and supernovaeAstronomy and Astrophysics 48 works
  5. 5 Photonic and Optical DevicesElectrical and Electronic Engineering 46 works
  6. 6 Astrophysics and Star Formation StudiesAstronomy and Astrophysics 41 works
  7. 7 Astronomy and Astrophysical ResearchInstrumentation 39 works
  8. 8 Quantum Computing Algorithms and ArchitectureArtificial Intelligence 39 works
  9. 9 Planetary Science and ExplorationAstronomy and Astrophysics 38 works
  10. 10 High-pressure geophysics and materialsGeophysics 38 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 available35.7%not open64.3%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors13.8%domestic only86.2%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has California Institute of Technology's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 14% lower 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 Pasadena

All research institutions in Pasadena

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.