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University · Brussels · Belgium

Université Libre de Bruxelles

In research, Université Libre de Bruxelles stands highest in Political Science and International Relations (#49 of 1,201 worldwide), Social Sciences (#519 of 10,521 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#683 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Nuclear and High Energy Physics, History and Philosophy of Science and Anthropology — Nuclear and High Energy Physics is 5.2× its share of world research.

ulb.beROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#666
of 28,054 · #324 all time
Rank in Belgium
#5
of 138
Research works
42k
◆ 2% vs 2013–17
Citations
1.1M
27.3 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
20.4%
record average 16.5%
Open access
44%
world 28%

What is Université Libre de Bruxelles 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
Political Science and International RelationsSubfield #49 of 1,201 33.6%257 #130
Social SciencesDomain #519 of 10,521 22.4%1,590 #381
Physical SciencesDomain #683 of 12,888 20.1%1,705 #358
Social SciencesField #410 of 6,365 23.8%937 #408
MedicineField #869 of 10,443 18.0%1,080 #502
Health SciencesDomain #1,033 of 11,982 17.5%1,226 #590
Life SciencesDomain #826 of 7,800 21.5%644 #276
Physics and AstronomyField #267 of 1,646 28.8%346 #216
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #429 of 2,578 19.1%360 #415
EngineeringField #1,565 of 6,636 15.9%488 #689

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Université Libre de Bruxelles 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. Political Science and International Relations#130 #49
  2. Social Sciences#381 #519
  3. Physical Sciences#358 #683
  4. Social Sciences#408 #410
  5. Medicine#502 #869
  6. Health Sciences#590 #1,033
  7. Life Sciences#276 #826
  8. Physics and Astronomy#216 #267
  9. Sociology and Political Science#415 #429
  10. Engineering#689 #1,565
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 Université Libre de Bruxelles specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Nuclear and High Energy Physics takes 5.2× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsSubfield · 84.2 works5.2×
  2. History and Philosophy of ScienceSubfield · 34.5 works4.3×
  3. AnthropologySubfield · 60.4 works4.2×
  4. Statistical and Nonlinear PhysicsSubfield · 56.5 works3.5×
  5. Political Science and International RelationsSubfield · 256.8 works3.4×
  6. Physics and AstronomyField · 345.9 works3.0×
← 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: 0.63× its world share, 156 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.06× its world share, 292 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 1.08× its world share, 56 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.55× its world share, 130 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.58× its world share, 11 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.23× its world share, 22 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.89× its world share, 72 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.72× its world share, 289 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.33× its world share, 107 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.40× its world share, 19 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.63× its world share, 488 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.67× its world share, 172 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.47× its world share, 85 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.71× its world share, 104 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 3.01× its world share, 346 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.41× its world share, 10 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.88× its world share, 120 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 1.09× its world share, 1,080 worksMedicineNursing: 0.53× its world share, 14 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.36× its world share, 2 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.80× its world share, 268 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.44× its world share, 74 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.82× its world share, 41 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.01× its world share, 112 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.01× its world share, 158 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.43× its world share, 937 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 3.0×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Université Libre de Bruxelles?

Ranked on the composite score, Marco Dorigo, G. Nìcolis and Mathias Dewatripont lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Université Libre de Bruxelles.

  1. 1 Marco Dorigo Belgium · #246 worldwide 4.5k citations · 145 works
  2. 2 G. Nìcolis Belgium · #4,792 worldwide 1.5k citations · 78 works
  3. 3 Mathias Dewatripont Belgium · #5,838 worldwide 774 citations · 70 works
  4. 4 Isabelle Stengers Belgium · #9,985 worldwide 267 citations · 115 works
  5. 5 Gianluca Bontempi Belgium · #12,325 worldwide 1.4k citations · 114 works
  6. 6 Marius Gilbert Belgium · #18,725 worldwide 893 citations · 42 works
  7. 7 Bertrand Mareschal Belgium · #19,843 worldwide 621 citations · 62 works
  8. 8 Marc Parmentier Belgium · #35,533 worldwide 478 citations · 90 works
  9. 9 C. J. Joachain Belgium · #38,217 worldwide 425 citations · 41 works
  10. 10 Miroslav Radman Belgium · #40,617 worldwide 417 citations · 47 works
All ranked researchers at Université Libre de Bruxelles

Which keywords describe research at Université Libre de Bruxelles?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Globalization, Epidemiology, Democracy, Migration, Territorial Governance, Gender, Local Development and Nationalism.

