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Research facility · Shanghai · China

Shanghai Astronomical Observatory

In research, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory stands highest in Physical Sciences (#2,866 of 12,888 worldwide), Astronomy and Astrophysics (#129 of 443 worldwide) and Engineering (#3,683 of 6,636 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Instrumentation, Astronomy and Astrophysics and Physics and Astronomy — Instrumentation is 86.6× its share of world research.

english.shao.cas.cnROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#5,089
of 28,054 · #3,591 all time
Rank in China
#1,111
of 3,058
Research works
2.5k
▲ 25% vs 2013–17
Citations
36k
14.0 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
26.2%
record average 16.5%
Open access
51%
world 28%

What is Shanghai Astronomical 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 #2,866 of 12,888 26.6%450 #2232
Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield #129 of 443 25.9%179 #255
EngineeringField #3,683 of 6,636 31.8%88 #2602
Physics and AstronomyField #941 of 1,646 25.9%246 #1239
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #1,022 of 1,209 28.4%69 #1695

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Shanghai Astronomical 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#2,232 #2,866
  2. Astronomy and Astrophysics#255 #129
  3. Engineering#2,602 #3,683
  4. Physics and Astronomy#1,239 #941
  5. Earth and Planetary Sciences#1,695 #1,022
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 Shanghai Astronomical Observatory specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Instrumentation takes 86.6× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. InstrumentationSubfield · 20.0 works87×
  2. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 178.8 works75×
  3. Physics and AstronomyField · 245.6 works24×
  4. OceanographySubfield · 29.5 works23×
  5. Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsSubfield · 27.3 works19×
  6. GeophysicsSubfield · 23.7 works15×
  7. Aerospace EngineeringSubfield · 55.1 works10×
  8. Earth and Planetary SciencesField · 68.8 works9.5×
← 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, 1 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.31× its world share, 8 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksImmunology and Micro…Chemical Engineering: 0.26× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.51× its world share, 4 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.48× its world share, 17 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 9.50× its world share, 69 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.28× its world share, 88 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.02× its world share, 24 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.04× its world share, 1 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.40× its world share, 2 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 23.93× its world share, 246 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.01× its world share, 1 worksMedicineDecision Sciences: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksEconomics, Econometr…Social Sciences: 0.01× its world share, 1 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 23.9×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Shanghai Astronomical Observatory?

Ranked on the composite score, Yipeng Jing, Xiaohu Yang and Cheng Li lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Shanghai Astronomical Observatory.

  1. 1 Yipeng Jing China · #41,120 worldwide 666 citations · 50 works
  2. 2 Xiaohu Yang China · #45,265 worldwide 866 citations · 71 works
  3. 3 Cheng Li China · #81,619 worldwide 543 citations · 42 works
  4. 4 Lei Hao China · #86,959 worldwide 437 citations · 32 works
  5. 5 Ye‐Fei Yuan China · #117,740 worldwide 487 citations · 60 works
  6. 6 Minfeng Gu China · #152,231 worldwide 384 citations · 55 works
  7. 7 Wen-Biao Han China · #166,591 worldwide 358 citations · 56 works
  8. 8 Junping Chen China · #203,699 worldwide 89 citations · 45 works
  9. 9 Xiaogong Hu China · #217,770 worldwide 125 citations · 49 works
  10. 10 Chengpan Tang China · #230,271 worldwide 88 citations · 25 works
All ranked researchers at Shanghai Astronomical Observatory

Which keywords describe research at Shanghai Astronomical Observatory?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Black Holes, Star Formation, Hydrological Modeling, Magnetic Fields, Accretion Disks, Geodetic Measurements, Dark Matter and Cosmology.

▲ 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. Black Holes50▲ 114×3 topics
  2. Star Formation44▲ 183×2 topics
  3. Hydrological Modeling40▲ 37×5 topics
  4. Magnetic Fields38▲ 127×3 topics
  5. Accretion Disks38▲ 175×2 topics
  6. Climate Change37▲ 3.0×26 topics
  7. Geodetic Measurements32▲ 63×2 topics
  8. Dark Matter31▲ 58×3 topics
  9. Cosmology30▲ 99×2 topics
  10. Orbit Determination30▲ 152×2 topics
  11. Gravitational Waves27▲ 107×2 topics
  12. Sea Level Rise27▲ 47×3 topics
  13. Galaxies27▲ 215×1 topic
  14. Stellar Populations27▲ 215×1 topic
  15. GNSS27▲ 282×1 topic
  16. Global Navigation Satellite Systems27▲ 237×1 topic
  17. GRACE26▲ 110×1 topic
  18. groundwater depletion26▲ 110×1 topic
  19. Galactic Center24▲ 114×2 topics
  20. Remote Sensing23▲ 4.1×28 topics
  21. Solar Wind23▲ 53×2 topics
  22. Cosmic Rays22▲ 96×2 topics
  23. Neutrinos22▲ 96×2 topics
  24. Exoplanets21▲ 117×1 topic
  25. Stellar Astrophysics21▲ 117×1 topic
  26. X-Ray Spectroscopy21▲ 102×2 topics
  27. Event Horizon Telescope20▲ 205×1 topic
  28. X-Ray Astronomy20▲ 205×1 topic
  29. Supernovae20▲ 53×2 topics
  30. Astronomical Instrumentation20▲ 165×1 topic
  31. Spectrograph20▲ 165×1 topic
  32. Electron Acceleration19▲ 62×2 topics
  33. High-Energy Astrophysics19▲ 155×1 topic
  34. Particle Acceleration19▲ 155×1 topic
  35. Ionosphere19▲ 73×1 topic
  36. Magnetosphere19▲ 73×1 topic
  37. Molecular Clouds17▲ 148×1 topic
  38. Protoplanetary Disks17▲ 148×1 topic
  39. Turbulence17▲ 43×2 topics
  40. Radio Astronomy17▲ 164×2 topics

Which research topics does Shanghai Astronomical Observatory publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena, GNSS positioning and interference, Geophysics and Gravity Measurements and Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies.

Galaxies: Formation, Evo…27Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena: 27 fractional worksGNSS positioning and int…27GNSS positioning and interference: 27 fractional worksGeophysics and Gravity Measurements: 26 fractional worksStellar, planetary, and galactic studies: 21 fractional worksAstrophysical Phenomena and Observations: 20 fractional worksAstronomy and Astrophysical Research: 20 fractional worksAstrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena: 19 fractional worksIonosphere and magnetosp…19Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics: 19 fractional worksAstrophysics and Star Formation Studies: 17 fractional worksRadio Astronomy Observations and Technology: 15 fractional works
Astronomy and AstrophysicsAerospace EngineeringOceanographyInstrumentation1 others

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

  1. 1 Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena Astronomy and Astrophysics 27 works
  2. 2 GNSS positioning and interference Aerospace Engineering 27 works
  3. 3 Geophysics and Gravity Measurements Oceanography 26 works
  4. 4 Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 21 works
  5. 5 Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations Astronomy and Astrophysics 20 works
  6. 6 Astronomy and Astrophysical Research Instrumentation 20 works
  7. 7 Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena Nuclear and High Energy Physics 19 works
  8. 8 Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 19 works
  9. 9 Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 17 works
  10. 10 Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology Astronomy and Astrophysics 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 available50.7%not open49.3%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors28.7%domestic only71.3%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Shanghai Astronomical Observatory's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 25% 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 Shanghai

All research institutions in Shanghai

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.