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Nonprofit · Columbia · United States

Universities Space Research Association

In research, Universities Space Research Association stands highest in Physical Sciences (#1,432 of 10,670 worldwide), Physics and Astronomy (#567 of 1,417 worldwide) and Astronomy and Astrophysics (#222 of 400 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Physics and Astronomy and Earth and Planetary Sciences (Astronomy and Astrophysics is 56.1× its share of world research).

usra.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#4,346
of 22,385 · #1,526 all time
Rank in United States
#606
of 3,332
Research works
4.8k
▼ 59% vs 2018-21
Citations
139k
29.0 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
14.1%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
1.20×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
41%
world 40%
International
19%
world 18%
Universities Space Research Association

What is Universities Space Research Association 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 #1,432 of 10,670 14.3%244 #880
Physics and AstronomyField #567 of 1,417 14.7%95 #531
Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield #222 of 400 15.0%79 #90

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where Universities Space Research Association 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 of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022-now. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Physical Sciences#880 #1,432
  2. Physics and Astronomy#531 #567
  3. Astronomy and Astrophysics#90 #222
all time2022-now, better2022-now, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

Which fields of science does Universities Space Research Association work in?

In 2022-now, 88% of research at Universities Space Research Association is in Physical Sciences, 5% in Social Sciences. Its largest fields are Physics and Astronomy (35%), Engineering (15%), Earth and Planetary Sciences (11%). It does 2.2× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 268 fractional works · 87.8% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 108 fractional works · 35.2% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 89 fractional works · 29.2% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 7 fractional works · 2.4% of its workInstrumentation: 4 fractional works · 1.2% of its workNuclear and High Energy Physics: 3 fractional works · 1.1% of its workRadiation: 2 fractional works · 0.6% of its workStatistical and Nonlinear Physics: 2 fractional works · 0.6% of its workEngineering: 47 fractional works · 15.5% of its workAerospace Engineering: 19 fractional works · 6.2% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 9 fractional works · 2.9% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 4 fractional works · 1.3% of its workComputational Mechanics: 3 fractional works · 1.0% of its workControl and Systems Engineering: 3 fractional works · 0.8% of its workMechanics of Materials: 2 fractional works · 0.8% of its workMechanical Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.6% of its workAutomotive Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSafety, Risk, Reliability and Quality: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workOcean Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 34 fractional works · 11.3% of its workAtmospheric Science: 19 fractional works · 6.2% of its workGeophysics: 7 fractional works · 2.4% of its workPaleontology: 3 fractional works · 1.0% of its workOceanography: 2 fractional works · 0.7% of its workGeochemistry and Petrology: 2 fractional works · 0.6% of its workEarth-Surface Processes: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workComputer Science: 31 fractional works · 10.0% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 22 fractional works · 7.1% of its workComputational Theory and Mathematics: 3 fractional works · 0.9% of its workComputer Networks and Communications: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workInformation Systems: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workHardware and Architecture: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEnvironmental Science: 28 fractional works · 9.1% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 13 fractional works · 4.2% of its workEcology: 4 fractional works · 1.3% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 4 fractional works · 1.3% of its workHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis: 3 fractional works · 0.8% of its workManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workWater Science and Technology: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEnvironmental Chemistry: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workMaterials Science: 12 fractional works · 3.9% of its workMaterials Chemistry: 6 fractional works · 2.1% of its workPolymers and Plastics: 2 fractional works · 0.7% of its workElectronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBiomaterials: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSurfaces, Coatings and Films: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workChemistry: 5 fractional works · 1.6% of its workSpectroscopy: 4 fractional works · 1.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEnergy: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workMathematics: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workChemical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSocial Sciences: 16 fractional works · 5.2% of its workSocial Sciences: 7 fractional works · 2.3% of its workPolitical Science and International Relations: 2 fractional works · 0.8% of its workEducation: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workTransportation: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSociology and Political Science: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPsychology: 3 fractional works · 0.9% of its workSocial Psychology: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workExperimental and Cognitive Psychology: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 3 fractional works · 0.9% of its workGeneral Economics, Econometrics and Finance: 2 fractional works · 0.6% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workDecision Sciences: 2 fractional works · 0.7% of its workManagement Science and Operations Research: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workStatistics, Probability and Uncertainty: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workArts and Humanities: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workHealth Sciences: 12 fractional works · 3.9% of its workMedicine: 10 fractional works · 3.4% of its workPhysiology: 3 fractional works · 0.9% of its workPulmonary and Respiratory Medicine: 2 fractional works · 0.6% of its workRadiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 4 fractional works · 1.4% of its workHealth Professions: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workNursing: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workLife Sciences: 9 fractional works · 3.1% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 5 fractional works · 1.5% of its workMolecular Biology: 2 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.7% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 3 fractional works · 1.0% of its workPlant Science: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workNeuroscience: 2 fractional works · 0.6% of its workCognitive Neuroscience: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workImmunology and Microbiology: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workALL ITS WORKUniversitiesSpace Research…305fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences3%Physical Sciences88%Health Sciences4%Social Sciences5%

