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University · Newcastle upon Tyne · United Kingdom

Northumbria University

In research, Northumbria University stands highest in Social Sciences (#193 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#178 of 6,365 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#591 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Museology, Human-Computer Interaction and Gender Studies — Museology is 5.1× its share of world research.

northumbria.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#622
of 28,054 · #1,077 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#30
of 1,094
Research works
19k
▲ 38% vs 2013–17
Citations
355k
18.6 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
27.6%
record average 16.5%
Open access
42%
world 28%

What is Northumbria 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 #193 of 10,521 31.4%1,973 #287
Social SciencesField #178 of 6,365 32.9%969 #204
Physical SciencesDomain #591 of 12,888 26.3%1,669 #1132
Health SciencesDomain #621 of 11,982 21.9%727 #972
Business, Management and AccountingField #142 of 2,578 43.7%257 #279
EngineeringField #368 of 6,636 23.8%728 #534
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #144 of 2,578 30.7%371 #263
MedicineField #1,280 of 10,443 19.6%459 #1703
PsychologyField #288 of 2,181 23.2%340 #460
Decision SciencesField #105 of 703 34.6%73 —

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Northumbria 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#287 #193
  2. Social Sciences#204 #178
  3. Physical Sciences#1,132 #591
  4. Health Sciences#972 #621
  5. Business, Management and Accounting#279 #142
  6. Engineering#534 #368
  7. Sociology and Political Science#263 #144
  8. Medicine#1,703 #1,280
  9. Psychology#460 #288
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 Northumbria University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Museology takes 5.1× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. MuseologySubfield · 28.7 works5.1×
  2. Human-Computer InteractionSubfield · 37.4 works3.9×
  3. Gender StudiesSubfield · 61.0 works3.7×
← 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: 0.27× its world share, 59 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.39× its world share, 97 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.15× its world share, 7 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.05× its world share, 79 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.23× its world share, 4 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.73× its world share, 12 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.39× its world share, 28 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.99× its world share, 357 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.17× its world share, 85 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.88× its world share, 37 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.05× its world share, 728 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.79× its world share, 182 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.66× its world share, 106 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.49× its world share, 27 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.04× its world share, 106 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.11× its world share, 2 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.97× its world share, 240 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.52× its world share, 459 worksMedicineNursing: 1.01× its world share, 23 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.33× its world share, 2 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.62× its world share, 216 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.73× its world share, 257 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.63× its world share, 73 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.19× its world share, 118 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 2.42× its world share, 340 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.66× its world share, 969 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Psychology, 2.4×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Northumbria University?

Ranked on the composite score, Rhona Smith, Zhiwei Gao and Hoa Le Minh lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Northumbria University.

  1. 1 Rhona Smith · #9,382 worldwide 247 citations · 87 works
  2. 2 Zhiwei Gao · #16,594 worldwide 985 citations · 79 works
  3. 3 Hoa Le Minh · #16,775 worldwide 620 citations · 64 works
  4. 4 Keith Wesnes · #34,144 worldwide 474 citations · 92 works
  5. 5 Richard D. Brown · #65,708 worldwide 295 citations · 75 works
  6. 6 Alan Godfrey · #73,755 worldwide 134 citations · 34 works
  7. 7 Mary Mellor · #76,129 worldwide 99 citations · 49 works
  8. 8 Paul Potrac · #90,370 worldwide 255 citations · 39 works
  9. 9 Karen McKenzie · #91,248 worldwide 230 citations · 62 works
  10. 10 Andrew K. Shenton · #94,658 worldwide 1.2k citations · 22 works
All ranked researchers at Northumbria University

Which keywords describe research at Northumbria University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Mental Health, Sustainability, Globalization, Identity, Public Health, Social Support, Gender and Machine Learning.

