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University · Grahamstown · South Africa

Rhodes University

In research, Rhodes University stands highest in Social Sciences (#1,375 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#891 of 6,365 worldwide) and Agricultural and Biological Sciences (#932 of 3,409 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Nature and Landscape Conservation, Insect Science and Anthropology — Nature and Landscape Conservation is 9.3× its share of world research.

ru.ac.zaROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#3,946
of 28,054 · #2,912 all time
Rank in South Africa
#21
of 87
Research works
13k
▲ 3% vs 2013–17
Citations
221k
17.6 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
20.6%
record average 16.5%
Open access
34%
world 28%

What is Rhodes 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 #1,375 of 10,521 25.5%711 #929
Social SciencesField #891 of 6,365 27.3%463 #581
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #932 of 3,409 18.8%162 #466
EducationSubfield #647 of 1,892 36.2%111 #707
Environmental ScienceField #1,224 of 3,551 19.4%246 #880
Life SciencesDomain #2,740 of 7,800 17.9%256 #2779
Physical SciencesDomain #4,865 of 12,888 16.5%636 #3374
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #1,057 of 2,578 23.2%150 #815
Health SciencesDomain #6,676 of 11,982 19.3%142 #5573
Arts and HumanitiesField #1,140 of 1,998 23.9%91 #893

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Rhodes 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#929 #1,375
  2. Social Sciences#581 #891
  3. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#466 #932
  4. Education#707 #647
  5. Environmental Science#880 #1,224
  6. Life Sciences#2,779 #2,740
  7. Physical Sciences#3,374 #4,865
  8. Sociology and Political Science#815 #1,057
  9. Health Sciences#5,573 #6,676
  10. Arts and Humanities#893 #1,140
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 Rhodes University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Nature and Landscape Conservation takes 9.3× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Nature and Landscape ConservationSubfield · 38.8 works9.3×
  2. Insect ScienceSubfield · 29.9 works6.0×
  3. AnthropologySubfield · 28.4 works5.8×
← 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: 1.95× its world share, 162 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.81× its world share, 75 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.42× its world share, 7 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.16× its world share, 5 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 1.14× its world share, 7 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.48× its world share, 3 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.31× its world share, 36 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.58× its world share, 79 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.90× its world share, 52 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.93× its world share, 15 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.35× its world share, 90 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 2.84× its world share, 246 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.98× its world share, 59 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.65× its world share, 13 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.09× its world share, 42 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.79× its world share, 36 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.30× its world share, 100 worksMedicineNursing: 0.50× its world share, 4 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.53× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.81× its world share, 91 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.73× its world share, 41 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.14× its world share, 19 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.96× its world share, 36 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.14× its world share, 60 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 2.10× its world share, 463 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Environmental Science, 2.8×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Rhodes University?

Ranked on the composite score, O. Smirnov, Charlie M. Shackleton and T. Hecht lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Rhodes University.

  1. 1 O. Smirnov · #20,221 worldwide 593 citations · 59 works
  2. 2 Charlie M. Shackleton · #42,069 worldwide 799 citations · 104 works
  3. 3 T. Hecht · #78,903 worldwide 265 citations · 39 works
  4. 4 Robin Palmer · #79,359 worldwide 127 citations · 32 works
  5. 5 Sheona Shackleton · #80,730 worldwide 400 citations · 34 works
  6. 6 Lee‐Anne McKinnell · #84,181 worldwide 196 citations · 34 works
  7. 7 G. Bernardi · #86,862 worldwide 703 citations · 83 works
  8. 8 Etienne Nel · #105,817 worldwide 141 citations · 54 works
  9. 9 Peter Britz · #133,116 worldwide 188 citations · 30 works
  10. 10 WHH Sauer · #134,145 worldwide 218 citations · 35 works
All ranked researchers at Rhodes University

Which keywords describe research at Rhodes University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Invasive Species, Colonialism, Higher Education, Conservation, Biodiversity, Globalization and Habitat Fragmentation.

