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Nonprofit · Stellenbosch · South Africa

Sustainability Institute

In research, Sustainability Institute stands highest in Social Sciences (#3,002 of 10,521 worldwide), Environmental Science (#1,109 of 3,551 worldwide) and Agricultural and Biological Sciences (#1,124 of 3,409 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Global and Planetary Change, Ecology and Environmental Science — Global and Planetary Change is 6.6× its share of world research.

sustainabilityinstitute.netROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#4,950
of 28,054 · #6,592 all time
Rank in South Africa
#26
of 87
Research works
2.3k
◆ 1% vs 2013–17
Citations
30k
13.2 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
18.5%
record average 16.5%
Open access
49%
world 28%

What is Sustainability Institute 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
Social SciencesDomain #3,002 of 10,521 18.7%244 #3561
Environmental ScienceField #1,109 of 3,551 21.8%173 #1230
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #1,124 of 3,409 21.7%87 #1929
Physical SciencesDomain #4,678 of 12,888 18.0%330 #5605
Social SciencesField #3,052 of 6,365 20.2%106 #3816
Life SciencesDomain #4,589 of 7,800 20.1%124 #6943
EngineeringField #4,714 of 6,636 12.2%78 #7417
Business, Management and AccountingField #2,051 of 2,578 16.6%71 #2097

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Sustainability Institute 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. Social Sciences#3,561 #3,002
  2. Environmental Science#1,230 #1,109
  3. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#1,929 #1,124
  4. Physical Sciences#5,605 #4,678
  5. Social Sciences#3,816 #3,052
  6. Life Sciences#6,943 #4,589
  7. Engineering#7,417 #4,714
  8. Business, Management and Accounting#2,097 #2,051
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 Sustainability Institute specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Global and Planetary Change takes 6.6× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield · 37.1 works6.6×
  2. EcologySubfield · 34.6 works6.0×
  3. Environmental ScienceField · 173.3 works4.7×
← 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: 2.50× its world share, 88 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.76× its world share, 30 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.43× its world share, 3 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.18× its world share, 2 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.52× its world share, 1 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.05× its world share, 3 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.52× its world share, 6 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.30× its world share, 17 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.57× its world share, 18 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 2.30× its world share, 16 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.71× its world share, 78 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 4.74× its world share, 173 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.58× its world share, 15 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.06× its world share, 0 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.22× its world share, 4 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.09× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.56× its world share, 11 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.15× its world share, 21 worksMedicineNursing: 0.71× its world share, 3 worksNursingVeterinary: 2.44× its world share, 2 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.76× its world share, 16 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 3.01× its world share, 71 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 2.10× its world share, 15 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.32× its world share, 21 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.68× its world share, 15 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.13× its world share, 106 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Environmental Science, 4.7×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Sustainability Institute?

Ranked on the composite score, W. Burnside, Jan Stentoft and Rudyard Kipling lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Sustainability Institute.

  1. 1 W. Burnside South Africa · #168,408 worldwide 105 citations · 33 works
  2. 2 Jan Stentoft South Africa · #553,365 worldwide 151 citations · 82 works
  3. 3 Rudyard Kipling South Africa · #622,908 worldwide 7 citations · 138 works
  4. 4 智史 市川 South Africa · #642,252 worldwide 0 citations · 17 works
  5. 5 Teit Lüthje South Africa · #711,859 worldwide 14 citations · 22 works
  6. 6 Ryan Scarrow South Africa · #765,984 worldwide 3 citations · 18 works
  7. 7 Michael Jackson South Africa · #773,184 worldwide 49 citations · 45 works
  8. 8 Hanne Lakkenborg Kristensen South Africa · #963,520 worldwide 90 citations · 82 works
  9. 9 Ib Sillebak Kristensen South Africa · #967,262 worldwide 55 citations · 31 works
  10. 10 Marie Trydeman Knudsen South Africa · #992,919 worldwide 85 citations · 70 works
All ranked researchers at Sustainability Institute

Which keywords describe research at Sustainability Institute?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Sustainability, Environmental Impact, Biodiversity, Invasive Species, Renewable Energy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Conservation.

