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University · Durham · United Kingdom

Durham University

In research, Durham University stands highest in Social Sciences (#73 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#50 of 6,365 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#264 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Classics, History and Philosophy of Science and Instrumentation — Classics is 11.2× its share of world research.

dur.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#271
of 28,054 · #185 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#18
of 1,094
Research works
54k
▲ 4% vs 2013–17
Citations
1.5M
27.2 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
24.7%
record average 16.5%
Open access
48%
world 28%

What is Durham 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
Social SciencesDomain #73 of 10,521 24.1%3,636 #71
Social SciencesField #50 of 6,365 27.9%1,668 #65
Physical SciencesDomain #264 of 12,888 25.0%2,790 #170
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #58 of 2,578 28.0%600 #64
Arts and HumanitiesField #59 of 1,998 13.6%929 #13
PsychologyField #122 of 2,181 27.5%377 #114
Political Science and International RelationsSubfield #71 of 1,201 22.6%299 #58
AnthropologySubfield #11 of 153 22.7%145 #14
Business, Management and AccountingField #210 of 2,578 31.2%316 #165
Physics and AstronomyField #150 of 1,646 37.6%588 #91

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Durham 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. Social Sciences#71 #73
  2. Social Sciences#65 #50
  3. Physical Sciences#170 #264
  4. Sociology and Political Science#64 #58
  5. Arts and Humanities#13 #59
  6. Psychology#114 #122
  7. Political Science and International Relations#58 #71
  8. Anthropology#14 #11
  9. Business, Management and Accounting#165 #210
  10. Physics and Astronomy#91 #150
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 Durham University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Classics takes 11.2× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. ClassicsSubfield · 48.6 works11×
  2. History and Philosophy of ScienceSubfield · 123.3 works11×
  3. InstrumentationSubfield · 27.4 works7.5×
  4. Religious studiesSubfield · 91.1 works7.5×
  5. HistorySubfield · 169.5 works7.2×
  6. Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsSubfield · 164.1 works7.1×
  7. AnthropologySubfield · 144.6 works7.0×
← 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: 0.33× its world share, 114 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.45× its world share, 175 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.20× its world share, 15 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.20× its world share, 142 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.25× its world share, 6 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.47× its world share, 12 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.85× its world share, 97 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.86× its world share, 491 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 2.48× its world share, 285 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.57× its world share, 38 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.61× its world share, 671 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.79× its world share, 287 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.52× its world share, 134 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 2.19× its world share, 188 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 3.62× its world share, 588 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.07× its world share, 2 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.63× its world share, 121 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.20× its world share, 287 worksMedicineNursing: 0.30× its world share, 11 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.46× its world share, 4 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 4.41× its world share, 929 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.34× its world share, 316 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.41× its world share, 99 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.58× its world share, 247 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.69× its world share, 376 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.80× its world share, 1,668 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Arts and Humanities, 4.4×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Durham University?

Ranked on the composite score, Peter Richardson, Carlos S. Frenk and Shaun Cole lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Durham University.

  1. 1 Peter Richardson United Kingdom · #833 worldwide 2.1k citations · 99 works
  2. 2 Carlos S. Frenk United Kingdom · #1,207 worldwide 4.8k citations · 197 works
  3. 3 Shaun Cole United Kingdom · #2,322 worldwide 2.2k citations · 99 works
  4. 4 Judith A. K. Howard United Kingdom · #2,575 worldwide 5.5k citations · 294 works
  5. 5 Brian Huntley United Kingdom · #3,429 worldwide 1.8k citations · 79 works
  6. 6 R. G. Bower United Kingdom · #4,918 worldwide 2.2k citations · 105 works
  7. 7 P. Norberg United Kingdom · #7,213 worldwide 1.2k citations · 73 works
  8. 8 Carolyn Summerbell United Kingdom · #7,575 worldwide 716 citations · 58 works
  9. 9 C. G. Lacey United Kingdom · #7,809 worldwide 1.4k citations · 72 works
  10. 10 Frank Krauss United Kingdom · #8,151 worldwide 1.9k citations · 57 works
All ranked researchers at Durham University

