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University · London · United Kingdom

Imperial College London

In research, Imperial College London stands highest in Medicine (#26 of 10,443 worldwide), Health Sciences (#32 of 11,982 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#53 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Statistical and Nonlinear Physics, Computational Mechanics and Mathematical Physics — Statistical and Nonlinear Physics is 3.1× its share of world research.

imperial.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#44
of 28,054 · #35 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#4
of 1,094
Research works
134k
▲ 9% vs 2013–17
Citations
5.3M
39.5 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
24.6%
record average 16.5%
Open access
40%
world 28%

What is Imperial College London 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
MedicineField #26 of 10,443 23.8%4,446 #39
Health SciencesDomain #32 of 11,982 24.1%4,989 #44
Physical SciencesDomain #53 of 12,888 23.3%9,475 #32
Life SciencesDomain #43 of 7,800 26.4%2,229 #52
EngineeringField #47 of 6,636 23.1%4,139 #24
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational HealthSubfield #6 of 828 27.9%337 #21
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #36 of 3,579 25.9%1,224 #59
Pulmonary and Respiratory MedicineSubfield #13 of 1,144 21.3%518 #20
Computer ScienceField #56 of 4,667 24.6%1,598 #51
Environmental ScienceField #53 of 3,551 26.6%873 #20

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Imperial College London 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. Medicine#39 #26
  2. Health Sciences#44 #32
  3. Physical Sciences#32 #53
  4. Life Sciences#52 #43
  5. Engineering#24 #47
  6. Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health#21 #6
  7. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#59 #36
  8. Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine#20 #13
  9. Computer Science#51 #56
  10. Environmental Science#20 #53
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 Imperial College London specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Statistical and Nonlinear Physics takes 3.1× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Statistical and Nonlinear PhysicsSubfield · 177.1 works3.1×
  2. Computational MechanicsSubfield · 322.7 works3.0×
  3. Mathematical PhysicsSubfield · 71.1 works2.5×
  4. BiophysicsSubfield · 49.7 works2.4×
  5. Family PracticeSubfield · 20.3 works2.3×
  6. Immunology and AllergySubfield · 33.6 works2.3×
  7. Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsSubfield · 133.1 works2.3×
← 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: 0.28× its world share, 247 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.25× its world share, 1,224 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 1.48× its world share, 274 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.49× its world share, 443 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.65× its world share, 42 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.71× its world share, 110 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.04× its world share, 301 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.12× its world share, 1,598 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.21× its world share, 349 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 1.26× its world share, 213 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.50× its world share, 4,139 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.96× its world share, 873 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 1.10× its world share, 704 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.62× its world share, 351 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 2.05× its world share, 837 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.20× its world share, 18 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.93× its world share, 451 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 1.26× its world share, 4,446 worksMedicineNursing: 0.71× its world share, 64 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.39× its world share, 10 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.14× its world share, 73 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.35× its world share, 205 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.17× its world share, 208 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.84× its world share, 330 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.66× its world share, 371 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.21× its world share, 482 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 2.0×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Imperial College London?

Ranked on the composite score, Azeem Majeed, Paul Elliott and Paul M. Matthews lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Imperial College London.

  1. 1 Azeem Majeed United Kingdom · #51 worldwide 6k citations · 151 works
  2. 2 Paul Elliott United Kingdom · #187 worldwide 3.5k citations · 214 works
  3. 3 Paul M. Matthews United Kingdom · #744 worldwide 2.2k citations · 118 works
  4. 4 Andrew G. Nicholson United Kingdom · #874 worldwide 2.1k citations · 103 works
  5. 5 J. B. Pendry United Kingdom · #926 worldwide 3.5k citations · 121 works
  6. 6 Kausik K. Ray United Kingdom · #940 worldwide 1.6k citations · 120 works
  7. 7 Ben Glocker United Kingdom · #1,239 worldwide 2.5k citations · 116 works
  8. 8 T.C. Green United Kingdom · #1,465 worldwide 2k citations · 114 works
  9. 9 Josip Car United Kingdom · #1,879 worldwide 1.4k citations · 88 works
  10. 10 John C. Lindon United Kingdom · #1,909 worldwide 1.6k citations · 108 works
All ranked researchers at Imperial College London

Which keywords describe research at Imperial College London?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Epidemiology, Deep Learning, Machine Learning, Neural Networks, Inflammation, Cardiovascular Disease, Climate Change and Large-Eddy Simulation.

