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Research facility · Edinburgh · United Kingdom

Royal Observatory

In research, Royal Observatory stands highest in Physical Sciences (#2,093 of 12,888 worldwide), Astronomy and Astrophysics (#110 of 443 worldwide) and Physics and Astronomy (#601 of 1,646 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Astronomy and Astrophysics and Physics and Astronomy — Astronomy and Astrophysics is 112.5× its share of world research.

roe.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#3,725
of 28,054 · #2,184 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#149
of 1,094
Research works
1.9k
▲ 20% vs 2013–17
Citations
58k
30.7 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
39.7%
record average 16.5%
Open access
59%
world 28%

What is Royal Observatory 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
Physical SciencesDomain #2,093 of 12,888 40.3%129 #1440
Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield #110 of 443 43.4%78 #99
Physics and AstronomyField #601 of 1,646 42.4%109 #583

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Royal Observatory 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. Physical Sciences#1,440 #2,093
  2. Astronomy and Astrophysics#99 #110
  3. Physics and Astronomy#583 #601
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 Royal Observatory specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Astronomy and Astrophysics takes 112.5× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 77.7 works112×
  2. Physics and AstronomyField · 108.9 works37×
← 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: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.10× its world share, 1 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Chemical Engineering: 0.13× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.64× its world share, 1 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.40× its world share, 4 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.45× its world share, 3 worksEarth and Planetary …Engineering: 0.43× its world share, 9 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.33× its world share, 2 worksEnvironmental ScienceMathematics: 0.57× its world share, 1 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 36.84× its world share, 109 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksMedicineArts and Humanities: 0.12× its world share, 0 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.18× its world share, 0 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksEconomics, Econometr…Social Sciences: 0.10× its world share, 2 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 36.8×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Royal Observatory?

Ranked on the composite score, J. A. Peacock, P. N. Best and R. J. Ivison lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Royal Observatory.

  1. 1 J. A. Peacock United Kingdom · #2,314 worldwide 3.2k citations · 136 works
  2. 2 P. N. Best United Kingdom · #38,351 worldwide 1.2k citations · 103 works
  3. 3 R. J. Ivison United Kingdom · #58,698 worldwide 2k citations · 219 works
  4. 4 M. Cirasuolo United Kingdom · #201,940 worldwide 200 citations · 26 works
  5. 5 Gillian Wright United Kingdom · #239,756 worldwide 169 citations · 27 works
  6. 6 P. M. Williams United Kingdom · #373,953 worldwide 524 citations · 133 works
  7. 7 Charles Piazzi Smyth United Kingdom · #606,281 worldwide 2 citations · 31 works
  8. 8 J. Sabater United Kingdom · #629,186 worldwide 111 citations · 45 works
  9. 9 W. M. Napier United Kingdom · #763,621 worldwide 68 citations · 21 works
  10. 10 T. G. Hawarden United Kingdom · #804,516 worldwide 33 citations · 24 works
All ranked researchers at Royal Observatory

Which keywords describe research at Royal Observatory?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Star Formation, Black Holes, Dark Matter, Cosmology, Galaxies, Stellar Populations, Astronomical Instrumentation and Spectrograph.

▲ 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. Star Formation32▲ 456×2 topics
  2. Black Holes29▲ 227×3 topics
  3. Dark Matter25▲ 164×3 topics
  4. Cosmology25▲ 279×3 topics
  5. Galaxies23▲ 620×1 topic
  6. Stellar Populations23▲ 620×1 topic
  7. Astronomical Instrumentation16▲ 486×1 topic
  8. Spectrograph16▲ 486×1 topic
  9. Exoplanets15▲ 277×1 topic
  10. Stellar Astrophysics15▲ 277×1 topic
  11. Accretion Disks14▲ 228×2 topics
  12. Magnetic Fields14▲ 165×2 topics
  13. Supernovae14▲ 126×2 topics
  14. Turbulence9▲ 79×2 topics
  15. Molecular Clouds9▲ 275×1 topic
  16. Protoplanetary Disks9▲ 275×1 topic
  17. Gravitational Waves8▲ 115×2 topics
  18. Cosmological Parameters7▲ 95×1 topic
  19. Dark Energy7▲ 82×1 topic
  20. Galactic Center7▲ 116×2 topics
  21. Nucleosynthesis7▲ 107×3 topics
  22. Gamma-Ray Bursts7▲ 192×1 topic
  23. Neutron Stars7▲ 192×1 topic
  24. Cosmic Rays6▲ 84×2 topics
  25. Neutrinos6▲ 84×2 topics
  26. X-Ray Spectroscopy5▲ 88×2 topics
  27. Event Horizon Telescope5▲ 175×1 topic
  28. X-Ray Astronomy5▲ 175×1 topic
  29. Radio Astronomy4▲ 150×2 topics
  30. Epoch of Reionization4▲ 242×1 topic
  31. Low-Frequency Telescopes4▲ 242×1 topic
  32. Solar System Abundances4▲ 61×1 topic
  33. Terrestrial Planets4▲ 61×1 topic
  34. High-Energy Astrophysics4▲ 104×1 topic
  35. Particle Acceleration4▲ 104×1 topic
  36. Adaptive Optics3▲ 196×1 topic
  37. Wavefront Sensing3▲ 196×1 topic
  38. Particle Physics2▲ 24×2 topics
  39. Axions2▲ 62×1 topic
  40. WIMPs2▲ 62×1 topic

Which research topics does Royal Observatory publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena, Astronomy and Astrophysical Research, Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies and Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies.

Galaxies: Formation, Evo…23Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena: 23 fractional worksAstronomy and Astrophysical Research: 16 fractional worksStellar, planetary, and galactic studies: 15 fractional worksAstrophysics and Star Formation Studies: 9 fractional worksCosmology and Gravitation Theories: 7 fractional worksGamma-ray bursts and sup…7Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae: 7 fractional worksAstrophysical Phenomena and Observations: 5 fractional worksRadio Astronomy Observations and Technology: 4 fractional worksAstro and Planetary Science: 4 fractional worksAstrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena: 4 fractional works
Astronomy and AstrophysicsInstrumentationNuclear and High Energy Physics

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

  1. 1 Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena Astronomy and Astrophysics 23 works
  2. 2 Astronomy and Astrophysical Research Instrumentation 16 works
  3. 3 Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 15 works
  4. 4 Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 9 works
  5. 5 Cosmology and Gravitation Theories Astronomy and Astrophysics 7 works
  6. 6 Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae Astronomy and Astrophysics 7 works
  7. 7 Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations Astronomy and Astrophysics 5 works
  8. 8 Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology Astronomy and Astrophysics 4 works
  9. 9 Astro and Planetary Science Astronomy and Astrophysics 4 works
  10. 10 Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena Nuclear and High Energy Physics 4 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 available58.6%not open41.4%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors43.5%domestic only56.5%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Royal Observatory's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 20% 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 Edinburgh

All research institutions in Edinburgh

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.