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Research facility · Potsdam · Germany

GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences

In research, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences stands highest in Geophysics (#11 of 237 worldwide), Physical Sciences (#881 of 12,888 worldwide) and Earth and Planetary Sciences (#141 of 1,209 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Geophysics, Earth and Planetary Sciences and Atmospheric Science — Geophysics is 71.2× its share of world research.

gfz.deROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#1,497
of 28,054 · #1,092 all time
Rank in Germany
#78
of 1,178
Research works
7.4k
▲ 10% vs 2013–17
Citations
240k
32.6 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
26.9%
record average 16.5%
Open access
61%
world 28%

What is GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences 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
GeophysicsSubfield #11 of 237 28.0%251 #21
Physical SciencesDomain #881 of 12,888 27.2%922 #779
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #141 of 1,209 27.6%411 #144
Environmental ScienceField #555 of 3,551 29.8%197 #559
EngineeringField #2,010 of 6,636 29.4%151 #1072
Atmospheric ScienceSubfield #156 of 301 25.3%72 #208
Physics and AstronomyField #1,455 of 1,646 23.1%61 #1053

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences 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. Geophysics#21 #11
  2. Physical Sciences#779 #881
  3. Earth and Planetary Sciences#144 #141
  4. Environmental Science#559 #555
  5. Engineering#1,072 #2,010
  6. Atmospheric Science#208 #156
  7. Physics and Astronomy#1,053 #1,455
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 GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Geophysics takes 71.2× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. GeophysicsSubfield · 251.1 works71×
  2. Earth and Planetary SciencesField · 410.7 works26×
  3. Atmospheric ScienceSubfield · 72.2 works16×
  4. OceanographySubfield · 38.1 works13×
  5. Environmental ChemistrySubfield · 21.7 works9.8×
  6. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 50.0 works9.5×
← 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: 0.31× its world share, 15 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.59× its world share, 32 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.12× its world share, 2 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.31× its world share, 1 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.79× its world share, 12 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.60× its world share, 47 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 25.92× its world share, 411 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 2.07× its world share, 19 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.00× its world share, 151 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 3.92× its world share, 196 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.61× its world share, 22 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.14× its world share, 2 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 2.70× its world share, 61 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.10× its world share, 3 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.03× its world share, 5 worksMedicineNursing: 0.07× its world share, 0 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.14× its world share, 4 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.02× its world share, 1 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.43× its world share, 4 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.08× its world share, 2 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.14× its world share, 4 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.13× its world share, 16 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Earth and Planetary Sciences, 25.9×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences?

Ranked on the composite score, Peter Dulski, Oliver Bens and Xiaohui Yuan lead among researchers whose main affiliation is GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences.

  1. 1 Peter Dulski Germany · #16,786 worldwide 1.1k citations · 61 works
  2. 2 Oliver Bens Germany · #54,110 worldwide 364 citations · 41 works
  3. 3 Xiaohui Yuan Germany · #54,588 worldwide 543 citations · 55 works
  4. 4 Jörg F. W. Negendank Germany · #56,685 worldwide 518 citations · 34 works
  5. 5 Wolfgang Seifert Germany · #56,882 worldwide 235 citations · 44 works
  6. 6 Brian Horsfield Germany · #65,262 worldwide 734 citations · 99 works
  7. 7 S. V. Sobolev Germany · #67,250 worldwide 430 citations · 66 works
  8. 8 Bruno Merz Germany · #68,215 worldwide 739 citations · 101 works
  9. 9 Monika Korte Germany · #71,171 worldwide 316 citations · 50 works
  10. 10 Heidi Kreibich Germany · #78,931 worldwide 591 citations · 75 works
All ranked researchers at GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences

Which keywords describe research at GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Remote Sensing, Plate Tectonics, Geodetic Measurements, Subduction, Tectonics, Earthquakes and Plate Boundaries.

