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Research facility · Cape Town · South Africa

South African Radio Astronomy Observatory

In research, South African Radio Astronomy Observatory stands highest in Physical Sciences (#6,927 of 12,888 worldwide), Astronomy and Astrophysics (#334 of 443 worldwide) and Physics and Astronomy (#1,500 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 92.6× its share of world research.

sarao.ac.zaROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#12,215
of 28,054 · #7,225 all time
Rank in South Africa
#46
of 87
Research works
1.4k
▲ 30% vs 2013–17
Citations
29k
20.4 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
22.1%
record average 16.5%
Open access
64%
world 28%

What is South African Radio Astronomy 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 #6,927 of 12,888 20.6%126 #4409
Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield #334 of 443 22.7%67 #419
Physics and AstronomyField #1,500 of 1,646 23.0%92 #1694

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where South African Radio Astronomy 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#4,409 #6,927
  2. Astronomy and Astrophysics#419 #334
  3. Physics and Astronomy#1,694 #1,500
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 South African Radio Astronomy Observatory specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Astronomy and Astrophysics takes 92.6× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 67.2 works93×
  2. Physics and AstronomyField · 92.2 works30×
← 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: 0.08× its world share, 1 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.08× its world share, 1 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.40× its world share, 1 worksNeuroscienceChemistry: 0.35× its world share, 1 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.41× its world share, 4 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.75× its world share, 4 worksEarth and Planetary …Engineering: 1.05× its world share, 22 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.32× its world share, 2 worksEnvironmental ScienceMathematics: 0.23× its world share, 0 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 29.71× its world share, 92 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.07× its world share, 0 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.11× its world share, 3 worksMedicineArts and Humanities: 0.11× its world share, 0 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.07× its world share, 0 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.95× its world share, 1 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.08× its world share, 0 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.25× its world share, 1 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.29× its world share, 5 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 29.7×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at South African Radio Astronomy Observatory?

Ranked on the composite score, É. Depagne, A. Y. Kniazev and Rudolf B. Kuhn lead among researchers whose main affiliation is South African Radio Astronomy Observatory.

  1. 1 É. Depagne South Africa · #84,349 worldwide 401 citations · 30 works
  2. 2 A. Y. Kniazev South Africa · #135,006 worldwide 683 citations · 101 works
  3. 3 Rudolf B. Kuhn South Africa · #183,759 worldwide 357 citations · 19 works
  4. 4 Rosalind E. Skelton South Africa · #265,039 worldwide 219 citations · 17 works
  5. 5 B. Miszalski South Africa · #378,612 worldwide 131 citations · 41 works
  6. 6 M. W. Feast South Africa · #407,348 worldwide 335 citations · 114 works
  7. 7 R. S. Stobie South Africa · #470,994 worldwide 118 citations · 43 works
  8. 8 J. W. Menzies South Africa · #479,159 worldwide 179 citations · 57 works
  9. 9 L. A. Balona South Africa · #499,077 worldwide 203 citations · 75 works
  10. 10 D. O’Donoghue South Africa · #552,607 worldwide 120 citations · 36 works
All ranked researchers at South African Radio Astronomy Observatory

Which keywords describe research at South African Radio Astronomy Observatory?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Black Holes, Star Formation, Gravitational Waves, Accretion Disks, Magnetic Fields, Exoplanets, Stellar Astrophysics and Radio Astronomy.

▲ 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 Holes15▲ 114×3 topics
  2. Star Formation15▲ 201×2 topics
  3. Gravitational Waves13▲ 169×2 topics
  4. Accretion Disks13▲ 200×2 topics
  5. Magnetic Fields13▲ 145×2 topics
  6. Exoplanets13▲ 229×1 topic
  7. Stellar Astrophysics13▲ 229×1 topic
  8. Radio Astronomy12▲ 396×2 topics
  9. Astronomical Instrumentation10▲ 291×1 topic
  10. Spectrograph10▲ 291×1 topic
  11. Epoch of Reionization10▲ 559×1 topic
  12. Low-Frequency Telescopes10▲ 559×1 topic
  13. Cosmology9▲ 93×4 topics
  14. Dark Matter8▲ 53×3 topics
  15. Supernovae8▲ 71×2 topics
  16. Galaxies8▲ 209×1 topic
  17. Stellar Populations8▲ 209×1 topic
  18. Cosmic Rays8▲ 107×2 topics
  19. Neutrinos8▲ 107×2 topics
  20. High-Energy Astrophysics7▲ 195×1 topic
  21. Particle Acceleration7▲ 195×1 topic
  22. Nucleosynthesis7▲ 101×3 topics
  23. Gamma-Ray Bursts7▲ 183×1 topic
  24. Neutron Stars7▲ 183×1 topic
  25. Molecular Clouds7▲ 192×1 topic
  26. Protoplanetary Disks7▲ 192×1 topic
  27. Turbulence7▲ 55×2 topics
  28. Galactic Center6▲ 104×2 topics
  29. Binary Black Hole6▲ 156×1 topic
  30. Event Horizon Telescope6▲ 210×1 topic
  31. Neutron Star6▲ 156×1 topic
  32. X-Ray Astronomy6▲ 210×1 topic
  33. Structural Health Monitoring4▲ 39×2 topics
  34. Optical 3D Laser Measurement4▲ 253×1 topic
  35. Position-Sensitive Detector4▲ 253×1 topic
  36. Spectroscopy3▲ 12×3 topics
  37. Solar System Abundances2▲ 38×1 topic
  38. Terrestrial Planets2▲ 38×1 topic
  39. High-Resolution Imaging2▲ 35×1 topic
  40. Hydrological Modeling2▲ 7.5×4 topics

Which research topics does South African Radio Astronomy Observatory publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies, Astronomy and Astrophysical Research, Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology and Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena.

Stellar, planetary, and …13Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies: 13 fractional worksAstronomy and Astrophysi…10Astronomy and Astrophysical Research: 10 fractional worksRadio Astronomy Observat…10Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology: 10 fractional worksGalaxies: Formation, Evo…8Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena: 8 fractional worksAstrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena: 7 fractional worksGamma-ray bursts and supernovae: 7 fractional worksAstrophysics and Star Fo…7Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies: 7 fractional worksAstrophysical Phenomena …6Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations: 6 fractional worksPulsars and Gravitationa…6Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research: 6 fractional worksAstronomical Observation…4Astronomical Observations and Instrumentation: 4 fractional works
Astronomy and AstrophysicsInstrumentationNuclear and High Energy PhysicsComputational Mechanics

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

  1. 1 Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 13 works
  2. 2 Astronomy and Astrophysical Research Instrumentation 10 works
  3. 3 Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology Astronomy and Astrophysics 10 works
  4. 4 Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena Astronomy and Astrophysics 8 works
  5. 5 Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena Nuclear and High Energy Physics 7 works
  6. 6 Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae Astronomy and Astrophysics 7 works
  7. 7 Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 7 works
  8. 8 Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations Astronomy and Astrophysics 6 works
  9. 9 Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research Astronomy and Astrophysics 6 works
  10. 10 Astronomical Observations and Instrumentation Computational Mechanics 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 available64.0%not open36.0%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors45.7%domestic only54.3%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has South African Radio Astronomy Observatory's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 30% 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 Cape Town

All research institutions in Cape Town

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.