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University · Fort Collins · United States

Colorado State University

In research, Colorado State University stands highest in Agricultural and Biological Sciences (#76 of 3,409 worldwide), Physical Sciences (#291 of 12,888 worldwide) and Environmental Science (#81 of 3,551 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Equine, Veterinary and Small Animals — Equine is 42.1× its share of world research.

colostate.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#394
of 28,054 · #204 all time
Rank in United States
#77
of 4,192
Research works
63k
▲ 13% vs 2013–17
Citations
2.1M
33.5 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
19.6%
record average 16.5%
Open access
31%
world 28%

What is Colorado State 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
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #76 of 3,409 28.2%632 #37
Physical SciencesDomain #291 of 12,888 17.6%3,282 #190
Environmental ScienceField #81 of 3,551 23.5%1,016 #30
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #52 of 1,209 14.7%424 #36
Social SciencesDomain #561 of 10,521 26.0%1,386 #263
Life SciencesDomain #515 of 7,800 22.3%1,388 #239
Health SciencesDomain #854 of 11,982 14.9%1,266 #332
Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield #40 of 535 22.1%308 #25
EcologySubfield #47 of 578 25.0%223 #27
Social SciencesField #653 of 6,365 29.7%635 #323

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Colorado State 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. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#37 #76
  2. Physical Sciences#190 #291
  3. Environmental Science#30 #81
  4. Earth and Planetary Sciences#36 #52
  5. Social Sciences#263 #561
  6. Life Sciences#239 #515
  7. Health Sciences#332 #854
  8. Global and Planetary Change#25 #40
  9. Ecology#27 #47
  10. Social Sciences#323 #653
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 Colorado State University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Equine takes 42.1× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. EquineSubfield · 40.0 works42×
  2. VeterinaryField · 160.1 works16×
  3. Small AnimalsSubfield · 120.1 works13×
  4. Atmospheric ScienceSubfield · 257.2 works8.0×
  5. Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield · 307.9 works5.5×
  6. Agronomy and Crop ScienceSubfield · 77.6 works4.5×
  7. Ecological ModelingSubfield · 24.8 works4.5×
← 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: 1.82× its world share, 632 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.40× its world share, 548 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 1.08× its world share, 79 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.95× its world share, 113 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.59× its world share, 15 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.32× its world share, 34 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.07× its world share, 123 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.70× its world share, 401 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 3.69× its world share, 424 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.68× its world share, 46 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.73× its world share, 806 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 2.79× its world share, 1,016 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.64× its world share, 163 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.74× its world share, 64 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.25× its world share, 204 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.27× its world share, 10 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.86× its world share, 166 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.64× its world share, 902 worksMedicineNursing: 0.81× its world share, 29 worksNursingVeterinary: 16.09× its world share, 160 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.49× its world share, 103 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.56× its world share, 133 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.23× its world share, 87 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.83× its world share, 131 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.33× its world share, 297 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.69× its world share, 635 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Veterinary, 16.1×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Colorado State University?

Ranked on the composite score, Keith Paustian, Gary C. White and M. M. Elkind lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Colorado State University.

  1. 1 Keith Paustian United States · #2,115 worldwide 2.5k citations · 101 works
  2. 2 Gary C. White United States · #7,287 worldwide 1.2k citations · 76 works
  3. 3 M. M. Elkind United States · #14,415 worldwide 512 citations · 61 works
  4. 4 Michael Kirby United States · #14,453 worldwide 669 citations · 95 works
  5. 5 Diana H. Wall United States · #17,014 worldwide 762 citations · 48 works
  6. 6 William J. Parton United States · #17,932 worldwide 1.1k citations · 70 works
  7. 7 Charles R. Martin United States · #17,970 worldwide 1.3k citations · 101 works
  8. 8 John A. Wiens United States · #18,854 worldwide 842 citations · 58 works
  9. 9 B. L. Hartfiel United States · #20,782 worldwide 942 citations · 59 works
  10. 10 David A. Randall United States · #21,252 worldwide 1.3k citations · 100 works
All ranked researchers at Colorado State University