▲ 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. Epidemiology970▲ 1.33×135 topics
  2. Deep Learning891▲ 1.42×80 topics
  3. Machine Learning708▲ 1.18×88 topics
  4. Climate Change463◆ 0.94×97 topics
  5. Inflammation461▲ 1.21×83 topics
  6. Neural Networks412▲ 1.46×36 topics
  7. Renewable Energy342▲ 1.30×49 topics
  8. Cardiovascular Disease331▲ 1.62×39 topics
  9. Public Health320▲ 1.20×64 topics
  10. Nanoparticles308▲ 1.33×44 topics
  11. Sustainability307▼ 0.69×83 topics
  12. Treatment288▲ 1.29×52 topics
  13. Oxidative Stress284◆ 0.95×60 topics
  14. Biomedical Applications274▲ 1.26×36 topics
  15. Diagnosis256▲ 1.50×41 topics
  16. Mechanical Properties237▲ 1.33×38 topics
  17. Risk Factors236▲ 1.17×37 topics
  18. Mortality233▲ 2.2×13 topics
  19. Heat Transfer222▲ 2.4×19 topics
  20. Management212▲ 1.47×35 topics
  21. Global Burden204▲ 2.1×12 topics
  22. Energy Efficiency199◆ 1.15×37 topics
  23. Metabolic Syndrome195▲ 1.30×24 topics
  24. Biomarkers189▲ 1.51×18 topics
  25. Genetics186▲ 1.45×27 topics
  26. Obesity184▲ 1.32×25 topics
  27. Precision Medicine176▲ 2.0×8 topics
  28. Large-Eddy Simulation171▲ 4.9×5 topics
  29. Medical Imaging160▲ 1.70×9 topics
  30. Optimization158▲ 1.86×25 topics
  31. Global Warming147▲ 1.96×15 topics
  32. Infectious Diseases142▲ 2.4×10 topics
  33. Nonlinear Systems140▲ 3.6×8 topics
  34. Monte Carlo Simulation130▲ 3.5×9 topics
  35. Fluid Dynamics107▲ 4.2×6 topics
  36. Inverse Problems103▲ 5.3×4 topics
  37. Respiratory92▲ 5.2×2 topics
  38. Vortex Dynamics91▲ 4.3×4 topics
  39. Turbulent Flows88▲ 4.7×3 topics
  40. COPD76▲ 6.3×1 topic

Which research topics does Imperial College London publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research, Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows, Asthma and respiratory diseases and Air Quality and Health Impacts.

Chronic Obstructive Pulm…76Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research: 76 fractional worksFluid Dynamics and Turbu…74Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows: 74 fractional worksAsthma and respiratory diseases: 69 fractional worksAir Quality and Health I…61Air Quality and Health Impacts: 61 fractional worksModel Reduction and Neur…60Model Reduction and Neural Networks: 60 fractional worksAdvanced Battery Technologies Research: 57 fractional worksArtificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education: 50 fractional worksAdvancements in Battery …50Advancements in Battery Materials: 50 fractional worksClimate Change and Health Impacts: 45 fractional worksAdvanced Control Systems Optimization: 45 fractional works
Pulmonary and Respiratory MedicineComputational MechanicsPhysiologyHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis5 others

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

  1. 1 Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine 76 works
  2. 2 Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows Computational Mechanics 74 works
  3. 3 Asthma and respiratory diseases Physiology 69 works
  4. 4 Air Quality and Health Impacts Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis 61 works
  5. 5 Model Reduction and Neural Networks Statistical and Nonlinear Physics 60 works
  6. 6 Advanced Battery Technologies Research Automotive Engineering 57 works
  7. 7 Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education Health Informatics 50 works
  8. 8 Advancements in Battery Materials Electrical and Electronic Engineering 50 works
  9. 9 Climate Change and Health Impacts Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis 45 works
  10. 10 Advanced Control Systems Optimization Control and Systems Engineering 45 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 available40.5%not open59.5%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors30.5%domestic only69.5%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Imperial College London's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 9% 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 London

All research institutions in London

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.