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University · Cambridge · United States

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

In research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology stands highest in Physics and Astronomy (#1 of 1,646 worldwide), Physical Sciences (#8 of 12,888 worldwide) and Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics (#1 of 565 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Discrete Mathematics and Combinatorics, Nuclear and High Energy Physics and Condensed Matter Physics — Discrete Mathematics and Combinatorics is 7.2× its share of world research.

web.mit.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#12
of 28,054 · #3 all time
Rank in United States
#3
of 4,192
Research works
160k
▼ 11% vs 2013–17
Citations
10.3M
64.5 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
27.8%
record average 16.5%
Open access
36%
world 28%

What is Massachusetts Institute of Technology 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
Physics and AstronomyField #1 of 1,646 37.7%1,318 #1
Physical SciencesDomain #8 of 12,888 26.8%8,426 #1
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsSubfield #1 of 565 35.4%424 #1
Life SciencesDomain #32 of 7,800 35.2%1,399 #21
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #16 of 3,579 34.7%881 #5
Computer ScienceField #23 of 4,667 25.4%1,570 #4
MathematicsField #7 of 1,053 22.3%407 #1
Molecular BiologySubfield #16 of 2,175 35.7%610 #5
EngineeringField #63 of 6,636 22.7%2,952 #1
Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsSubfield #3 of 263 55.0%236 —

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Massachusetts Institute of Technology 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. Physics and Astronomy#1 #1
  2. Physical Sciences#1 #8
  3. Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics#1 #1
  4. Life Sciences#21 #32
  5. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#5 #16
  6. Computer Science#4 #23
  7. Mathematics#1 #7
  8. Molecular Biology#5 #16
  9. Engineering#1 #63
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 Massachusetts Institute of Technology specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Discrete Mathematics and Combinatorics takes 7.2× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Discrete Mathematics and CombinatoricsSubfield · 36.0 works7.2×
  2. Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsSubfield · 236.5 works6.0×
  3. Condensed Matter PhysicsSubfield · 114.0 works5.7×
  4. InstrumentationSubfield · 33.4 works5.3×
  5. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 328.8 works5.0×
  6. Physics and AstronomyField · 1,317.6 works4.7×
  7. Atomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsSubfield · 424.3 works4.7×
← 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: 0.19× its world share, 111 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.31× its world share, 880 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.75× its world share, 95 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.42× its world share, 291 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.47× its world share, 21 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 2.20× its world share, 97 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.45× its world share, 288 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.60× its world share, 1,570 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.89× its world share, 374 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 1.40× its world share, 162 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.56× its world share, 2,952 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.82× its world share, 513 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 1.69× its world share, 745 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 2.74× its world share, 407 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 4.70× its world share, 1,318 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.08× its world share, 5 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.29× its world share, 95 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.29× its world share, 712 worksMedicineNursing: 0.14× its world share, 9 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.16× its world share, 3 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.47× its world share, 173 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.63× its world share, 258 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.70× its world share, 208 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.14× its world share, 308 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.61× its world share, 234 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.49× its world share, 785 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 4.7×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology?

Ranked on the composite score, Noam Chomsky, Paúl Krugman and Paul A. Samuelson lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

  1. 1 Noam Chomsky · #7 worldwide 3.7k citations · 239 works
  2. 2 Paúl Krugman · #35 worldwide 4.4k citations · 167 works
  3. 3 Paul A. Samuelson · #91 worldwide 3.6k citations · 170 works
  4. 4 Alex Pentland · #100 worldwide 6k citations · 219 works
  5. 5 Daron Acemoğlu · #106 worldwide 5.7k citations · 213 works
  6. 6 Ronald L. Rivest · #425 worldwide 7.3k citations · 103 works
  7. 7 Antonio Torralba · #498 worldwide 4.2k citations · 135 works
  8. 8 Moungi G. Bawendi · #653 worldwide 4.1k citations · 131 works
  9. 9 William T. Freeman · #682 worldwide 4.1k citations · 110 works
  10. 10 David R. Karger · #696 worldwide 5.2k citations · 98 works
All ranked researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Which keywords describe research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Molecular Dynamics, Entanglement, Neural Networks, Biomedical Applications, Biosensors and Climate Change.

