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Research facility · Macclesfield · United Kingdom

SKA Observatory

In research, SKA Observatory stands highest in Physical Sciences (#10,111 of 10,670 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Astronomy and Astrophysics and Physics and Astronomy (Astronomy and Astrophysics is 74.8× its share of world research).

skaobservatory.orgROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#21,450
of 22,385 · #14,687 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#807
of 862
Research works
1.5k
▼ 16% vs 2018-21
Citations
31k
20.4 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
9.2%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
0.94×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
49%
world 40%
International
36%
world 18%
SKA Observatory

What is SKA Observatory known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022-now, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Physical SciencesDomain #10,111 of 10,670 9.8%62 #8626

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where SKA 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 average mark, because the average differs by field (from about 6% in Dentistry to 21% in Economics).

Which fields of science does SKA Observatory work in?

In 2022-now, 85% of research at SKA Observatory is in Physical Sciences, 7% in Social Sciences. Its largest fields are Physics and Astronomy (55%), Engineering (18%), Computer Science (7%). It does 2.1× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 71 fractional works · 85.3% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 46 fractional works · 54.8% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 32 fractional works · 38.9% of its workNuclear and High Energy Physics: 5 fractional works · 5.4% of its workInstrumentation: 4 fractional works · 5.4% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 3 fractional works · 3.0% of its workCondensed Matter Physics: 1 fractional works · 1.6% of its workStatistical and Nonlinear Physics: 0 fractional works · 0.6% of its workEngineering: 15 fractional works · 18.2% of its workAerospace Engineering: 6 fractional works · 7.0% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 6 fractional works · 6.9% of its workMedia Technology: 1 fractional works · 0.9% of its workControl and Systems Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workComputational Mechanics: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workBuilding and Construction: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSafety, Risk, Reliability and Quality: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workComputer Science: 6 fractional works · 6.6% of its workInformation Systems: 2 fractional works · 2.9% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 2 fractional works · 1.8% of its workComputer Networks and Communications: 1 fractional works · 1.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 2 fractional works · 2.4% of its workOceanography: 1 fractional works · 1.5% of its workAtmospheric Science: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEnvironmental Science: 1 fractional works · 1.2% of its workHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workMaterials Science: 1 fractional works · 0.9% of its workMaterials Chemistry: 0 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workChemistry: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSpectroscopy: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEnergy: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workMathematics: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workSocial Sciences: 6 fractional works · 7.3% of its workSocial Sciences: 3 fractional works · 4.0% of its workSociology and Political Science: 1 fractional works · 1.5% of its workPolitical Science and International Relations: 1 fractional works · 1.3% of its workHuman Factors and Ergonomics: 0 fractional works · 0.6% of its workTransportation: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1 fractional works · 1.8% of its workManagement Information Systems: 1 fractional works · 1.2% of its workStrategy and Management: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workAccounting: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workDecision Sciences: 1 fractional works · 1.2% of its workInformation Systems and Management: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workManagement Science and Operations Research: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPsychology: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workArts and Humanities: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workHealth Sciences: 4 fractional works · 4.8% of its workMedicine: 4 fractional works · 4.6% of its workPhysiology: 1 fractional works · 1.4% of its workReproductive Medicine: 1 fractional works · 1.3% of its workPathology and Forensic Medicine: 0 fractional works · 0.6% of its workOncology: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSurgery: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workHealth Professions: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workVeterinary: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workLife Sciences: 2 fractional works · 2.7% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 2 fractional works · 2.0% of its workFood Science: 1 fractional works · 1.4% of its workEcology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0 fractional works · 0.5% of its workMolecular Biology: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workNeuroscience: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workALL ITS WORKSKA Observatory84fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences3%Physical Sciences85%Health Sciences5%Social Sciences7%

Each ring splits the one inside it: the four domains of science, their fields, their subfields. Size is fractional works in 2022-now. Every slice is a page; the interactive view zooms down to single topics and colours each by how much more of it this institution does than the world.

