Heriot-Watt University
In research, Heriot-Watt University stands highest in Physical Sciences (#679 of 10,670 worldwide), Engineering (#527 of 5,901 worldwide) and Social Sciences (#1,270 of 9,585 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Ocean Engineering, Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics and Environmental Engineering (Ocean Engineering is 6.6× its share of world research).
- World rank, 2022-now
- #1,034 of 22,385 · #692 all time
- Rank in United Kingdom
- #67 of 862
- Research works
- 18k ▼ 6% vs 2018-21
- Citations
- 446k 25.3 per fractional work
- Top-10% rate
- 13.5% all institutions 10.0%
- vs its own fields
- 1.03× 1.00× is exactly expected
- Open access
- 29% world 40%
- International
- 29% world 18%
What is Heriot-Watt University known for in research?
The fields where it stands highest, 2022-now, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.
| Field | World rank | Where that sits | Top-10% rate | Works | All time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physical SciencesDomain | #679 of 10,670 | 12.6% | 1,559 | #458 | |
| EngineeringField | #527 of 5,901 | 12.9% | 684 | #277 | |
| Social SciencesDomain | #1,270 of 9,585 | 16.7% | 436 | #623 | |
| Computer ScienceField | #839 of 4,417 | 11.8% | 223 | #504 | |
| Environmental ScienceField | #683 of 3,334 | 13.0% | 202 | #591 | |
| Health SciencesDomain | #2,712 of 9,902 | 14.6% | 113 | #1209 | |
| Social SciencesField | #1,814 of 5,988 | 18.1% | 130 | #848 | |
| Life SciencesDomain | #1,970 of 6,403 | 13.2% | 105 | #1643 | |
| Electrical and Electronic EngineeringSubfield | #683 of 2,176 | 11.0% | 127 | #310 | |
| Artificial IntelligenceSubfield | #601 of 1,862 | 12.5% | 102 | #405 |
Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where Heriot-Watt 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 average mark, because the average differs by field (from about 6% in Dentistry to 21% in Economics).
Which of those standings moved
The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022-now. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.
- Physical Sciences#458 #679
- Engineering#277 #527
- Social Sciences#623 #1,270
- Computer Science#504 #839
- Environmental Science#591 #683
- Health Sciences#1,209 #2,712
- Social Sciences#848 #1,814
- Life Sciences#1,643 #1,970
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering#310 #683
- Artificial Intelligence#405 #601
A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.
Which fields of science does Heriot-Watt University work in?
In 2022-now, 70% of research at Heriot-Watt University is in Physical Sciences, 20% in Social Sciences. Its largest fields are Engineering (30%), Computer Science (10%), Environmental Science (10%). It does 1.8× the world's share of Physical Sciences.
Each ring splits the one inside it: the four domains of science, their fields, their subfields. Size is fractional works in 2022-now. Every slice is a page; the interactive view zooms down to single topics and colours each by how much more of it this institution does than the world.
Its 4 domains and 26 fields, with their numbers
- Physical Sciences1,71170.4%
- Engineering73730.4%
- Computer Science24910.3%
- Environmental Science2349.6%
- Physics and Astronomy1496.1%
- Materials Science893.7%
- Earth and Planetary Sciences803.3%
- Mathematics632.6%
- Chemistry582.4%
- Energy381.6%
- Chemical Engineering140.6%
- Social Sciences47519.5%
- Social Sciences1435.9%
- Business, Management and Accounting1134.7%
- Economics, Econometrics and Finance743.1%
- Psychology743.0%
- Decision Sciences421.7%
- Arts and Humanities291.2%
- Health Sciences1265.2%
- Medicine903.7%
- Health Professions321.3%
- Nursing20.1%
- Veterinary10.0%
- Dentistry10.0%
- Life Sciences1184.9%
What does Heriot-Watt University specialise in?
Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Ocean Engineering takes 6.6× the share of its output that it takes of world research.
- Ocean EngineeringSubfield · 83.9 works6.6×
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsSubfield · 89.9 works5.2×
- Environmental EngineeringSubfield · 63.5 works4.8×
- Environmental ChemistrySubfield · 24.9 works4.7×
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.
Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 2.8×. Every wedge is a field page.
All 26 fields, with their numbers
- Physics and Astronomy2.75×149 works
- Mathematics2.21×63 works
- Earth and Planetary Sciences2.10×80 works
- Engineering2.02×737 works
- Environmental Science1.94×234 works
- Decision Sciences1.79×42 works
- Energy1.70×38 works
- Chemical Engineering1.62×14 works
- Chemistry1.51×58 works
- Business, Management and Accounting1.44×113 works
- Economics, Econometrics and Finance1.43×74 works
- Computer Science1.32×249 works
- Materials Science1.05×89 works
- Psychology0.99×74 works
- Neuroscience0.50×20 works
- Health Professions0.50×32 works
- Social Sciences0.46×142 works
- Arts and Humanities0.42×29 works
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.39×44 works
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.36×47 works
- Veterinary0.35×1 works
- Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics0.29×2 works
- Immunology and Microbiology0.19×5 works
- Medicine0.19×90 works
- Nursing0.17×2 works
- Dentistry0.07×1 works
- Physics and Astronomy 2.8×
- Mathematics 2.2×
- Earth and Planetary Sciences 2.1×
- Engineering 2.0×
- Environmental Science 1.9×
- Decision Sciences 1.8×
- Energy 1.7×
- Chemical Engineering 1.6×
- Chemistry 1.5×
- Business, Management and Accounting 1.4×
- Economics, Econometrics and Finance 1.4×
- Computer Science 1.3×
- Materials Science 1.1×
- Psychology 1.0×
- Neuroscience 0.5×
- Health Professions 0.5×
- Social Sciences 0.5×
- Arts and Humanities 0.4×
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences 0.4×
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 0.4×
- Veterinary 0.3×
- Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics 0.3×
- Immunology and Microbiology 0.2×
- Medicine 0.2×
- Nursing 0.2×
- Dentistry 0.1×
Who are the top researchers at Heriot-Watt University?
Ranked on the quality score, Jiju Antony, Babak Taheri and Phil Renforth lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Heriot-Watt University.
- 1
Jiju Antony
United Kingdom · #4,172 worldwide 32k citations · 749 works
- 2
Babak Taheri
United Kingdom · #30,375 worldwide 5.9k citations · 195 works
- 3
Phil Renforth
United Kingdom · #34,403 worldwide 9.7k citations · 158 works
- 4
Vicki Stone
United Kingdom · #49,383 worldwide 30k citations · 304 works
- 5
Xianzhong Chen
United Kingdom · #68,472 worldwide 11k citations · 170 works
- 6
Mijndert W. van der Spek
United Kingdom · #101,310 worldwide 3.5k citations · 126 works
- 7
Daniil Yurchenko
United Kingdom · #109,740 worldwide 6.6k citations · 179 works
- 8
Martin Joseph Gannon
United Kingdom · #110,667 worldwide 2.7k citations · 79 works
- 9
John Macleod Ball
United Kingdom · #135,949 worldwide 16k citations · 200 works
- 10
Annelies Kusters
United Kingdom · #139,577 worldwide 2k citations · 96 works
Which keywords describe research at Heriot-Watt University?
By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Sustainability, CO2 Sequestration, Deep Learning, Nonlinear Optics, Hydraulic Fracturing, Reactive Transport, Renewable Energy and Machine Learning.