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 23 fields, with their numbers
    1. Physics and Astronomy10835.2%
    2. Engineering4715.5%
    3. Earth and Planetary Sciences3411.3%
    4. Computer Science3110.0%
    5. Environmental Science289.1%
    6. Materials Science123.9%
    7. Chemistry51.6%
    8. Energy20.5%
    9. Mathematics10.4%
    10. Chemical Engineering10.3%
    1. Social Sciences72.3%
    2. Psychology30.9%
    3. Economics, Econometrics and Finance30.9%
    4. Decision Sciences20.7%
    5. Business, Management and Accounting10.3%
    6. Arts and Humanities00.1%
    1. Medicine103.4%
    2. Health Professions10.4%
    3. Nursing00.1%
    1. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology51.5%
    2. Agricultural and Biological Sciences31.0%
    3. Neuroscience20.6%
    4. Immunology and Microbiology00.0%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does Universities Space Research Association specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Astronomy and Astrophysics takes 56.1× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 89.1 works56×
  2. Physics and AstronomyField · 107.5 works16×
  3. Earth and Planetary SciencesField · 34.4 works7.2×
← 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: 0.20× its world share, 3 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.28× its world share, 4 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.38× its world share, 2 worksNeuroscienceChemical Engineering: 0.83× its world share, 1 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.01× its world share, 5 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.29× its world share, 31 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 7.19× its world share, 34 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.57× its world share, 2 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.03× its world share, 47 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.83× its world share, 28 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 1.11× its world share, 12 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.35× its world share, 1 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 15.83× its world share, 108 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.14× its world share, 1 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.18× its world share, 10 worksMedicineNursing: 0.22× its world share, 0 worksNursingArts and Humanities: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.09× its world share, 1 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.75× its world share, 2 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.40× its world share, 3 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.31× its world share, 3 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.18× its world share, 7 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 15.8×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 23 fields, with their numbers
  1. Physics and Astronomy15.83×108 works
  2. Earth and Planetary Sciences7.19×34 works
  3. Environmental Science1.83×28 works
  4. Computer Science1.29×31 works
  5. Materials Science1.11×12 works
  6. Engineering1.03×47 works
  7. Chemistry1.01×5 works
  8. Chemical Engineering0.83×1 works
  9. Decision Sciences0.75×2 works
  10. Energy0.57×2 works
  11. Economics, Econometrics and Finance0.40×3 works
  12. Neuroscience0.38×2 works
  13. Mathematics0.35×1 works
  14. Psychology0.31×3 works
  15. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.28×4 works
  16. Nursing0.22×0 works
  17. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.20×3 works
  18. Medicine0.18×10 works
  19. Social Sciences0.18×7 works
  20. Health Professions0.14×1 works
  21. Business, Management and Accounting0.09×1 works
  22. Arts and Humanities0.05×0 works
  23. Immunology and Microbiology0.02×0 works

Who are the top researchers at Universities Space Research Association?

Ranked on the quality score, Oliver J. Roberts, Tomohiro Oda and Ludovic Brucker lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Universities Space Research Association.

  1. 1 Oliver J. Roberts United States · #140,915 worldwide 12k citations · 411 works
  2. 2 Tomohiro Oda United States · #346,212 worldwide 7.7k citations · 264 works
  3. 3 Ludovic Brucker United States · #427,417 worldwide 4.4k citations · 151 works
  4. 4 Ata Akbari Asanjan United States · #441,072 worldwide 1.6k citations · 53 works
  5. 5 Robert J. Ploutz-Snyder United States · #528,327 worldwide 9.1k citations · 248 works
  6. 6 Allison K. Leidner United States · #622,409 worldwide 1.7k citations · 38 works
  7. 7 Warren David Cummings United States · #751,395 worldwide 1.8k citations · 56 works
  8. 8 Jeffrey W. Ryder United States · #853,464 worldwide 3.8k citations · 85 works
  9. 9 Patrice O. Yarbough United States · #917,474 worldwide 2.9k citations · 59 works
  10. 10 Douglas Michael Mach United States · #1,342,635 worldwide 4.4k citations · 142 works
All ranked researchers at Universities Space Research Association

What are the most cited papers from Universities Space Research Association?