▲ 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. Epidemiology239▲ 1.17×128 topics
  2. Globalization192▲ 1.89×105 topics
  3. Climate Change139◆ 1.00×89 topics
  4. Democracy92▲ 5.0×20 topics
  5. Public Health91▲ 1.21×51 topics
  6. Gender90▲ 3.2×43 topics
  7. Human Rights83▲ 1.56×53 topics
  8. Nationalism81▲ 3.4×26 topics
  9. Migration81▲ 4.7×23 topics
  10. Identity74▲ 1.97×55 topics
  11. Religion72▲ 3.0×34 topics
  12. Colonialism69▲ 2.8×37 topics
  13. Social Justice68▲ 2.2×31 topics
  14. Community Engagement66▲ 3.9×13 topics
  15. Territorial Governance61▲ 9.3×3 topics
  16. Local Development59▲ 9.9×2 topics
  17. Governance58▲ 3.4×16 topics
  18. European Union56▲ 4.8×21 topics
  19. Invasive Species56▲ 2.6×19 topics
  20. Politics53▲ 3.8×20 topics
  21. Institutionalization47▲ 9.8×3 topics
  22. Citizenship44▲ 7.1×9 topics
  23. Gender Studies44▲ 5.5×9 topics
  24. Citizen Participation42▲ 6.6×2 topics
  25. Immigration42▲ 7.2×7 topics
  26. Public Opinion42▲ 6.5×7 topics
  27. Environmental Participation42▲ 10×1 topic
  28. Proximity and Innovation42▲ 10×1 topic
  29. Social Change39▲ 6.0×12 topics
  30. Refugees38▲ 5.7×8 topics
  31. North Africa37▲ 18×2 topics
  32. Political Islam36▲ 11×2 topics
  33. Political Dynamics35▲ 25×2 topics
  34. European Integration35▲ 12×6 topics
  35. Reform33▲ 9.9×2 topics
  36. Family Law33▲ 14×2 topics
  37. Nucleosynthesis33▲ 13×3 topics
  38. Sociological Analysis33▲ 11×2 topics
  39. Ethnographic Research32▲ 12×2 topics
  40. Professional Practices32▲ 16×1 topic

Which research topics does Université Libre de Bruxelles publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: French Urban and Social Studies, Education, sociology, and vocational training, Multiculturalism, Politics, Migration, Gender and European Union Policy and Governance.

French Urban and Social …42French Urban and Social Studies: 42 fractional worksEducation, sociology, an…32Education, sociology, and vocational training: 32 fractional worksMulticulturalism, Politi…32Multiculturalism, Politics, Migration, Gender: 32 fractional worksEuropean Union Policy an…29European Union Policy and Governance: 29 fractional worksHealthcare Systems and Practices: 23 fractional worksPlant and animal studies: 22 fractional worksLinguistics and Discours…21Linguistics and Discourse Analysis: 21 fractional worksPopulism, Right-Wing Movements: 21 fractional worksSocial Policy and Reform Studies: 20 fractional worksNuclear physics research…19Nuclear physics research studies: 19 fractional works
Sociology and Political SciencePolitical Science and International RelationsGeneral Health ProfessionsEcology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics2 others

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

  1. 1 French Urban and Social Studies Sociology and Political Science 42 works
  2. 2 Education, sociology, and vocational training Sociology and Political Science 32 works
  3. 3 Multiculturalism, Politics, Migration, Gender Political Science and International Relations 32 works
  4. 4 European Union Policy and Governance Political Science and International Relations 29 works
  5. 5 Healthcare Systems and Practices General Health Professions 23 works
  6. 6 Plant and animal studies Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 22 works
  7. 7 Linguistics and Discourse Analysis Philosophy 21 works
  8. 8 Populism, Right-Wing Movements Political Science and International Relations 21 works
  9. 9 Social Policy and Reform Studies Political Science and International Relations 20 works
  10. 10 Nuclear physics research studies Nuclear and High Energy Physics 19 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 available44.2%not open55.8%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors30.4%domestic only69.6%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Université Libre de Bruxelles's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 2% 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 Brussels

All research institutions in Brussels

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.