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University · Boston · United States

Northeastern University

In research, Northeastern University stands highest in Social Sciences (#357 of 10,521 worldwide), Computer Science (#184 of 4,667 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#526 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Human-Computer Interaction, Hardware and Architecture and Cognitive Neuroscience — Human-Computer Interaction is 4.7× its share of world research.

northeastern.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#491
of 28,054 · #347 all time
Rank in United States
#98
of 4,192
Research works
38k
▼ 6% vs 2013–17
Citations
1.1M
28.4 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
24.1%
record average 16.5%
Open access
34%
world 28%

What is Northeastern 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
Social SciencesDomain #357 of 10,521 31.8%1,586 #271
Computer ScienceField #184 of 4,667 24.1%1,073 #187
Physical SciencesDomain #526 of 12,888 21.0%3,298 #335
EngineeringField #342 of 6,636 18.4%1,281 #254
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #134 of 2,578 40.0%295 #127
Health SciencesDomain #684 of 11,982 23.7%742 #589
Social SciencesField #391 of 6,365 36.2%729 #300
Artificial IntelligenceSubfield #116 of 1,884 27.2%401 #123
PsychologyField #144 of 2,181 30.1%317 #155
MedicineField #813 of 10,443 23.0%581 #855

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Northeastern 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. Social Sciences#271 #357
  2. Computer Science#187 #184
  3. Physical Sciences#335 #526
  4. Engineering#254 #342
  5. Sociology and Political Science#127 #134
  6. Health Sciences#589 #684
  7. Social Sciences#300 #391
  8. Artificial Intelligence#123 #116
  9. Psychology#155 #144
  10. Medicine#855 #813
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 Northeastern University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Human-Computer Interaction takes 4.7× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Human-Computer InteractionSubfield · 61.3 works4.7×
  2. Hardware and ArchitectureSubfield · 24.1 works3.4×
  3. Cognitive NeuroscienceSubfield · 149.3 works3.2×
← 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: 0.20× its world share, 61 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.11× its world share, 376 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.44× its world share, 28 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 2.19× its world share, 225 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.73× its world share, 16 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.95× its world share, 21 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.78× its world share, 77 worksChemistryComputer Science: 2.18× its world share, 1,073 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.77× its world share, 76 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.65× its world share, 38 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.35× its world share, 1,281 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.84× its world share, 265 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.83× its world share, 183 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.31× its world share, 97 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.34× its world share, 188 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.09× its world share, 3 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.86× its world share, 144 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.48× its world share, 581 worksMedicineNursing: 0.36× its world share, 11 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.28× its world share, 2 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.47× its world share, 87 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.07× its world share, 218 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.87× its world share, 115 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.89× its world share, 121 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.64× its world share, 317 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.91× its world share, 729 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Neuroscience, 2.2×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Northeastern University?

Ranked on the composite score, Albert-Ĺaszló Barabási, J.G. Proakis and Milica Stojanovic lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Northeastern University.

  1. 1 Albert-Ĺaszló Barabási United States · #3,079 worldwide 1.9k citations · 116 works
  2. 2 J.G. Proakis United States · #3,574 worldwide 1.8k citations · 67 works
  3. 3 Milica Stojanovic United States · #7,674 worldwide 1.2k citations · 89 works
  4. 4 Timothy Bickmore United States · #7,821 worldwide 906 citations · 63 works
  5. 5 Gene Cooperman United States · #8,984 worldwide 1.4k citations · 51 works
  6. 6 Barry L. Karger United States · #11,882 worldwide 651 citations · 69 works
  7. 7 Lisa Feldman Barrett United States · #12,166 worldwide 910 citations · 64 works
  8. 8 Michele Polese United States · #14,329 worldwide 854 citations · 45 works
  9. 9 K. Strauch United States · #20,741 worldwide 594 citations · 53 works
  10. 10 Alan Mislove United States · #21,417 worldwide 874 citations · 39 works
All ranked researchers at Northeastern University

Which keywords describe research at Northeastern University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Deep Learning, Machine Learning, Neural Networks, Big Data, Social Media, Artificial Intelligence, Energy Efficiency and Sustainability.

