Science Explorer Interactive view Map
Government institution · Brussels · Belgium

European Union

In research, European Union stands highest in Social Sciences (#3,530 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#3,155 of 6,365 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#7,018 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Political Science and International Relations — Political Science and International Relations is 15.0× its share of world research.

european-union.europa.euROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#7,466
of 28,054 · #3,958 all time
Rank in Belgium
#42
of 138
Research works
3.9k
▲ 29% vs 2013–17
Citations
50k
12.8 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
13.2%
record average 16.5%
Open access
34%
world 28%

What is European Union 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 #3,530 of 10,521 12.4%278 #1808
Social SciencesField #3,155 of 6,365 12.6%174 #1694
Physical SciencesDomain #7,018 of 12,888 13.3%89 #3211
Political Science and International RelationsSubfield #704 of 1,201 11.6%98 #321

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where European Union 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#1,808 #3,530
  2. Social Sciences#1,694 #3,155
  3. Physical Sciences#3,211 #7,018
  4. Political Science and International Relations#321 #704
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 European Union specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Political Science and International Relations takes 15.0× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Political Science and International RelationsSubfield · 97.8 works15×
← 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: 0.72× its world share, 15 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.29× its world share, 7 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.40× its world share, 2 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.23× its world share, 2 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.23× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.15× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.46× its world share, 3 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.60× its world share, 21 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.38× its world share, 3 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 2.01× its world share, 8 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.38× its world share, 25 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.94× its world share, 20 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.16× its world share, 2 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.43× its world share, 2 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.47× its world share, 5 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.61× its world share, 1 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.08× its world share, 12 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.37× its world share, 31 worksMedicineNursing: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.14× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.06× its world share, 13 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.92× its world share, 27 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.16× its world share, 5 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 5.22× its world share, 49 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.73× its world share, 10 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 3.14× its world share, 174 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Economics, Econometrics and Finance, 5.2×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at European Union?

Ranked on the composite score, Jacques Delors, Hans Reimlinger and W. Ruland lead among researchers whose main affiliation is European Union.

  1. 1 Jacques Delors · #45,312 worldwide 192 citations · 34 works
  2. 2 Hans Reimlinger · #241,702 worldwide 110 citations · 29 works
  3. 3 W. Ruland · #301,903 worldwide 204 citations · 26 works
  4. 4 F. E. Critchfield · #365,672 worldwide 117 citations · 20 works
  5. 5 Claus‐Dieter Ehlermann · #367,820 worldwide 37 citations · 19 works
  6. 6 Jean-François Drevet · #461,038 worldwide 7 citations · 37 works
  7. 7 Harold Pinter · #465,211 worldwide 8 citations · 21 works
  8. 8 Sonja Puntscher-Riekmann · #482,543 worldwide 2 citations · 22 works
  9. 9 Manuel López Escudero · #554,522 worldwide 9 citations · 47 works
  10. 10 Sara Iglesias Sánchez · #557,972 worldwide 16 citations · 21 works
All ranked researchers at European Union

Which keywords describe research at European Union?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Human Rights, European Union, Democracy, Judicial Review, Globalization, Constitutionalism, ECHR and European Legal Systems.

▲ 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. Human Rights53▲ 12×40 topics
  2. European Union40▲ 40×17 topics
  3. Globalization36▲ 4.2×57 topics
  4. Democracy33▲ 21×16 topics
  5. Judicial Review29▲ 73×5 topics
  6. Constitutionalism26▲ 63×4 topics
  7. ECHR25▲ 147×1 topic
  8. European Legal Systems25▲ 147×1 topic
  9. Sustainability23▲ 2.1×46 topics
  10. Climate Change22▲ 1.83×39 topics
  11. Sustainable Development21▲ 3.0×42 topics
  12. Governance19▲ 13×11 topics
  13. International Law18▲ 13×22 topics
  14. Global Governance16▲ 16×17 topics
  15. Economic Development16▲ 4.4×21 topics
  16. European Integration15▲ 62×5 topics
  17. Institutionalization14▲ 35×4 topics
  18. Geopolitics14▲ 21×10 topics
  19. Sovereignty14▲ 33×6 topics
  20. Political Dynamics13▲ 109×2 topics
  21. Renewable Energy13▲ 2.1×25 topics
  22. Compliance13▲ 100×3 topics
  23. multi-level12▲ 145×1 topic
  24. normative power12▲ 145×1 topic
  25. Innovation12▲ 2.5×23 topics
  26. Economic Growth11▲ 3.1×20 topics
  27. Political Economy11▲ 9.5×10 topics
  28. Monetary Policy11▲ 10×8 topics
  29. Financial Crisis10▲ 20×9 topics
  30. Schengen Area10▲ 76×2 topics
  31. Social Movements8▲ 6.3×8 topics
  32. Migration8▲ 5.5×12 topics
  33. Industrial Policy8▲ 16×4 topics
  34. Fundamental Rights8▲ 93×2 topics
  35. Environmental Policy7▲ 8.2×5 topics
  36. Asset Pricing7▲ 18×2 topics
  37. Energy Transition7▲ 11×4 topics
  38. Economic Evaluation7▲ 13×3 topics
  39. Market Competition7▲ 35×2 topics
  40. Legal System7▲ 16×2 topics

Which research topics does European Union publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: European and International Law Studies, European Union Policy and Governance, Diverse Scientific and Economic Studies and European Criminal Justice and Data Protection.

European and Internation…25European and International Law Studies: 25 fractional worksEuropean Union Policy an…12European Union Policy and Governance: 12 fractional worksDiverse Scientific and E…6Diverse Scientific and Economic Studies: 6 fractional worksEuropean Criminal Justice and Data Protection: 6 fractional worksGlobal Energy Security and Policy: 5 fractional worksPolitical and Social Issues: 5 fractional worksClimate Change Policy and Economics: 5 fractional worksInternational Arbitration and Investment Law: 4 fractional worksPost-Soviet Geopolitical Dynamics: 4 fractional worksHuman Rights and Immigration: 4 fractional works
Political Science and International RelationsEconomics and EconometricsGeneral EnergyStrategy and Management1 others

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

  1. 1 European and International Law Studies Political Science and International Relations 25 works
  2. 2 European Union Policy and Governance Political Science and International Relations 12 works
  3. 3 Diverse Scientific and Economic Studies Economics and Econometrics 6 works
  4. 4 European Criminal Justice and Data Protection Political Science and International Relations 6 works
  5. 5 Global Energy Security and Policy General Energy 5 works
  6. 6 Political and Social Issues Political Science and International Relations 5 works
  7. 7 Climate Change Policy and Economics Economics and Econometrics 5 works
  8. 8 International Arbitration and Investment Law Strategy and Management 4 works
  9. 9 Post-Soviet Geopolitical Dynamics Political Science and International Relations 4 works
  10. 10 Human Rights and Immigration Sociology and Political Science 4 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 available34.5%not open65.5%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors33.4%domestic only66.6%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has European Union's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 29% 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 Brussels

All research institutions in Brussels

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.