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Research facility · Leipzig · Germany

Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research

In research, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research stands highest in Environmental Science (#182 of 3,551 worldwide), Agricultural and Biological Sciences (#311 of 3,409 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#1,645 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Environmental Chemistry, Pollution and Nature and Landscape Conservation — Environmental Chemistry is 17.3× its share of world research.

ufz.deROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#1,922
of 28,054 · #1,585 all time
Rank in Germany
#95
of 1,178
Research works
7.3k
▲ 9% vs 2013–17
Citations
306k
41.9 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
28.7%
record average 16.5%
Open access
48%
world 28%

What is Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research 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
Environmental ScienceField #182 of 3,551 29.3%544 #101
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #311 of 3,409 45.1%133 #253
Physical SciencesDomain #1,645 of 12,888 26.6%824 #1515
Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield #115 of 535 38.9%94 #89
Life SciencesDomain #1,732 of 7,800 34.9%246 #1582
EcologySubfield #204 of 578 32.7%72 #193
Social SciencesDomain #4,695 of 10,521 37.9%87 #1807
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #1,836 of 3,579 24.3%94 #1638
EngineeringField #3,576 of 6,636 21.0%118 #2913
Health SciencesDomain #7,442 of 11,982 20.6%71 #9420

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research 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. Environmental Science#101 #182
  2. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#253 #311
  3. Physical Sciences#1,515 #1,645
  4. Global and Planetary Change#89 #115
  5. Life Sciences#1,582 #1,732
  6. Ecology#193 #204
  7. Social Sciences#1,807 #4,695
  8. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#1,638 #1,836
  9. Engineering#2,913 #3,576
  10. Health Sciences#9,420 #7,442
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 Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Environmental Chemistry takes 17.3× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Environmental ChemistrySubfield · 46.4 works17×
  2. PollutionSubfield · 59.2 works12×
  3. Nature and Landscape ConservationSubfield · 34.2 works12×
  4. Environmental EngineeringSubfield · 76.6 works12×
  5. Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield · 94.4 works10×
  6. Health, Toxicology and MutagenesisSubfield · 63.3 works9.7×
  7. Environmental ScienceField · 544.2 works8.9×
← 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: 2.28× its world share, 133 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.44× its world share, 94 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.73× its world share, 9 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.32× its world share, 6 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.79× its world share, 3 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.23× its world share, 5 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.20× its world share, 23 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.27× its world share, 25 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 3.06× its world share, 59 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 2.30× its world share, 26 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.64× its world share, 118 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 8.92× its world share, 544 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.35× its world share, 15 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.11× its world share, 2 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.22× its world share, 6 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.06× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.22× its world share, 7 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.24× its world share, 56 worksMedicineNursing: 0.72× its world share, 4 worksNursingVeterinary: 2.21× its world share, 4 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.07× its world share, 2 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.26× its world share, 10 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.02× its world share, 12 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.64× its world share, 17 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.12× its world share, 4 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.26× its world share, 41 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Environmental Science, 8.9×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research?

Ranked on the composite score, Thomas Nagel, Ingolf Kühn and Josef Settele lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research.

  1. 1 Thomas Nagel Germany · #992 worldwide 1.8k citations · 116 works
  2. 2 Ingolf Kühn Germany · #5,956 worldwide 1.7k citations · 65 works
  3. 3 Josef Settele Germany · #15,526 worldwide 1.1k citations · 82 works
  4. 4 Stefan Klotz Germany · #18,601 worldwide 711 citations · 60 works
  5. 5 Thomas R. Neu Germany · #29,264 worldwide 617 citations · 44 works
  6. 6 François Buscot Germany · #32,300 worldwide 693 citations · 51 works
  7. 7 Reimund Schwarze Germany · #44,297 worldwide 262 citations · 47 works
  8. 8 Dagmar Haase Germany · #49,074 worldwide 908 citations · 101 works
  9. 9 Mechthild Schmitt‐Jansen Germany · #56,937 worldwide 217 citations · 39 works
  10. 10 Dieter Rink Germany · #66,763 worldwide 223 citations · 30 works
All ranked researchers at Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research

Which keywords describe research at Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Environmental Impact, Land Use Change, Water Quality, Biodiversity Conservation, Ecosystem Services, Sustainability and Remote Sensing.