Which keywords describe research at Colorado State University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Hydrological Modeling, Global Warming, Remote Sensing, Data Assimilation, Biodiversity, Sea Level Rise and Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

▲ 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. Climate Change793▲ 4.0×103 topics
  2. Epidemiology270◆ 0.93×118 topics
  3. Remote Sensing230▲ 2.5×36 topics
  4. Sustainability226▲ 1.27×84 topics
  5. Machine Learning191▼ 0.80×73 topics
  6. Global Warming170▲ 5.7×14 topics
  7. Biodiversity170▲ 3.1×33 topics
  8. Hydrological Modeling151▲ 8.8×5 topics
  9. Oxidative Stress140▲ 1.17×55 topics
  10. Mental Health140▲ 1.30×35 topics
  11. Invasive Species124▲ 4.0×20 topics
  12. Data Assimilation119▲ 10×4 topics
  13. Greenhouse Gas Emissions112▲ 5.6×8 topics
  14. Conservation106▲ 3.4×22 topics
  15. Resilience103▲ 2.9×14 topics
  16. Sea Level Rise97▲ 10×3 topics
  17. Health Effects95▲ 2.2×22 topics
  18. Boundary Layer93▲ 10×4 topics
  19. Genetic Diversity91▲ 2.8×17 topics
  20. Ecosystem Resilience87▲ 8.1×5 topics
  21. Ensemble Kalman Filter87▲ 12×2 topics
  22. Probabilistic Forecasting86▲ 6.0×3 topics
  23. Satellite Observations82▲ 12×3 topics
  24. Convective Parameterization81▲ 20×1 topic
  25. Mesoscale Modeling81▲ 20×1 topic
  26. Land Use Change79▲ 3.5×8 topics
  27. Ocean Circulation79▲ 8.3×3 topics
  28. Genomic Analysis79▲ 4.3×13 topics
  29. Hydrological Cycle75▲ 11×2 topics
  30. Animal Welfare72▲ 11×4 topics
  31. Solar Wind72▲ 11×2 topics
  32. Sediment Transport69▲ 5.9×6 topics
  33. Air Quality68▲ 5.0×6 topics
  34. Extreme Events62▲ 9.7×2 topics
  35. Climate Modeling57▲ 11×1 topic
  36. Precipitation Extremes57▲ 11×1 topic
  37. Model Evaluation56▲ 6.2×2 topics
  38. Validation55▲ 8.5×4 topics
  39. Forest Fires50▲ 15×1 topic
  40. Wildfire Activity50▲ 15×1 topic

Which research topics does Colorado State University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations, Climate variability and models, Fire effects on ecosystems and Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics.

Meteorological Phenomena…81Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations: 81 fractional worksClimate variability and …57Climate variability and models: 57 fractional worksFire effects on ecosystems: 50 fractional worksAtmospheric and Environm…46Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics: 46 fractional worksGeophysics and Gravity Measurements: 44 fractional worksVeterinary Oncology Research: 40 fractional worksVeterinary Equine Medica…40Veterinary Equine Medical Research: 40 fractional worksSolar and Space Plasma Dynamics: 36 fractional worksIonosphere and magnetosphere dynamics: 36 fractional worksGenetic and phenotypic t…36Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock: 36 fractional works
Atmospheric ScienceGlobal and Planetary ChangeOceanographyPulmonary and Respiratory Medicine3 others

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

  1. 1 Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations Atmospheric Science 81 works
  2. 2 Climate variability and models Global and Planetary Change 57 works
  3. 3 Fire effects on ecosystems Global and Planetary Change 50 works
  4. 4 Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics Global and Planetary Change 46 works
  5. 5 Geophysics and Gravity Measurements Oceanography 44 works
  6. 6 Veterinary Oncology Research Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine 40 works
  7. 7 Veterinary Equine Medical Research Equine 40 works
  8. 8 Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 36 works
  9. 9 Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 36 works
  10. 10 Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock Genetics 36 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 available30.9%not open69.1%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors12.2%domestic only87.8%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Colorado State University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 13% 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 Fort Collins

All research institutions in Fort Collins

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.