▲ 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. Climate Change145▲ 3.1×78 topics
  2. Globalization79▲ 2.3×59 topics
  3. Invasive Species76▲ 10×20 topics
  4. Sustainability66▲ 1.54×49 topics
  5. Higher Education62▲ 6.6×16 topics
  6. Colonialism62▲ 7.5×19 topics
  7. Biodiversity59▲ 4.5×23 topics
  8. Conservation55▲ 7.3×20 topics
  9. Human Rights47▲ 2.6×27 topics
  10. Social Justice45▲ 4.4×27 topics
  11. Nanoparticles45▲ 2.0×14 topics
  12. Nationalism40▲ 4.9×20 topics
  13. Neoliberalism37▲ 5.9×17 topics
  14. Ecosystem Services37▲ 5.4×10 topics
  15. Habitat Fragmentation36▲ 9.3×4 topics
  16. Photodynamic Therapy36▲ 9.2×4 topics
  17. Identity33▲ 2.6×28 topics
  18. Population Dynamics33▲ 7.5×11 topics
  19. Self-Assembly33▲ 5.8×8 topics
  20. Biogeography32▲ 7.1×17 topics
  21. Reactive Oxygen Species32▲ 4.5×5 topics
  22. Biodiversity Conservation30▲ 4.6×12 topics
  23. Global Change28▲ 6.1×6 topics
  24. Social Movements28▲ 5.3×10 topics
  25. Race27▲ 14×12 topics
  26. Postcolonialism27▲ 12×12 topics
  27. South Africa27▲ 57×4 topics
  28. Fisheries Sustainability25▲ 16×2 topics
  29. Biological Control25▲ 9.5×9 topics
  30. Inequality25▲ 6.2×7 topics
  31. Phylogeny24▲ 9.2×14 topics
  32. Metal Complexes22▲ 18×2 topics
  33. Decolonization22▲ 16×7 topics
  34. Gender-based Violence22▲ 22×3 topics
  35. Photochemical Properties21▲ 32×2 topics
  36. Multilingualism20▲ 7.0×6 topics
  37. Phthalocyanines20▲ 56×1 topic
  38. Porphyrins20▲ 56×1 topic
  39. economic empowerment20▲ 72×1 topic
  40. protests20▲ 146×1 topic

Which research topics does Rhodes University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Porphyrin and Phthalocyanine Chemistry, South African History and Culture, Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics and African cultural and philosophical studies.

Porphyrin and Phthalocya…20Porphyrin and Phthalocyanine Chemistry: 20 fractional worksSouth African History an…20South African History and Culture: 20 fractional worksNanoplatforms for cancer theranostics: 16 fractional worksAfrican cultural and philosophical studies: 15 fractional worksPhotodynamic Therapy Research Studies: 14 fractional worksEcology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies: 14 fractional worksAfrican studies and sociopolitical issues: 13 fractional worksFish Ecology and Managem…12Fish Ecology and Management Studies: 12 fractional worksMarine and fisheries research: 12 fractional worksAfrican history and culture studies: 12 fractional works
Materials ChemistrySociology and Political ScienceBiomedical EngineeringEducation4 others

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

  1. 1 Porphyrin and Phthalocyanine ChemistryMaterials Chemistry 20 works
  2. 2 South African History and CultureSociology and Political Science 20 works
  3. 3 Nanoplatforms for cancer theranosticsBiomedical Engineering 16 works
  4. 4 African cultural and philosophical studiesEducation 15 works
  5. 5 Photodynamic Therapy Research StudiesPulmonary and Respiratory Medicine 14 works
  6. 6 Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics StudiesNature and Landscape Conservation 14 works
  7. 7 African studies and sociopolitical issuesSociology and Political Science 13 works
  8. 8 Fish Ecology and Management StudiesNature and Landscape Conservation 12 works
  9. 9 Marine and fisheries researchGlobal and Planetary Change 12 works
  10. 10 African history and culture studiesAnthropology 12 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 available33.5%not open66.5%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors17.0%domestic only83.0%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Rhodes University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 3% 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 Grahamstown

All research institutions in Grahamstown

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.