Its 4 domains and 20 fields, with their numbers
    1. Physics and Astronomy4654.8%
    2. Engineering1518.2%
    3. Computer Science66.6%
    4. Earth and Planetary Sciences22.4%
    5. Environmental Science11.2%
    6. Materials Science10.9%
    7. Chemistry10.8%
    8. Energy00.2%
    9. Mathematics00.0%
    1. Social Sciences34.0%
    2. Business, Management and Accounting11.8%
    3. Decision Sciences11.2%
    4. Psychology00.3%
    5. Arts and Humanities00.0%
    1. Medicine44.6%
    2. Health Professions00.1%
    3. Veterinary00.0%
    1. Agricultural and Biological Sciences22.0%
    2. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology00.5%
    3. Neuroscience00.2%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does SKA Observatory specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Astronomy and Astrophysics takes 74.8× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 32.5 works75×
  2. Physics and AstronomyField · 45.8 works25×
← 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: 0.43× its world share, 2 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.09× its world share, 0 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Neuroscience: 0.14× its world share, 0 worksNeuroscienceChemistry: 0.53× its world share, 1 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.85× its world share, 6 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.54× its world share, 2 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.22× its world share, 0 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.21× its world share, 15 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.24× its world share, 1 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.27× its world share, 1 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 24.66× its world share, 46 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.24× its world share, 4 worksMedicineVeterinary: 0.21× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.55× its world share, 2 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.22× its world share, 1 worksDecision SciencesPsychology: 0.08× its world share, 0 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.32× its world share, 3 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 24.7×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 20 fields, with their numbers
  1. Physics and Astronomy24.66×46 works
  2. Earth and Planetary Sciences1.54×2 works
  3. Decision Sciences1.22×1 works
  4. Engineering1.21×15 works
  5. Computer Science0.85×6 works
  6. Business, Management and Accounting0.55×2 works
  7. Chemistry0.53×1 works
  8. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.43×2 works
  9. Social Sciences0.32×3 works
  10. Materials Science0.27×1 works
  11. Environmental Science0.24×1 works
  12. Medicine0.24×4 works
  13. Energy0.22×0 works
  14. Veterinary0.21×0 works
  15. Neuroscience0.14×0 works
  16. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.09×0 works
  17. Psychology0.08×0 works
  18. Health Professions0.05×0 works
  19. Mathematics0.03×0 works
  20. Arts and Humanities0.02×0 works

Who are the top researchers at SKA Observatory?

Ranked on the quality score, Robert Hanbury Brown, Federico Di Vruno and R. D. Davies lead among researchers whose main affiliation is SKA Observatory.

  1. 1 Robert Hanbury Brown United Kingdom · #713,099 worldwide 20k citations · 295 works
  2. 2 Federico Di Vruno United Kingdom · #1,759,954 worldwide 262 citations · 30 works
  3. 3 R. D. Davies United Kingdom · #1,875,007 worldwide 12k citations · 159 works
  4. 4 Pedro Carreira United Kingdom · #1,938,720 worldwide 1.1k citations · 40 works
  5. 5 P. J. Diamond United Kingdom · #2,285,078 worldwide 7.2k citations · 233 works
  6. 6 R. J. Davis United Kingdom · #2,415,063 worldwide 5.4k citations · 162 works
  7. 7 P. N. Wilkinson United Kingdom · #2,713,033 worldwide 3.2k citations · 163 works
  8. 8 Alastair M. Stirling United Kingdom · #2,721,214 worldwide 2k citations · 46 works
  9. 9 A. R. Foley United Kingdom · #2,772,369 worldwide 526 citations · 25 works
  10. 10 Simon T. Garrington United Kingdom · #3,295,162 worldwide 1.5k citations · 99 works
All ranked researchers at SKA Observatory

What are the most cited papers from SKA Observatory?

The most cited paper from SKA Observatory is "The Astropy Project : Sustaining and Growing a Community-oriented Open-source Project and the Latest Major Release (v5.0) of the Core Package*" (The Astropy Collaboration et al., 2022), with 5,044 citations. Next come "First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. I. The Shadow of the Supermassive Black Hole" (4,300) and "HI4PI: a full-sky H i survey based on EBHIS and GASS" (1,657).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The Astropy Project : Sustaining and Growing a Community-oriented Open-source Project and the Latest Major Release (v5.0) of the Core Package* The Astropy Collaboration et al. · Repository of the Academy's Library (Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences) Open access136 authors 2022 5,044
2 First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. I. The Shadow of the Supermassive Black Hole Kazunori Akiyama et al. · The Astrophysical Journal Letters Open access348 authors 9 Apr 2019 4,300
3 HI4PI: a full-sky H i survey based on EBHIS and GASS Nadya Ben Bekhti, L. Flöer, Reinhard Keller et al. · Astronomy and Astrophysics Open access Oct 2016 1,657
4 A Test of a New Type of Stellar Interferometer on Sirius Robert Hanbury Brown, R. Q. Twiss · Nature Nov 1956 1,564
5 A statistical study of 233 pulsar proper motions G. Hobbs, D. R. Lorimer, A. G. Lyne et al. · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Open access 15 Jun 2005 1,393
All 59 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at SKA Observatory?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Radio Astronomy, Epoch of Reionization, Low-Frequency Telescopes, Star Formation, Gravitational Waves, Astronomical Instrumentation, Spectrograph and Accretion Disks.

