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Research facility · Harpenden · United Kingdom

Rothamsted Research

In research, Rothamsted Research stands highest in Agricultural and Biological Sciences (#332 of 3,409 worldwide), Life Sciences (#2,503 of 7,800 worldwide) and Plant Science (#535 of 1,395 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Soil Science, Plant Science and Agricultural and Biological Sciences — Soil Science is 29.2× its share of world research.

rothamsted.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#5,142
of 28,054 · #1,567 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#198
of 1,094
Research works
6k
◆ 2% vs 2013–17
Citations
377k
63.0 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
31.5%
record average 16.5%
Open access
32%
world 28%

What is Rothamsted Research 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
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #332 of 3,409 36.4%172 #47
Life SciencesDomain #2,503 of 7,800 34.4%225 #646
Plant ScienceSubfield #535 of 1,395 38.8%76 #41
Environmental ScienceField #1,652 of 3,551 26.2%97 #403
Physical SciencesDomain #6,587 of 12,888 24.8%130 #2752

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Rothamsted Research 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. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#47 #332
  2. Life Sciences#646 #2,503
  3. Plant Science#41 #535
  4. Environmental Science#403 #1,652
  5. Physical Sciences#2,752 #6,587
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 Rothamsted Research specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Soil Science takes 29.2× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Soil ScienceSubfield · 34.0 works29×
  2. Plant ScienceSubfield · 75.9 works11×
  3. Agricultural and Biological SciencesField · 171.7 works9.3×
  4. EcologySubfield · 26.3 works8.7×
← 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: 9.33× its world share, 172 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 2.42× its world share, 50 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.47× its world share, 2 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.13× its world share, 1 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.81× its world share, 1 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.69× its world share, 4 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.10× its world share, 3 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.01× its world share, 6 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.25× its world share, 1 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.22× its world share, 12 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 5.06× its world share, 97 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.06× its world share, 1 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.65× its world share, 3 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.11× its world share, 1 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.12× its world share, 9 worksMedicineNursing: 6.13× its world share, 12 worksNursingVeterinary: 3.29× its world share, 2 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksArts and HumanitiesDecision Sciences: 0.16× its world share, 1 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.54× its world share, 4 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.07× its world share, 1 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.08× its world share, 4 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Agricultural and Biological Sciences, 9.3×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Rothamsted Research?

Ranked on the composite score, Philip C. Brookes, R. Webster and D. S. Powlson lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Rothamsted Research.

  1. 1 Philip C. Brookes United Kingdom · #12,328 worldwide 2.6k citations · 45 works
  2. 2 R. Webster United Kingdom · #21,859 worldwide 750 citations · 52 works
  3. 3 D. S. Powlson United Kingdom · #30,595 worldwide 828 citations · 84 works
  4. 4 K. E. Hammond‐Kosack United Kingdom · #36,851 worldwide 348 citations · 48 works
  5. 5 Johnathan A. Napier United Kingdom · #38,713 worldwide 706 citations · 98 works
  6. 6 S. P. McGrath United Kingdom · #50,711 worldwide 660 citations · 130 works
  7. 7 Nigel G. Halford United Kingdom · #60,852 worldwide 370 citations · 81 works
  8. 8 R. Harrington United Kingdom · #70,130 worldwide 356 citations · 71 works
  9. 9 Ian M. Clark United Kingdom · #71,897 worldwide 342 citations · 47 works
  10. 10 K. W. T. Goulding United Kingdom · #74,786 worldwide 611 citations · 82 works
All ranked researchers at Rothamsted Research

Which keywords describe research at Rothamsted Research?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Soil Carbon Sequestration, Ecosystem Functioning, Soil Fertility, Microbial Communities, Nutrient Limitation, Biochar Application and Nitrogen Cycle.