▲ 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. Machine Learning665▲ 1.61×84 topics
  2. Deep Learning587▲ 1.36×79 topics
  3. Climate Change323◆ 0.95×96 topics
  4. Neural Networks289▲ 1.49×37 topics
  5. Biomedical Applications247▲ 1.65×34 topics
  6. Sustainability241▼ 0.78×84 topics
  7. Nanoparticles212▲ 1.34×40 topics
  8. Biosensors179▲ 2.8×12 topics
  9. Molecular Dynamics154▲ 7.4×7 topics
  10. Energy Storage151▲ 1.83×13 topics
  11. Big Data148▲ 1.29×24 topics
  12. Catalysis148▲ 1.76×29 topics
  13. Cathode Materials147▲ 3.0×3 topics
  14. Entanglement137▲ 7.3×4 topics
  15. Security135▲ 1.64×23 topics
  16. Lithium-ion Batteries125▲ 2.3×4 topics
  17. Self-Assembly119▲ 2.9×12 topics
  18. Quantum Information98▲ 6.7×3 topics
  19. Quantum Mechanics93▲ 9.0×5 topics
  20. Rechargeable Batteries92▲ 2.7×2 topics
  21. Superconductivity89▲ 4.1×9 topics
  22. Crystal Structures86▲ 8.9×3 topics
  23. Computational Chemistry85▲ 9.2×4 topics
  24. Dark Matter84▲ 5.8×4 topics
  25. Hydrogels83▲ 3.6×5 topics
  26. High-Throughput82▲ 13×1 topic
  27. Materials Informatics82▲ 13×1 topic
  28. Approximation Algorithms81▲ 9.2×5 topics
  29. Integrated Circuits79▲ 4.0×3 topics
  30. Optical Modulators77▲ 4.1×3 topics
  31. Quantum Computing74▲ 5.6×4 topics
  32. Quantum Simulation72▲ 7.1×2 topics
  33. Silicon Photonics72▲ 5.2×2 topics
  34. Black Holes66▲ 5.5×3 topics
  35. Particle Physics65▲ 6.9×2 topics
  36. Computation65▲ 7.1×2 topics
  37. Renormalization Group61▲ 8.8×2 topics
  38. Superconducting Circuits61▲ 7.1×2 topics
  39. Metrology58▲ 7.7×1 topic
  40. Photon58▲ 7.7×1 topic

Which research topics does Massachusetts Institute of Technology publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Machine Learning in Materials Science, Photonic and Optical Devices, Quantum Information and Cryptography and Advancements in Battery Materials.

Machine Learning in Mate…82Machine Learning in Materials Science: 82 fractional worksPhotonic and Optical Dev…63Photonic and Optical Devices: 63 fractional worksQuantum Information and Cryptography: 58 fractional worksAdvancements in Battery Materials: 56 fractional worksAdvanced Battery Materials and Technologies: 55 fractional worksAdvanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials: 48 fractional worksQuantum and electron transport phenomena: 48 fractional worksParticle physics theoret…46Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies: 46 fractional worksAdvanced Battery Technologies Research: 46 fractional worksQuantum Computing Algorithms and Architecture: 44 fractional works
Materials ChemistryElectrical and Electronic EngineeringArtificial IntelligenceBiomedical Engineering3 others

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

  1. 1 Machine Learning in Materials ScienceMaterials Chemistry 82 works
  2. 2 Photonic and Optical DevicesElectrical and Electronic Engineering 63 works
  3. 3 Quantum Information and CryptographyArtificial Intelligence 58 works
  4. 4 Advancements in Battery MaterialsElectrical and Electronic Engineering 56 works
  5. 5 Advanced Battery Materials and TechnologiesElectrical and Electronic Engineering 55 works
  6. 6 Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting MaterialsBiomedical Engineering 48 works
  7. 7 Quantum and electron transport phenomenaAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics 48 works
  8. 8 Particle physics theoretical and experimental studiesNuclear and High Energy Physics 46 works
  9. 9 Advanced Battery Technologies ResearchAutomotive Engineering 46 works
  10. 10 Quantum Computing Algorithms and ArchitectureArtificial Intelligence 44 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 available36.2%not open63.8%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors16.4%domestic only83.6%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Massachusetts Institute of Technology's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 11% lower 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 Cambridge

All research institutions in Cambridge

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.