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University · Paderborn · Germany

Paderborn University

In research, Paderborn University stands highest in Social Sciences (#690 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#809 of 6,365 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#1,671 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Modeling and Simulation — Modeling and Simulation is 5.5× its share of world research.

uni-paderborn.de/enROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#1,779
of 28,054 · #1,052 all time
Rank in Germany
#89
of 1,178
Research works
20k
▲ 12% vs 2013–17
Citations
286k
14.1 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
14.7%
record average 16.5%
Open access
26%
world 28%

What is Paderborn 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 #690 of 10,521 17.5%1,105 #931
Social SciencesField #809 of 6,365 20.2%485 #969
Physical SciencesDomain #1,671 of 12,888 12.5%1,593 #839
Computer ScienceField #945 of 4,667 17.4%412 #322
Arts and HumanitiesField #496 of 1,998 9.5%288 #803
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #687 of 2,578 16.6%198 #825
EngineeringField #1,780 of 6,636 9.1%707 #941
EducationSubfield #516 of 1,892 29.3%118 #681
MathematicsField #349 of 1,053 18.4%130 #329
Business, Management and AccountingField #860 of 2,578 19.5%131 #695

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Paderborn 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#931 #690
  2. Social Sciences#969 #809
  3. Physical Sciences#839 #1,671
  4. Computer Science#322 #945
  5. Arts and Humanities#803 #496
  6. Sociology and Political Science#825 #687
  7. Engineering#941 #1,780
  8. Education#681 #516
  9. Mathematics#329 #349
  10. Business, Management and Accounting#695 #860
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 Paderborn University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Modeling and Simulation takes 5.5× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Modeling and SimulationSubfield · 22.2 works5.5×
← 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: 0.03× its world share, 4 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.33× its world share, 51 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.05× its world share, 1 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.70× its world share, 33 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.14× its world share, 1 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.59× its world share, 16 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.87× its world share, 39 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.83× its world share, 412 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.12× its world share, 6 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.53× its world share, 14 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.63× its world share, 707 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.22× its world share, 31 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 1.00× its world share, 101 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 3.84× its world share, 130 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 2.13× its world share, 137 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.28× its world share, 21 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.13× its world share, 75 worksMedicineNursing: 0.11× its world share, 2 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.21× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 3.45× its world share, 288 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.41× its world share, 131 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.81× its world share, 51 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.78× its world share, 48 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.16× its world share, 102 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.33× its world share, 485 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Mathematics, 3.8×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Paderborn University?

Ranked on the composite score, Michael Winkler, Eric Bodden and Wilhelm Schäfer lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Paderborn University.

  1. 1 Michael Winkler · #10,475 worldwide 1k citations · 65 works
  2. 2 Eric Bodden · #16,372 worldwide 891 citations · 87 works
  3. 3 Wilhelm Schäfer · #26,003 worldwide 353 citations · 57 works
  4. 4 Benno Fuchssteiner · #42,061 worldwide 400 citations · 34 works
  5. 5 Walter Sextro · #49,196 worldwide 272 citations · 49 works
  6. 6 Gregor Engels · #63,424 worldwide 281 citations · 39 works
  7. 7 Michael Dellnitz · #90,465 worldwide 290 citations · 40 works
  8. 8 W. B. Holzapfel · #93,129 worldwide 510 citations · 62 works
  9. 9 Reinhold Haeb‐Umbach · #125,160 worldwide 618 citations · 107 works
  10. 10 Christoph Sommer · #126,514 worldwide 251 citations · 44 works
All ranked researchers at Paderborn University

Which keywords describe research at Paderborn University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse, Identity, Gender, Governance, Bildungsungleichheit, Ethnografisches Schreiben, Mechanical Properties and Teacher Education.

