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University · Leiden · Netherlands

Leiden University

In research, Leiden University stands highest in Political Science and International Relations (#6 of 1,201 worldwide), Social Sciences (#41 of 6,365 worldwide) and Social Sciences (#74 of 10,521 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Instrumentation, Anthropology and Public Administration — Instrumentation is 8.8× its share of world research.

leiden.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#253
of 28,054 · #165 all time
Rank in Netherlands
#6
of 237
Research works
59k
▲ 15% vs 2013–17
Citations
2M
34.4 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
28.5%
record average 16.5%
Open access
41%
world 28%

What is Leiden University 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
Political Science and International RelationsSubfield #6 of 1,201 32.0%524 #24
Social SciencesField #41 of 6,365 30.6%1,861 #89
Social SciencesDomain #74 of 10,521 28.8%3,403 #114
Physical SciencesDomain #288 of 12,888 28.2%2,041 #201
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #67 of 2,578 30.5%574 #122
Arts and HumanitiesField #99 of 1,998 21.2%617 #119
Life SciencesDomain #400 of 7,800 30.1%724 #174
Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield #25 of 443 37.1%251 #44
LawSubfield #25 of 431 25.7%112 #36
PsychologyField #138 of 2,181 30.8%413 #102

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Leiden 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 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. Political Science and International Relations#24 #6
  2. Social Sciences#89 #41
  3. Social Sciences#114 #74
  4. Physical Sciences#201 #288
  5. Sociology and Political Science#122 #67
  6. Arts and Humanities#119 #99
  7. Life Sciences#174 #400
  8. Astronomy and Astrophysics#44 #25
  9. Law#36 #25
  10. Psychology#102 #138
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 Leiden University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Instrumentation takes 8.8× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. InstrumentationSubfield · 30.2 works8.8×
  2. AnthropologySubfield · 155.4 works8.0×
  3. Public AdministrationSubfield · 29.5 works8.0×
  4. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 251.5 works7.0×
  5. ClassicsSubfield · 26.7 works6.5×
  6. Linguistics and LanguageSubfield · 43.5 works5.5×
  7. HistorySubfield · 114.6 works5.2×
← 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: 0.47× its world share, 154 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.96× its world share, 353 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.67× its world share, 46 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.41× its world share, 157 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.56× its world share, 14 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.73× its world share, 18 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.01× its world share, 109 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.99× its world share, 529 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.78× its world share, 85 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.90× its world share, 57 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.25× its world share, 259 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.89× its world share, 305 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.36× its world share, 87 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.53× its world share, 124 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 3.06× its world share, 468 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.09× its world share, 3 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.68× its world share, 124 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.43× its world share, 574 worksMedicineNursing: 0.28× its world share, 9 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.30× its world share, 3 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 3.11× its world share, 617 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.94× its world share, 209 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.81× its world share, 120 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.23× its world share, 182 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.97× its world share, 413 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 2.14× its world share, 1,861 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Arts and Humanities, 3.1×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Leiden University?

Ranked on the composite score, Jan P. Vandenbroucke, Jan Zaanen and Peter Mair lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Leiden University.

  1. 1 Jan P. Vandenbroucke Netherlands · #652 worldwide 2.1k citations · 109 works
  2. 2 Jan Zaanen Netherlands · #3,181 worldwide 2.4k citations · 73 works
  3. 3 Peter Mair Netherlands · #3,996 worldwide 710 citations · 86 works
  4. 4 Robert Verpoorte Netherlands · #7,192 worldwide 1.9k citations · 172 works
  5. 5 Marinus H. van IJzendoorn Netherlands · #12,036 worldwide 1.9k citations · 193 works
  6. 6 Marian J. Bakermans‐Kranenburg Netherlands · #13,248 worldwide 1.1k citations · 96 works
  7. 7 C. W. J. Beenakker Netherlands · #15,454 worldwide 1.6k citations · 116 works
  8. 8 Thomas Hankemeier Netherlands · #15,565 worldwide 645 citations · 59 works
  9. 9 Eiko I. Fried Netherlands · #15,710 worldwide 729 citations · 58 works
  10. 10 R. van Furth Netherlands · #18,072 worldwide 611 citations · 81 works
All ranked researchers at Leiden University

Which keywords describe research at Leiden University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Globalization, Human Rights, Nationalism, International Law, Global Governance, Democracy, Colonialism and History.