▲ 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. Sustainability189▲ 1.68×83 topics
  2. Globalization162▲ 1.79×84 topics
  3. Mental Health158▲ 2.3×37 topics
  4. Deep Learning152◆ 0.96×78 topics
  5. Machine Learning151◆ 1.00×81 topics
  6. Climate Change130◆ 1.05×83 topics
  7. Epidemiology126▼ 0.69×94 topics
  8. Public Health116▲ 1.73×47 topics
  9. Social Media100▲ 1.52×32 topics
  10. Identity96▲ 2.9×47 topics
  11. Renewable Energy89▲ 1.34×45 topics
  12. Supply Chain Management82▲ 1.92×21 topics
  13. Social Support80▲ 3.1×16 topics
  14. Healthcare80▲ 1.53×30 topics
  15. Quality of Life78▲ 1.17×47 topics
  16. Gender77▲ 3.1×44 topics
  17. Social Capital73▲ 3.0×15 topics
  18. Innovation66▲ 1.36×35 topics
  19. Human Rights66▲ 1.38×53 topics
  20. Internet of Things64▲ 1.59×21 topics
  21. Neoliberalism63▲ 3.8×18 topics
  22. Resilience63▲ 2.8×14 topics
  23. Big Data61▲ 1.46×24 topics
  24. Risk Management61▲ 2.7×14 topics
  25. Well-being60▲ 3.4×14 topics
  26. Security56▲ 1.85×24 topics
  27. Ethics51▲ 2.3×28 topics
  28. Nationalism48▲ 2.2×25 topics
  29. Colonialism47▲ 2.1×32 topics
  30. Health Disparities46▲ 3.8×8 topics
  31. Feminism44▲ 3.4×19 topics
  32. Neuroscience40▲ 2.9×13 topics
  33. Emotion39▲ 4.0×12 topics
  34. Solar Wind36▲ 8.5×2 topics
  35. Law Enforcement34▲ 13×3 topics
  36. Institutional Theory29▲ 6.4×3 topics
  37. Neighborhood Effects28▲ 5.6×3 topics
  38. Social Identity27▲ 6.4×5 topics
  39. Participatory Design27▲ 11×2 topics
  40. Mental Illness26▲ 8.0×3 topics

Which research topics does Northumbria University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Blockchain Technology Applications and Security, Homelessness and Social Issues, Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics and BIM and Construction Integration.

Blockchain Technology Ap…24Blockchain Technology Applications and Security: 24 fractional worksHomelessness and Social …21Homelessness and Social Issues: 21 fractional worksSolar and Space Plasma Dynamics: 21 fractional worksBIM and Construction Integration: 18 fractional worksInnovative Human-Technology Interaction: 18 fractional worksCryospheric studies and observations: 17 fractional worksIonosphere and magnetosphere dynamics: 16 fractional worksConstruction Project Man…16Construction Project Management and Performance: 16 fractional worksGeographies of human-animal interactions: 16 fractional worksDigital Marketing and Social Media: 15 fractional works
Information SystemsGeneral Health ProfessionsAstronomy and AstrophysicsBuilding and Construction5 others

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

  1. 1 Blockchain Technology Applications and SecurityInformation Systems 24 works
  2. 2 Homelessness and Social IssuesGeneral Health Professions 21 works
  3. 3 Solar and Space Plasma DynamicsAstronomy and Astrophysics 21 works
  4. 4 BIM and Construction IntegrationBuilding and Construction 18 works
  5. 5 Innovative Human-Technology InteractionHuman-Computer Interaction 18 works
  6. 6 Cryospheric studies and observationsAtmospheric Science 17 works
  7. 7 Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamicsAstronomy and Astrophysics 16 works
  8. 8 Construction Project Management and PerformanceManagement Science and Operations Research 16 works
  9. 9 Geographies of human-animal interactionsGeography, Planning and Development 16 works
  10. 10 Digital Marketing and Social MediaSociology and Political Science 15 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 available42.2%not open57.8%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors26.4%domestic only73.6%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Northumbria University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 38% 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 Newcastle upon Tyne

All research institutions in Newcastle upon Tyne

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.