▲ 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-now 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. Radio Astronomy14▲ 744×2 topics
  2. Epoch of Reionization12▲ 1136×1 topic
  3. Low-Frequency Telescopes12▲ 1136×1 topic
  4. Star Formation6▲ 117×2 topics
  5. Astronomical Instrumentation4▲ 166×1 topic
  6. Gravitational Waves4▲ 96×2 topics
  7. Spectrograph4▲ 166×1 topic
  8. Accretion Disks4▲ 100×2 topics
  9. Magnetic Fields4▲ 75×2 topics
  10. Black Holes4▲ 50×3 topics
  11. Cosmic Rays4▲ 92×2 topics
  12. Neutrinos4▲ 92×2 topics
  13. Supernovae3▲ 48×2 topics
  14. Dark Matter3▲ 33×3 topics
  15. High-Energy Astrophysics3▲ 147×1 topic
  16. Particle Acceleration3▲ 147×1 topic
  17. Cosmology3▲ 55×2 topics
  18. Turbulence3▲ 41×2 topics
  19. Molecular Clouds3▲ 131×1 topic
  20. Protoplanetary Disks3▲ 131×1 topic
  21. Binary Black Hole3▲ 105×1 topic
  22. Equation of State3▲ 59×2 topics
  23. Exoplanets3▲ 78×1 topic
  24. Neutron Star3▲ 105×1 topic
  25. Optimization3▲ 6.9×3 topics
  26. Stellar Astrophysics3▲ 78×1 topic
  27. Antenna Arrays2▲ 85×1 topic
  28. Galaxies2▲ 104×1 topic
  29. Particle Swarm Optimization2▲ 25×1 topic
  30. Stellar Populations2▲ 104×1 topic
  31. Security2▲ 3.8×6 topics
  32. Spectroscopy2▲ 15×3 topics
  33. Gamma-Ray Bursts2▲ 85×1 topic
  34. Neutron Stars2▲ 85×1 topic
  35. Galactic Center2▲ 47×2 topics
  36. High-Resolution Imaging2▲ 42×1 topic
  37. Transits of Venus2▲ 214×1 topic
  38. Cosmological Parameters1▲ 30×1 topic
  39. Dark Energy1▲ 25×1 topic
  40. Distributed Systems1▲ 9.2×4 topics

Which research topics does SKA Observatory publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology, Astronomy and Astrophysical Research, Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena and Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies.

Radio Astronomy Observat…12Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology: 12 fractional worksAstronomy and Astrophysi…4Astronomy and Astrophysical Research: 4 fractional worksAstrophysics and Cosmic …3Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena: 3 fractional worksAstrophysics and Star Formation Studies: 3 fractional worksPulsars and Gravitational Waves Research: 3 fractional worksStellar, planetary, and galactic studies: 3 fractional worksGalaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena: 2 fractional worksAntenna Design and Optimization: 2 fractional worksGamma-ray bursts and supernovae: 2 fractional worksHistory and Developments in Astronomy: 2 fractional works
Astronomy and AstrophysicsInstrumentationNuclear and High Energy PhysicsAerospace Engineering

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

  1. 1 Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology Astronomy and Astrophysics 12 works
  2. 2 Astronomy and Astrophysical Research Instrumentation 4 works
  3. 3 Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena Nuclear and High Energy Physics 3 works
  4. 4 Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 3 works
  5. 5 Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research Astronomy and Astrophysics 3 works
  6. 6 Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 3 works
  7. 7 Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena Astronomy and Astrophysics 2 works
  8. 8 Antenna Design and Optimization Aerospace Engineering 2 works
  9. 9 Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae Astronomy and Astrophysics 2 works
  10. 10 History and Developments in Astronomy Astronomy and Astrophysics 2 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 available48.8%not open51.2%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors36.3%domestic only63.7%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has SKA Observatory's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 16% lower than in 2018-2021.

still counting1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is SKA Observatory as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.00064% in 2024.

still counting0.0020%0.0040%0.0060%SKA Observatory0.00019% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of SKA Observatory over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year, against all institutions in the same year.

10%20%all institutions10.0% in 2024SKA Observatory7.6% in 2024200020102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 16.2% in 1993.

Other research institutions in Macclesfield

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SKA Observatory on Science Explorer

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