▲ 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. Globalization361▲ 2.7×118 topics
  2. Human Rights262▲ 3.7×71 topics
  3. Climate Change196◆ 1.05×98 topics
  4. Machine Learning187▼ 0.83×80 topics
  5. Nationalism154▲ 4.8×32 topics
  6. History144▲ 3.0×45 topics
  7. Mental Health140▲ 1.39×39 topics
  8. Colonialism131▲ 4.0×39 topics
  9. International Law128▲ 6.1×25 topics
  10. Democracy126▲ 5.2×25 topics
  11. Religion121▲ 3.7×32 topics
  12. Global Governance110▲ 7.0×21 topics
  13. Identity110▲ 2.2×52 topics
  14. Ethics99▲ 3.0×42 topics
  15. Culture97▲ 2.7×28 topics
  16. Governance94▲ 4.1×17 topics
  17. Ethnicity93▲ 3.6×19 topics
  18. Gender90▲ 2.4×44 topics
  19. Star Formation88▲ 24×2 topics
  20. Public Opinion88▲ 10×6 topics
  21. European Union84▲ 5.4×25 topics
  22. Philosophy82▲ 2.7×35 topics
  23. International Relations80▲ 4.8×24 topics
  24. Political Economy79▲ 4.5×17 topics
  25. Neoliberalism78▲ 3.2×25 topics
  26. Emotion Regulation75▲ 3.5×9 topics
  27. Politics74▲ 3.9×16 topics
  28. Accretion Disks62▲ 19×2 topics
  29. Black Holes62▲ 9.6×3 topics
  30. Magnetic Fields62▲ 14×2 topics
  31. Sovereignty61▲ 9.6×10 topics
  32. Cultural History56▲ 6.6×12 topics
  33. Diplomacy52▲ 8.0×8 topics
  34. Dark Matter52▲ 6.5×4 topics
  35. Security Council50▲ 14×2 topics
  36. State Sovereignty50▲ 15×2 topics
  37. Turbulence48▲ 8.1×3 topics
  38. Language Evolution48▲ 17×2 topics
  39. Molecular Clouds47▲ 28×1 topic
  40. Protoplanetary Disks47▲ 28×1 topic

Which research topics does Leiden University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies, Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies, Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena and European Union Policy and Governance.

Astrophysics and Star Fo…47Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies: 47 fractional worksStellar, planetary, and …46Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies: 46 fractional worksGalaxies: Formation, Evo…41Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena: 41 fractional worksEuropean Union Policy an…30European Union Policy and Governance: 30 fractional worksAstronomy and Astrophysical Research: 30 fractional worksReformation and Early Modern Christianity: 26 fractional worksEuropean and Internation…26European and International Law Studies: 26 fractional worksSocial Policy and Reform Studies: 26 fractional worksGlobal Peace and Security Dynamics: 25 fractional worksSyntax, Semantics, Lingu…25Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation: 25 fractional works
Astronomy and AstrophysicsPolitical Science and International RelationsInstrumentationHistory1 others

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

  1. 1 Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 47 works
  2. 2 Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 46 works
  3. 3 Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena Astronomy and Astrophysics 41 works
  4. 4 European Union Policy and Governance Political Science and International Relations 30 works
  5. 5 Astronomy and Astrophysical Research Instrumentation 30 works
  6. 6 Reformation and Early Modern Christianity History 26 works
  7. 7 European and International Law Studies Political Science and International Relations 26 works
  8. 8 Social Policy and Reform Studies Political Science and International Relations 26 works
  9. 9 Global Peace and Security Dynamics Political Science and International Relations 25 works
  10. 10 Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation Language and Linguistics 25 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 available40.7%not open59.3%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors24.2%domestic only75.8%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Leiden University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 15% 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 Leiden

All research institutions in Leiden

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.