The most cited paper from Universities Space Research Association is "Planck 2015 results" (Peter A. R. Ade et al., 2016), with 10,771 citations. Next come "The Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2)" (9,616) and "Planck 2013 results. XVI. Cosmological parameters" (6,598).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Planck 2015 results Peter A. R. Ade et al. · Astronomy and Astrophysics Open access261 authors 20 Jun 2016 10,771
2 The Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2) Ronald Gelaro et al. · Journal of Climate Open access May 2017 9,616
3 Planck 2013 results. XVI. Cosmological parameters Peter A. R. Ade et al. · Astronomy and Astrophysics Open access264 authors 25 Feb 2014 6,598
4 Planck 2015 results Ade, PAR et al. · ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) Open access261 authors Oct 2016 5,452
5 The Swift Gamma‐Ray Burst Mission Neil A. Gehrels et al. · The Astrophysical Journal Open access 20 Aug 2004 4,258
All 58 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at Universities Space Research Association?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Mars, Martian Surface, Solar System Abundances, Terrestrial Planets, Climate Change, Quantum Information, Entanglement and Quantum Simulation.

▲ 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. Mars27▲ 270×1 topic
  2. Martian Surface27▲ 270×1 topic
  3. Solar System Abundances26▲ 174×1 topic
  4. Terrestrial Planets26▲ 174×1 topic
  5. Climate Change22▲ 2.6×41 topics
  6. Remote Sensing12▲ 3.2×18 topics
  7. Quantum Information10▲ 28×3 topics
  8. Entanglement9▲ 19×3 topics
  9. Risk Assessment9▲ 4.4×5 topics
  10. Quantum Simulation8▲ 34×2 topics
  11. Quantum Algorithms8▲ 50×1 topic
  12. Quantum Computation8▲ 50×1 topic
  13. Magnetic Fields7▲ 36×3 topics
  14. Accretion Disks7▲ 48×2 topics
  15. Astrobiology7▲ 71×2 topics
  16. Computation7▲ 30×2 topics
  17. Security7▲ 3.3×4 topics
  18. Holocene6▲ 19×2 topics
  19. Quantum6▲ 27×2 topics
  20. Sea Level6▲ 23×2 topics
  21. Superconducting Circuits6▲ 31×2 topics
  22. Cryptography6▲ 18×1 topic
  23. Metrology6▲ 35×1 topic
  24. Space Exploration6▲ 48×2 topics
  25. Air Quality6▲ 11×5 topics
  26. Glacial Cycles6▲ 31×1 topic
  27. Paleoclimatology6▲ 24×1 topic
  28. Satellite Observations6▲ 20×3 topics
  29. Star Formation6▲ 35×2 topics
  30. Thermodynamic Modeling6▲ 18×2 topics
  31. Extraterrestrial Life6▲ 88×1 topic
  32. SETI6▲ 88×1 topic
  33. Exoplanets6▲ 46×1 topic
  34. Plate Tectonics6▲ 12×2 topics
  35. Stellar Astrophysics6▲ 46×1 topic
  36. Simulation6▲ 7.0×4 topics
  37. Turbulence5▲ 18×3 topics
  38. Molecular Clouds5▲ 58×1 topic
  39. Protoplanetary Disks5▲ 58×1 topic
  40. Collision Avoidance4▲ 7.9×3 topics

Which research topics does Universities Space Research Association publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Planetary Science and Exploration, Astro and Planetary Science, Quantum Computing Algorithms and Architecture and Quantum Information and Cryptography.

Planetary Science and Ex…27Planetary Science and Exploration: 27 fractional worksAstro and Planetary Scie…26Astro and Planetary Science: 26 fractional worksQuantum Computing Algorithms and Architecture: 8 fractional worksQuantum Information and Cryptography: 6 fractional worksGeology and Paleoclimatology Research: 6 fractional worksSpace Science and Extraterrestrial Life: 6 fractional worksStellar, planetary, and galactic studies: 6 fractional worksAstrophysics and Star Formation Studies: 5 fractional worksSpace Exploration and Technology: 4 fractional worksGeological and Geochemical Analysis: 4 fractional works
Astronomy and AstrophysicsArtificial IntelligenceAtmospheric ScienceAerospace Engineering1 others

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

  1. 1 Planetary Science and Exploration Astronomy and Astrophysics 27 works
  2. 2 Astro and Planetary Science Astronomy and Astrophysics 26 works
  3. 3 Quantum Computing Algorithms and Architecture Artificial Intelligence 8 works
  4. 4 Quantum Information and Cryptography Artificial Intelligence 6 works
  5. 5 Geology and Paleoclimatology Research Atmospheric Science 6 works
  6. 6 Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life Astronomy and Astrophysics 6 works
  7. 7 Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 6 works
  8. 8 Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 5 works
  9. 9 Space Exploration and Technology Aerospace Engineering 4 works
  10. 10 Geological and Geochemical Analysis Geophysics 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 available40.9%not open59.1%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors19.3%domestic only80.7%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has Universities Space Research Association's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 59% 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 Universities Space Research Association as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.00099% in 2024.

still counting0.0050%0.010%0.015%Universities Space Research Association0.0012% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Universities Space Research Association 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.

still counting10%20%Universities Space Research Association13.1% in 2025all institutions10.0% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 17.6% in 1992.

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