▲ 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. Sustainability101▲ 1.43×44 topics
  2. Education97▲ 1.96×55 topics
  3. Machine Learning94◆ 1.00×61 topics
  4. Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse90▲ 76×2 topics
  5. Identity85▲ 4.1×30 topics
  6. Mechanical Properties82▲ 2.9×26 topics
  7. Gender72▲ 4.6×32 topics
  8. Big Data65▲ 2.5×23 topics
  9. Governance60▲ 6.3×7 topics
  10. Biosensors55▲ 3.7×9 topics
  11. Bildungsungleichheit51▲ 61×1 topic
  12. Ethnografisches Schreiben51▲ 61×1 topic
  13. Literature50▲ 3.2×26 topics
  14. Cultural Studies50▲ 4.6×20 topics
  15. Teacher Education50▲ 14×6 topics
  16. Ethics50▲ 3.6×30 topics
  17. Microstructure47▲ 3.2×11 topics
  18. Teaching Methods42▲ 10×6 topics
  19. Mathematical Modeling41▲ 16×4 topics
  20. Optical Modulators41▲ 9.6×3 topics
  21. Renewable Energy Integration41▲ 4.2×5 topics
  22. Curriculum41▲ 15×4 topics
  23. Teaching40▲ 11×4 topics
  24. Didactics40▲ 14×3 topics
  25. Learning39▲ 4.6×5 topics
  26. Additive Manufacturing39▲ 4.3×8 topics
  27. Competence38▲ 114×1 topic
  28. Professional Development34▲ 5.9×9 topics
  29. Sociolinguistics32▲ 6.0×7 topics
  30. Integrated Circuits32▲ 7.2×3 topics
  31. Multilingualism32▲ 6.6×6 topics
  32. Fluid Dynamics30▲ 7.7×5 topics
  33. Narrative30▲ 6.5×10 topics
  34. Entanglement30▲ 6.9×4 topics
  35. Bildung29▲ 31×3 topics
  36. Nonlinear Optics28▲ 8.7×4 topics
  37. Multimodality27▲ 18×2 topics
  38. Microcavities27▲ 8.5×2 topics
  39. Digital Communication27▲ 13×2 topics
  40. Language Variation27▲ 16×2 topics

Which research topics does Paderborn University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Sociology and Education Studies, Education Methods and Technologies, Linguistic research and analysis and Photonic and Optical Devices.

Sociology and Education Studies: 51 fractional worksEducation Methods and Technologies: 38 fractional worksLinguistic research and analysis: 26 fractional worksPhotonic and Optical Devices: 26 fractional worksLinguistic Education and Pedagogy: 24 fractional worksPhysics and Engineering Research Articles: 21 fractional worksGerman Literature and Cu…21German Literature and Culture Studies: 21 fractional worksMetal Forming Simulation Techniques: 20 fractional worksQuantum Information and Cryptography: 18 fractional worksAdvanced Welding Techniq…18Advanced Welding Techniques Analysis: 18 fractional works
Sociology and Political ScienceEducationLanguage and LinguisticsElectrical and Electronic Engineering4 others

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

  1. 1 Sociology and Education StudiesSociology and Political Science 51 works
  2. 2 Education Methods and TechnologiesEducation 38 works
  3. 3 Linguistic research and analysisLanguage and Linguistics 26 works
  4. 4 Photonic and Optical DevicesElectrical and Electronic Engineering 26 works
  5. 5 Linguistic Education and PedagogyLanguage and Linguistics 24 works
  6. 6 Physics and Engineering Research ArticlesComputational Mechanics 21 works
  7. 7 German Literature and Culture StudiesLiterature and Literary Theory 21 works
  8. 8 Metal Forming Simulation TechniquesMechanical Engineering 20 works
  9. 9 Quantum Information and CryptographyArtificial Intelligence 18 works
  10. 10 Advanced Welding Techniques AnalysisMechanical Engineering 18 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 available26.0%not open74.0%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors15.6%domestic only84.4%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Paderborn University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 12% 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 Paderborn

All research institutions in Paderborn

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.