▲ 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. Deep Learning452▲ 2.1×84 topics
  2. Machine Learning382▲ 1.84×86 topics
  3. Neural Networks213▲ 2.2×38 topics
  4. Big Data148▲ 2.6×29 topics
  5. Epidemiology139▼ 0.56×106 topics
  6. Sustainability136◆ 0.88×78 topics
  7. Climate Change124▼ 0.73×78 topics
  8. Social Media118▲ 1.30×28 topics
  9. Artificial Intelligence111▲ 1.27×45 topics
  10. Public Health106▲ 1.16×46 topics
  11. Mental Health103◆ 1.11×37 topics
  12. Energy Efficiency93▲ 1.57×32 topics
  13. Healthcare93▲ 1.31×27 topics
  14. Internet of Things78▲ 1.42×26 topics
  15. Data Mining77▲ 1.63×17 topics
  16. Security68▲ 1.66×23 topics
  17. Ethics65▲ 2.1×25 topics
  18. Wireless Sensor Networks63▲ 2.2×20 topics
  19. Biosensors63▲ 1.93×12 topics
  20. Social Interaction51▲ 2.0×11 topics
  21. IoT Security48▲ 2.4×3 topics
  22. Surveillance47▲ 2.8×6 topics
  23. Health Equity45▲ 2.6×6 topics
  24. Health Monitoring43▲ 3.3×3 topics
  25. Channel Modeling42▲ 5.4×6 topics
  26. Wireless Networks42▲ 4.3×9 topics
  27. Emotion42▲ 3.2×12 topics
  28. 5G Networks41▲ 3.2×5 topics
  29. Distributed Systems38▲ 3.6×6 topics
  30. Massive MIMO37▲ 7.2×3 topics
  31. Distributed Control36▲ 5.0×3 topics
  32. Topic Modeling35▲ 3.8×3 topics
  33. Reinforcement Learning35▲ 5.1×4 topics
  34. Biosensor Applications32▲ 4.6×3 topics
  35. Biological Detection31▲ 5.1×2 topics
  36. High-Frequency Applications30▲ 9.8×2 topics
  37. Acoustic Wave Biosensors29▲ 16×1 topic
  38. Thin Film Resonators29▲ 16×1 topic
  39. 5G27▲ 7.4×3 topics
  40. Youth Violence26▲ 9.3×3 topics

Which research topics does Northeastern University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Topic Modeling, Acoustic Wave Resonator Technologies, Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials and Ethics and Social Impacts of AI.

Topic Modeling30Topic Modeling: 30 fractional worksAcoustic Wave Resonator …29Acoustic Wave Resonator Technologies: 29 fractional worksAdvanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials: 25 fractional worksEthics and Social Impacts of AI: 21 fractional worksVirtual Reality Applications and Impacts: 21 fractional worksMisinformation and Its Impacts: 19 fractional worksAdvanced MIMO Systems Optimization: 19 fractional worksIoT and Edge/Fog Computing19IoT and Edge/Fog Computing: 19 fractional worksMillimeter-Wave Propagation and Modeling: 19 fractional worksSocial Media and Politics: 19 fractional works
Artificial IntelligenceBiomedical EngineeringSafety ResearchHuman-Computer Interaction4 others

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

  1. 1 Topic Modeling Artificial Intelligence 30 works
  2. 2 Acoustic Wave Resonator Technologies Biomedical Engineering 29 works
  3. 3 Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials Biomedical Engineering 25 works
  4. 4 Ethics and Social Impacts of AI Safety Research 21 works
  5. 5 Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts Human-Computer Interaction 21 works
  6. 6 Misinformation and Its Impacts Sociology and Political Science 19 works
  7. 7 Advanced MIMO Systems Optimization Electrical and Electronic Engineering 19 works
  8. 8 IoT and Edge/Fog Computing Computer Networks and Communications 19 works
  9. 9 Millimeter-Wave Propagation and Modeling Electrical and Electronic Engineering 19 works
  10. 10 Social Media and Politics Communication 19 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 available33.8%not open66.2%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors23.8%domestic only76.2%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Northeastern University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 6% 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 Boston

All research institutions in Boston

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.