▲ 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 Change102▲ 5.2×95 topics
  2. Sustainability73▲ 4.1×83 topics
  3. Environmental Impact48▲ 3.8×43 topics
  4. Biodiversity34▲ 6.2×30 topics
  5. Renewable Energy33▲ 3.1×34 topics
  6. Globalization26▲ 1.83×55 topics
  7. Invasive Species23▲ 7.4×21 topics
  8. Conservation22▲ 7.0×21 topics
  9. Sustainable Development22▲ 1.84×43 topics
  10. Greenhouse Gas Emissions21▲ 11×8 topics
  11. Biodiversity Conservation20▲ 7.4×13 topics
  12. Environmental Management19▲ 6.6×11 topics
  13. Remote Sensing19▲ 2.0×27 topics
  14. Ecosystem Services18▲ 6.2×10 topics
  15. Global Warming17▲ 5.5×13 topics
  16. Social Capital16▲ 4.2×13 topics
  17. Circular Economy16▲ 8.1×6 topics
  18. Vulnerability16▲ 9.4×8 topics
  19. Waste Management16▲ 5.2×9 topics
  20. Life Cycle Assessment15▲ 7.4×8 topics
  21. Health Effects15▲ 3.3×16 topics
  22. Population Dynamics15▲ 7.9×12 topics
  23. Resilience15▲ 4.1×8 topics
  24. Sustainability Assessment14▲ 14×6 topics
  25. Habitat Fragmentation13▲ 8.0×5 topics
  26. Climate Change Adaptation12▲ 9.7×3 topics
  27. Recycling12▲ 4.3×6 topics
  28. Environmental Policy12▲ 8.0×8 topics
  29. Global Change11▲ 5.8×7 topics
  30. Land Use Change11▲ 4.9×6 topics
  31. Conservation Biology11▲ 14×4 topics
  32. Social-Ecological Systems10▲ 9.9×2 topics
  33. Energy Transition9▲ 8.7×4 topics
  34. Ecosystem8▲ 10×4 topics
  35. Model Evaluation8▲ 8.6×2 topics
  36. Citizen Science8▲ 11×4 topics
  37. Livestock Production8▲ 11×2 topics
  38. Resource Efficiency8▲ 7.6×2 topics
  39. Co-Creation7▲ 23×2 topics
  40. Green Practices7▲ 12×1 topic

Which research topics does Sustainability Institute publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Sustainable Supply Chain Management, Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact, Disaster Management and Resilience and Species Distribution and Climate Change.

Sustainable Supply Chain…7Sustainable Supply Chain Management: 7 fractional worksAgriculture Sustainabili…7Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact: 7 fractional worksDisaster Management and Resilience: 7 fractional worksSpecies Distribution and…7Species Distribution and Climate Change: 7 fractional worksInnovative Approaches in…6Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social Development: 6 fractional worksEnvironmental Impact and Sustainability: 6 fractional worksEcology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies: 6 fractional worksSustainability and Clima…5Sustainability and Climate Change Governance: 5 fractional worksWildlife Ecology and Conservation: 5 fractional worksRecycling and Waste Management Techniques: 5 fractional works
Strategy and ManagementEcologySociology and Political ScienceEcological Modeling5 others

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

  1. 1 Sustainable Supply Chain Management Strategy and Management 7 works
  2. 2 Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact Ecology 7 works
  3. 3 Disaster Management and Resilience Sociology and Political Science 7 works
  4. 4 Species Distribution and Climate Change Ecological Modeling 7 works
  5. 5 Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social Development Management of Technology and Innovation 6 works
  6. 6 Environmental Impact and Sustainability Environmental Engineering 6 works
  7. 7 Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies Nature and Landscape Conservation 6 works
  8. 8 Sustainability and Climate Change Governance Global and Planetary Change 5 works
  9. 9 Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Ecology 5 works
  10. 10 Recycling and Waste Management Techniques Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering 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 available49.3%not open50.7%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors61.5%domestic only38.5%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Sustainability Institute's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 1% 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 Stellenbosch

All research institutions in Stellenbosch

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.