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University · New York · United States

Columbia University

In research, Columbia University stands highest in Health Sciences (#31 of 11,982 worldwide), Social Sciences (#28 of 10,521 worldwide) and Medicine (#42 of 10,443 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Statistics and Probability, Transplantation and Finance — Statistics and Probability is 4.1× its share of world research.

columbia.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#49
of 28,054 · #20 all time
Rank in United States
#13
of 4,192
Research works
164k
◆ 2% vs 2013–17
Citations
7.6M
46.8 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
23.1%
record average 16.5%
Open access
35%
world 28%

What is Columbia 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
Health SciencesDomain #31 of 11,982 21.0%4,227 #15
Social SciencesDomain #28 of 10,521 23.9%5,361 #9
MedicineField #42 of 10,443 20.4%3,539 #19
Life SciencesDomain #38 of 7,800 25.9%2,073 #15
Physical SciencesDomain #70 of 12,888 22.7%4,957 #35
NeuroscienceField #11 of 1,168 25.6%664 #7
Clinical PsychologySubfield #7 of 738 27.3%434 #4
Social SciencesField #63 of 6,365 24.9%2,377 #15
Decision SciencesField #7 of 703 21.5%269 —
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #38 of 3,579 26.0%1,057 #17

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Columbia 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. Health Sciences#15 #31
  2. Social Sciences#9 #28
  3. Medicine#19 #42
  4. Life Sciences#15 #38
  5. Physical Sciences#35 #70
  6. Neuroscience#7 #11
  7. Clinical Psychology#4 #7
  8. Social Sciences#15 #63
  9. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#17 #38
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 Columbia University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Statistics and Probability takes 4.1× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Statistics and ProbabilitySubfield · 145.6 works4.1×
  2. TransplantationSubfield · 28.2 works3.8×
  3. FinanceSubfield · 184.1 works3.7×
  4. Cognitive NeuroscienceSubfield · 348.2 works2.9×
← 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: 0.20× its world share, 155 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.19× its world share, 1,058 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.97× its world share, 162 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 2.46× its world share, 664 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.58× its world share, 34 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.51× its world share, 29 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.45× its world share, 117 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.00× its world share, 1,292 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.17× its world share, 305 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.51× its world share, 78 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.51× its world share, 1,264 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.75× its world share, 619 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.43× its world share, 250 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 2.00× its world share, 391 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.65× its world share, 612 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.44× its world share, 35 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.33× its world share, 583 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 1.11× its world share, 3,540 worksMedicineNursing: 0.76× its world share, 62 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.32× its world share, 7 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.27× its world share, 610 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.75× its world share, 403 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.68× its world share, 269 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.88× its world share, 670 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 2.04× its world share, 1,032 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.13× its world share, 2,377 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Neuroscience, 2.5×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Columbia University?

Ranked on the composite score, Charles Tilly, Joseph E. Stiglitz and Fritz Stern lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Columbia University.

  1. 1 Charles Tilly · #8 worldwide 3.7k citations · 238 works
  2. 2 Joseph E. Stiglitz · #43 worldwide 7.4k citations · 383 works
  3. 3 Fritz Stern · #126 worldwide 1.2k citations · 183 works
  4. 4 Richard R. Nelson · #288 worldwide 2.5k citations · 124 works
  5. 5 Jeanne Brooks‐Gunn · #523 worldwide 2.9k citations · 132 works
  6. 6 Theodosius Dobzhansky · #1,282 worldwide 1.6k citations · 102 works
  7. 7 Robert Κ. Merton · #1,286 worldwide 1.4k citations · 88 works
  8. 8 Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak · #1,327 worldwide 1.2k citations · 89 works
  9. 9 Robert Jervis · #1,378 worldwide 915 citations · 102 works
  10. 10 Jagdish N. Bhagwati · #1,407 worldwide 1.5k citations · 176 works
All ranked researchers at Columbia University

Which keywords describe research at Columbia University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Mental Health, Epidemiology, Public Health, Depression, Machine Learning, Globalization, Deep Learning and Climate Change.