▲ 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 Change231▲ 7.0×84 topics
  2. Sustainability88▲ 2.9×53 topics
  3. Environmental Impact87▲ 4.2×44 topics
  4. Remote Sensing69▲ 4.5×28 topics
  5. Land Use Change60▲ 16×7 topics
  6. Water Quality58▲ 12×13 topics
  7. Biodiversity Conservation56▲ 12×14 topics
  8. Ecosystem Services55▲ 12×13 topics
  9. Biodiversity51▲ 5.5×27 topics
  10. Microbial Communities50▲ 9.6×9 topics
  11. Hydrological Modeling47▲ 16×5 topics
  12. Health Effects45▲ 6.1×18 topics
  13. Invasive Species44▲ 8.5×18 topics
  14. Renewable Energy42▲ 2.4×28 topics
  15. Global Warming41▲ 8.2×13 topics
  16. Wastewater Treatment40▲ 14×8 topics
  17. Water Resources38▲ 13×10 topics
  18. Global Change36▲ 11×6 topics
  19. Ecosystem Functioning36▲ 15×7 topics
  20. Habitat Fragmentation36▲ 13×5 topics
  21. Model Evaluation36▲ 23×2 topics
  22. Eutrophication35▲ 28×5 topics
  23. Toxicity32▲ 6.1×13 topics
  24. Urbanization31▲ 6.1×6 topics
  25. Environmental Policy30▲ 12×8 topics
  26. Pollution29▲ 12×4 topics
  27. Conservation29▲ 5.5×18 topics
  28. Social-Ecological Systems29▲ 17×4 topics
  29. Waste Management28▲ 5.6×6 topics
  30. Sediment Transport28▲ 14×6 topics
  31. Recycling27▲ 5.8×5 topics
  32. Nutrient Limitation25▲ 20×2 topics
  33. Microbial Ecology25▲ 12×5 topics
  34. Global Hydrology24▲ 30×1 topic
  35. Uncertainty Assessment24▲ 30×1 topic
  36. Environmental Exposure24▲ 18×3 topics
  37. Global Impact24▲ 11×3 topics
  38. Hydrogen Production23▲ 7.0×5 topics
  39. Human-Nature Interactions23▲ 20×1 topic
  40. Spatial Dynamics23▲ 20×1 topic

Which research topics does Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies, Land Use and Ecosystem Services, Microplastics and Plastic Pollution and Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics.

Hydrology and Watershed …24Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies: 24 fractional worksLand Use and Ecosystem S…23Land Use and Ecosystem Services: 23 fractional worksMicroplastics and Plastic Pollution: 17 fractional worksSoil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics: 17 fractional worksMicrobial Community Ecology and Physiology: 17 fractional worksSoil and Water Nutrient Dynamics: 16 fractional worksMicrobial Fuel Cells and Bioremediation: 15 fractional worksPharmaceutical and Antib…15Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts: 15 fractional worksEcology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies: 15 fractional worksUrban Green Space and Health: 14 fractional works
Water Science and TechnologyGlobal and Planetary ChangePollutionSoil Science5 others

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

  1. 1 Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies Water Science and Technology 24 works
  2. 2 Land Use and Ecosystem Services Global and Planetary Change 23 works
  3. 3 Microplastics and Plastic Pollution Pollution 17 works
  4. 4 Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics Soil Science 17 works
  5. 5 Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology Ecology 17 works
  6. 6 Soil and Water Nutrient Dynamics Environmental Chemistry 16 works
  7. 7 Microbial Fuel Cells and Bioremediation Environmental Engineering 15 works
  8. 8 Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts Pollution 15 works
  9. 9 Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies Nature and Landscape Conservation 15 works
  10. 10 Urban Green Space and Health Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis 14 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 available48.4%not open51.6%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors34.6%domestic only65.4%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 9% higher than in 2013–2017.

199520002005201020152020
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 Leipzig

All research institutions in Leipzig

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.