Which keywords describe research at Durham University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Globalization, History, Religion, Nationalism, Ethics, Gender, Colonialism 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. Globalization315▲ 2.2×116 topics
  2. Climate Change272▲ 1.38×94 topics
  3. History206▲ 4.0×45 topics
  4. Human Rights187▲ 2.5×60 topics
  5. Religion174▲ 5.0×36 topics
  6. Mental Health164▲ 1.53×42 topics
  7. Nationalism158▲ 4.7×31 topics
  8. Ethics152▲ 4.3×42 topics
  9. Gender151▲ 3.8×48 topics
  10. Identity151▲ 2.8×56 topics
  11. Colonialism144▲ 4.2×41 topics
  12. Culture138▲ 3.6×26 topics
  13. Philosophy134▲ 4.2×33 topics
  14. Innovation126▲ 1.64×42 topics
  15. Neoliberalism120▲ 4.6×25 topics
  16. Literature118▲ 3.0×46 topics
  17. Cultural Identity116▲ 3.1×29 topics
  18. Society103▲ 7.3×18 topics
  19. Theology101▲ 14×5 topics
  20. Dark Matter97▲ 12×4 topics
  21. Social Justice93▲ 2.2×41 topics
  22. Feminism90▲ 4.3×22 topics
  23. Black Holes85▲ 12×3 topics
  24. Democracy79▲ 3.0×20 topics
  25. Social History77▲ 13×7 topics
  26. Church History74▲ 23×3 topics
  27. International Law73▲ 3.3×22 topics
  28. Politics72▲ 3.6×17 topics
  29. Emotion70▲ 4.6×11 topics
  30. Medicine70▲ 12×7 topics
  31. Global Governance68▲ 4.1×17 topics
  32. Archaeology65▲ 6.6×10 topics
  33. Cosmopolitanism62▲ 7.8×8 topics
  34. Particle Physics60▲ 11×2 topics
  35. Reformation56▲ 26×2 topics
  36. Calvinism54▲ 30×1 topic
  37. Religious Controversy54▲ 30×1 topic
  38. Biopolitics54▲ 11×6 topics
  39. Cosmology53▲ 11×4 topics
  40. Quantum Gravity49▲ 8.2×4 topics

Which research topics does Durham University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Reformation and Early Modern Christianity, Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies, Geology and Paleoclimatology Research and Biblical Studies and Interpretation.

Reformation and Early Mo…54Reformation and Early Modern Christianity: 54 fractional worksParticle physics theoret…45Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies: 45 fractional worksGeology and Paleoclimatology Research: 40 fractional worksBiblical Studies and Interpretation: 39 fractional worksArchaeology and ancient environmental studies: 39 fractional worksGalaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena: 36 fractional worksBlack Holes and Theoretical Physics: 36 fractional worksHistory of Science and M…35History of Science and Medicine: 35 fractional worksClassical Antiquity Studies: 34 fractional worksHistorical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis: 32 fractional works
HistoryNuclear and High Energy PhysicsAtmospheric ScienceReligious studies4 others

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

  1. 1 Reformation and Early Modern Christianity History 54 works
  2. 2 Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies Nuclear and High Energy Physics 45 works
  3. 3 Geology and Paleoclimatology Research Atmospheric Science 40 works
  4. 4 Biblical Studies and Interpretation Religious studies 39 works
  5. 5 Archaeology and ancient environmental studies Paleontology 39 works
  6. 6 Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena Astronomy and Astrophysics 36 works
  7. 7 Black Holes and Theoretical Physics Nuclear and High Energy Physics 36 works
  8. 8 History of Science and Medicine History and Philosophy of Science 35 works
  9. 9 Classical Antiquity Studies Anthropology 34 works
  10. 10 Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis History and Philosophy of Science 32 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 available48.1%not open51.9%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors22.0%domestic only78.0%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Durham University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 4% 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 Durham

All research institutions in Durham

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.