▲ 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. Epidemiology773▲ 1.18×133 topics
  2. Mental Health536▲ 2.2×43 topics
  3. Machine Learning516◆ 0.95×89 topics
  4. Deep Learning513◆ 0.90×84 topics
  5. Climate Change446◆ 1.00×106 topics
  6. Public Health425▲ 1.76×68 topics
  7. Globalization408▲ 1.25×138 topics
  8. Inflammation325◆ 0.94×81 topics
  9. Depression313▲ 2.1×26 topics
  10. Oxidative Stress305◆ 1.12×59 topics
  11. Neural Networks299▲ 1.17×39 topics
  12. Quality of Life278▲ 1.16×58 topics
  13. Risk Factors278▲ 1.52×37 topics
  14. Cardiovascular Disease217▲ 1.17×37 topics
  15. Economic Growth208▲ 1.47×29 topics
  16. Social Support189▲ 2.0×19 topics
  17. Neurological Disorders188▲ 1.99×20 topics
  18. Global Warming187▲ 2.8×15 topics
  19. Genetics180▲ 1.55×27 topics
  20. Health Disparities180▲ 4.1×9 topics
  21. Biomarkers175▲ 1.54×17 topics
  22. History174▲ 1.49×56 topics
  23. Identity173▲ 1.43×68 topics
  24. Gender166▲ 1.84×53 topics
  25. Anxiety157▲ 2.0×12 topics
  26. Aging155▲ 1.74×18 topics
  27. Adolescents155▲ 2.5×10 topics
  28. Colonialism143▲ 1.82×47 topics
  29. Nationalism141▲ 1.84×32 topics
  30. Neoliberalism138▲ 2.3×26 topics
  31. Emotion Regulation135▲ 2.6×9 topics
  32. Monetary Policy130▲ 3.2×12 topics
  33. Global Burden of Disease124▲ 3.0×4 topics
  34. Mortality Risk121▲ 3.0×6 topics
  35. Neurobiology114▲ 2.7×10 topics
  36. Intersectionality102▲ 3.4×14 topics
  37. Stigma101▲ 4.4×5 topics
  38. Psychopathology99▲ 3.3×4 topics
  39. Psychiatric Disorders92▲ 4.2×4 topics
  40. Acculturation75▲ 6.0×2 topics

Which research topics does Columbia University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development, Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research, Neural dynamics and brain function and HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions.

Child and Adolescent Psy…57Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development: 57 fractional worksDementia and Cognitive I…56Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research: 56 fractional worksNeural dynamics and brain function: 56 fractional worksHIV/AIDS Research and Interventions: 50 fractional worksHealth disparities and outcomes: 49 fractional worksClimate variability and models: 49 fractional worksCOVID-19 and Mental Health: 47 fractional worksTopic Modeling46Topic Modeling: 46 fractional worksPhotonic and Optical Devices: 44 fractional worksLGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy: 43 fractional works
Clinical PsychologyPsychiatry and Mental healthCognitive NeuroscienceInfectious Diseases5 others

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

  1. 1 Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentClinical Psychology 57 works
  2. 2 Dementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchPsychiatry and Mental health 56 works
  3. 3 Neural dynamics and brain functionCognitive Neuroscience 56 works
  4. 4 HIV/AIDS Research and InterventionsInfectious Diseases 50 works
  5. 5 Health disparities and outcomesHealth 49 works
  6. 6 Climate variability and modelsGlobal and Planetary Change 49 works
  7. 7 COVID-19 and Mental HealthClinical Psychology 47 works
  8. 8 Topic ModelingArtificial Intelligence 46 works
  9. 9 Photonic and Optical DevicesElectrical and Electronic Engineering 44 works
  10. 10 LGBTQ Health, Identity, and PolicySocial Psychology 43 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 available35.2%not open64.8%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors14.8%domestic only85.2%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Columbia University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 2% 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 New York

All research institutions in New York

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.