▲ 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 Change162▲ 6.0×61 topics
  2. Remote Sensing113▲ 9.0×29 topics
  3. Geodetic Measurements99▲ 90×2 topics
  4. Plate Tectonics99▲ 64×3 topics
  5. Subduction80▲ 108×3 topics
  6. Tectonics72▲ 60×3 topics
  7. Earthquakes71▲ 124×1 topic
  8. Plate Boundaries71▲ 124×1 topic
  9. Tomography62▲ 34×4 topics
  10. Hydrological Modeling62▲ 26×5 topics
  11. Thermodynamic Modeling59▲ 52×4 topics
  12. Geochronology58▲ 83×1 topic
  13. Zircon58▲ 83×1 topic
  14. Machine Learning56▲ 1.70×32 topics
  15. Sea Level Rise46▲ 36×3 topics
  16. Superconductivity39▲ 23×7 topics
  17. Solar Wind38▲ 41×2 topics
  18. Crystal Structure Prediction38▲ 80×1 topic
  19. Mantle Dynamics38▲ 80×1 topic
  20. Holocene32▲ 28×3 topics
  21. Paleoclimatology32▲ 38×2 topics
  22. Sea Level32▲ 32×2 topics
  23. Solar Influence30▲ 42×2 topics
  24. Glacial Cycles30▲ 45×1 topic
  25. Monsoon Dynamics30▲ 45×1 topic
  26. GRACE28▲ 53×1 topic
  27. groundwater depletion28▲ 53×1 topic
  28. Shale Gas27▲ 21×2 topics
  29. Support Vector Machines26▲ 8.1×3 topics
  30. Hydrology25▲ 19×4 topics
  31. Hyperspectral Imaging25▲ 8.6×5 topics
  32. Ionosphere25▲ 44×1 topic
  33. Magnetosphere25▲ 44×1 topic
  34. Biomineralization24▲ 35×4 topics
  35. Seismic Noise24▲ 49×1 topic
  36. Surface Wave24▲ 49×1 topic
  37. Geological Mapping24▲ 28×2 topics
  38. Orbit Determination22▲ 51×2 topics
  39. Compositional Data Analysis22▲ 32×1 topic
  40. Mineral Prospectivity22▲ 32×1 topic

Which research topics does GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: earthquake and tectonic studies, Geological and Geochemical Analysis, High-pressure geophysics and materials and Geology and Paleoclimatology Research.

earthquake and tectonic …71earthquake and tectonic studies: 71 fractional worksGeological and Geochemical Analysis: 58 fractional worksHigh-pressure geophysics and materials: 38 fractional worksGeology and Paleoclimatology Research: 30 fractional worksGeophysics and Gravity Measurements: 28 fractional worksIonosphere and magnetosphere dynamics: 25 fractional worksSeismic Waves and Analysis24Seismic Waves and Analysis: 24 fractional worksGNSS positioning and interference: 22 fractional worksGeochemistry and Geologic Mapping: 22 fractional worksEarthquake Detection and Analysis: 22 fractional works
GeophysicsAtmospheric ScienceOceanographyAstronomy and Astrophysics2 others

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

  1. 1 earthquake and tectonic studies Geophysics 71 works
  2. 2 Geological and Geochemical Analysis Geophysics 58 works
  3. 3 High-pressure geophysics and materials Geophysics 38 works
  4. 4 Geology and Paleoclimatology Research Atmospheric Science 30 works
  5. 5 Geophysics and Gravity Measurements Oceanography 28 works
  6. 6 Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 25 works
  7. 7 Seismic Waves and Analysis Geophysics 24 works
  8. 8 GNSS positioning and interference Aerospace Engineering 22 works
  9. 9 Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping Artificial Intelligence 22 works
  10. 10 Earthquake Detection and Analysis Geophysics 22 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 available61.2%not open38.8%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors45.9%domestic only54.1%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 10% 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 Potsdam

All research institutions in Potsdam

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.