▲ 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 Change74▲ 7.1×62 topics
  2. Soil Carbon Sequestration25▲ 85×2 topics
  3. Ecosystem Functioning23▲ 31×6 topics
  4. Soil Fertility23▲ 26×6 topics
  5. Microbial Communities22▲ 13×6 topics
  6. Biochar Application21▲ 51×1 topic
  7. Nitrogen Cycle21▲ 85×1 topic
  8. Nutrient Limitation21▲ 51×2 topics
  9. Environmental Impact20▲ 3.0×24 topics
  10. Land Use Change19▲ 16×8 topics
  11. Sustainability19▲ 2.0×26 topics
  12. Water Quality17▲ 11×8 topics
  13. Nutrient Cycling15▲ 54×3 topics
  14. Eutrophication13▲ 33×3 topics
  15. Biodiversity13▲ 4.5×17 topics
  16. Hyporheic Zone13▲ 164×1 topic
  17. Phosphorus Management13▲ 164×1 topic
  18. Sustainable Agriculture13▲ 10×8 topics
  19. Health Effects12▲ 5.4×13 topics
  20. QTL Mapping12▲ 27×5 topics
  21. Agricultural Sustainability12▲ 27×3 topics
  22. Sediment Transport12▲ 19×3 topics
  23. Genetic Improvement12▲ 32×4 topics
  24. Greenhouse Gas Emissions11▲ 10×5 topics
  25. Invasive Species11▲ 6.5×17 topics
  26. Soil Degradation10▲ 49×2 topics
  27. Genome Sequencing10▲ 17×6 topics
  28. Crop Improvement10▲ 53×2 topics
  29. Global Carbon Budget10▲ 35×2 topics
  30. Livestock Production10▲ 26×2 topics
  31. Ecosystem Services10▲ 6.3×10 topics
  32. Phylogenetic Analysis10▲ 8.1×8 topics
  33. Hydrological Modeling9▲ 10×4 topics
  34. Model Evaluation9▲ 19×2 topics
  35. Biological Control9▲ 15×8 topics
  36. Sediment Transport Models9▲ 59×1 topic
  37. Soil Erosion9▲ 59×1 topic
  38. Adaptation9▲ 7.8×4 topics
  39. Genetic Mapping9▲ 28×6 topics
  40. Food Systems8▲ 48×1 topic

Which research topics does Rothamsted Research publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics, Soil and Water Nutrient Dynamics, Soil erosion and sediment transport and Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact.

Soil Carbon and Nitrogen…21Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics: 21 fractional worksSoil and Water Nutrient Dynamics: 13 fractional worksSoil erosion and sediment transport: 9 fractional worksAgriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact: 8 fractional worksHydrology and Watershed Management Studies: 7 fractional worksWheat and Barley Genetics and Pathology: 6 fractional worksRuminant Nutrition and D…6Ruminant Nutrition and Digestive Physiology: 6 fractional worksInsect-Plant Interactions and Control: 6 fractional worksFood composition and properties: 5 fractional worksPlant nutrient uptake and metabolism: 5 fractional works
Soil ScienceEnvironmental ChemistryEcologyWater Science and Technology4 others

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

  1. 1 Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics Soil Science 21 works
  2. 2 Soil and Water Nutrient Dynamics Environmental Chemistry 13 works
  3. 3 Soil erosion and sediment transport Soil Science 9 works
  4. 4 Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact Ecology 8 works
  5. 5 Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies Water Science and Technology 7 works
  6. 6 Wheat and Barley Genetics and Pathology Plant Science 6 works
  7. 7 Ruminant Nutrition and Digestive Physiology Agronomy and Crop Science 6 works
  8. 8 Insect-Plant Interactions and Control Insect Science 6 works
  9. 9 Food composition and properties Nutrition and Dietetics 5 works
  10. 10 Plant nutrient uptake and metabolism Plant Science 5 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 available32.4%not open67.6%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors37.7%domestic only62.3%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Rothamsted Research's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 2% 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 Harpenden

All research institutions in Harpenden

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.