- Mudstones
- Nanopores
- Ultrafast Lasers
- Gas Permeability
- Microwave Photonics
- Microresonators
- Entanglement
- Molecular Dynamics
- Pore-scale Modeling
- Nanofluids
- Shale Gas Reservoirs
- Surfactants
- Carbon Capture
- Risk Management
- Reactive Transport
- Optimization
- CO2 Sequestration
- Environmental Impact
- Climate Change
- Sustainability
- Deep Learning
- Machine Learning
- Renewable Energy
- Neural Networks
- Nonlinear Optics
- Hydraulic Fracturing
- Porous Media
- Fiber Lasers
- Geological Storage
- Fracture Propagation
- Shale Gas
- Human-Robot Interaction
- X-ray Computed Tomography
- Data Assimilation
- Uncertainty Quantification
- Pore Structure
- Ensemble Kalman Filter
- Optical Frequency Combs
- Closed-Loop Control
- Well Placement
Size is fractional works in 2022-now 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
- Deep Learning114▲ 1.36×73 topics
- Sustainability104▲ 1.75×69 topics
- Machine Learning97▲ 1.20×69 topics
- Climate Change85▲ 1.29×73 topics
- Renewable Energy70▲ 2.0×38 topics
- Environmental Impact66▲ 1.59×48 topics
- Neural Networks57▲ 1.52×36 topics
- CO2 Sequestration45▲ 9.5×4 topics
- Nonlinear Optics44▲ 17×4 topics
- Optimization36▲ 3.3×15 topics
- Hydraulic Fracturing36▲ 14×2 topics
- Reactive Transport36▲ 26×2 topics
- Porous Media35▲ 11×6 topics
- Risk Management33▲ 2.9×13 topics
- Fiber Lasers30▲ 13×3 topics
- Carbon Capture30▲ 27×1 topic
- Geological Storage30▲ 39×1 topic
- Surfactants28▲ 12×5 topics
- Fracture Propagation28▲ 19×1 topic
- Shale Gas Reservoirs28▲ 19×1 topic
- Shale Gas27▲ 9.4×2 topics
- Nanofluids26▲ 13×2 topics
- Human-Robot Interaction26▲ 9.1×3 topics
- Pore-scale Modeling25▲ 28×1 topic
- X-ray Computed Tomography25▲ 28×1 topic
- Molecular Dynamics24▲ 5.7×6 topics
- Data Assimilation24▲ 6.0×4 topics
- Entanglement24▲ 6.5×4 topics
- Uncertainty Quantification23▲ 12×2 topics
- Microresonators22▲ 12×3 topics
- Pore Structure21▲ 7.1×3 topics
- Microwave Photonics21▲ 10×2 topics
- Ensemble Kalman Filter21▲ 8.5×2 topics
- Gas Permeability21▲ 9.0×2 topics
- Optical Frequency Combs21▲ 16×1 topic
- Ultrafast Lasers21▲ 16×1 topic
- Closed-Loop Control20▲ 19×1 topic
- Nanopores20▲ 8.9×2 topics
- Well Placement20▲ 19×1 topic
- Mudstones19▲ 11×1 topic
Which research topics does Heriot-Watt University publish most on?
By volume in 2022-now: CO2 Sequestration and Geologic Interactions, Hydraulic Fracturing and Reservoir Analysis, Enhanced Oil Recovery Techniques and Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies.
Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.
- 1 CO2 Sequestration and Geologic Interactions Environmental Engineering 30 works
- 2 Hydraulic Fracturing and Reservoir Analysis Mechanical Engineering 28 works
- 3 Enhanced Oil Recovery Techniques Ocean Engineering 25 works
- 4 Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics 21 works
- 5 Reservoir Engineering and Simulation Methods Ocean Engineering 20 works
- 6 Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis Mechanics of Materials 19 works
- 7 Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena Environmental Chemistry 18 works
- 8 Social Robot Interaction and HRI Social Psychology 16 works
- 9 Quantum Information and Cryptography Artificial Intelligence 14 works
- 10 Antenna Design and Analysis Aerospace Engineering 13 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.
World: 40% of research is openly available.
World: 18% is written across borders.
How has Heriot-Watt University's research output changed?
Output in 2022-2025 was 6% lower than in 2018-2021.
The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.
Its share of all research
Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Heriot-Watt University as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.011% in 2024.
Fractional works of Heriot-Watt University over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.
How much of it reaches the world top 10%
Year by year, against all institutions in the same year.
Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 17.3% in 2009.
Other research institutions in Edinburgh
- University of Edinburgh
- Edinburgh Napier University
- Edinburgh College
- NHS Lothian
- Marine Scotland
- Queen Margaret University
- Scotland's Rural College
- Royal Observatory
Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners have tabs of their own, above.
Discussion
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