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University · London · United Kingdom

University College London

In research, University College London stands highest in Social Sciences (#2 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#3 of 6,365 worldwide) and Sociology and Political Science (#2 of 2,578 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Space and Planetary Science, Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychiatry and Mental health — Space and Planetary Science is 3.8× its share of world research.

ucl.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#21
of 28,054 · #23 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#2
of 1,094
Research works
188k
▲ 15% vs 2013–17
Citations
7.1M
37.8 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
26.3%
record average 16.5%
Open access
46%
world 28%

What is University College London 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 #2 of 10,521 30.4%8,367 #7
Social SciencesField #3 of 6,365 33.0%3,987 #3
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #2 of 2,578 33.0%1,300 #14
Health SciencesDomain #10 of 11,982 23.1%8,260 #10
MedicineField #9 of 10,443 22.3%7,054 #13
PsychologyField #2 of 2,181 32.0%1,631 #6
Social PsychologySubfield #1 of 664 31.6%372 #5
Cognitive NeuroscienceSubfield #1 of 530 29.7%633 #2
General Health ProfessionsSubfield #2 of 916 29.7%641 #4
Life SciencesDomain #18 of 7,800 25.6%3,389 #18

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where University College London 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#7 #2
  2. Social Sciences#3 #3
  3. Sociology and Political Science#14 #2
  4. Health Sciences#10 #10
  5. Medicine#13 #9
  6. Psychology#6 #2
  7. Social Psychology#5 #1
  8. Cognitive Neuroscience#2 #1
  9. General Health Professions#4 #2
  10. Life Sciences#18 #18
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 University College London specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Space and Planetary Science takes 3.8× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Space and Planetary ScienceSubfield · 21.1 works3.8×
  2. Cognitive NeuroscienceSubfield · 633.0 works3.1×
  3. Psychiatry and Mental healthSubfield · 408.0 works3.0×
  4. ArchitectureSubfield · 31.1 works2.9×
  5. Cellular and Molecular NeuroscienceSubfield · 235.8 works2.7×
  6. OphthalmologySubfield · 201.9 works2.7×
← 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: 0.18× its world share, 243 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.11× its world share, 1,643 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 1.04× its world share, 290 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 2.57× its world share, 1,158 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.56× its world share, 55 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.71× its world share, 69 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.51× its world share, 223 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.74× its world share, 1,599 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.95× its world share, 413 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.61× its world share, 156 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.67× its world share, 2,793 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.66× its world share, 908 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.51× its world share, 490 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.03× its world share, 335 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.22× its world share, 756 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.69× its world share, 93 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.39× its world share, 1,016 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 1.32× its world share, 7,054 worksMedicineNursing: 0.63× its world share, 86 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.30× its world share, 11 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.48× its world share, 1,186 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.56× its world share, 500 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.23× its world share, 329 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.24× its world share, 734 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.93× its world share, 1,631 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.14× its world share, 3,987 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Neuroscience, 2.6×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at University College London?

Ranked on the composite score, James Thomas, Mika Kivimäki and Richard Blundell lead among researchers whose main affiliation is University College London.

  1. 1 James Thomas United Kingdom · #27 worldwide 13k citations · 154 works
  2. 2 Mika Kivimäki United Kingdom · #69 worldwide 6.7k citations · 266 works
  3. 3 Richard Blundell United Kingdom · #129 worldwide 5.2k citations · 140 works
  4. 4 Michael Marmot United Kingdom · #451 worldwide 2.5k citations · 226 works
  5. 5 John Hardy United Kingdom · #734 worldwide 4k citations · 235 works
  6. 6 William Rosenberg United Kingdom · #836 worldwide 2.5k citations · 97 works
  7. 7 Andrew J. Lees United Kingdom · #1,099 worldwide 2k citations · 170 works
  8. 8 Mel Slater United Kingdom · #1,307 worldwide 2.4k citations · 100 works
  9. 9 Steve Iliffe United Kingdom · #1,469 worldwide 1.6k citations · 156 works
  10. 10 David William Foster United Kingdom · #1,486 worldwide 474 citations · 132 works
All ranked researchers at University College London

Which keywords describe research at University College London?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Epidemiology, Public Health, Globalization, Mental Health, Quality of Life, Inflammation, Depression and Neoliberalism.

▲ 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. Epidemiology1,317▲ 1.20×135 topics
  2. Globalization793▲ 1.46×143 topics
  3. Public Health729▲ 1.81×71 topics
  4. Deep Learning714▼ 0.75×83 topics
  5. Machine Learning707▼ 0.78×92 topics
  6. Mental Health661▲ 1.62×47 topics
  7. Inflammation638◆ 1.10×82 topics
  8. Quality of Life573▲ 1.43×58 topics
  9. Climate Change553▼ 0.74×118 topics
  10. Oxidative Stress500◆ 1.10×60 topics
  11. Sustainability489▼ 0.72×109 topics
  12. Treatment474▲ 1.41×52 topics
  13. Depression451▲ 1.85×25 topics
  14. Risk Factors404▲ 1.33×37 topics
  15. Neurological Disorders376▲ 2.4×20 topics
  16. Genetics372▲ 1.92×27 topics
  17. COVID-19367◆ 0.97×33 topics
  18. Cardiovascular Disease346◆ 1.12×39 topics
  19. Neoliberalism325▲ 3.3×27 topics
  20. Biomarkers306▲ 1.61×18 topics
  21. Aging301▲ 2.0×18 topics
  22. Social Support298▲ 1.93×19 topics
  23. Identity282▲ 1.40×71 topics
  24. Neuroimaging279▲ 3.7×11 topics
  25. Anxiety263▲ 2.0×12 topics
  26. Neurodegeneration261▲ 3.1×10 topics
  27. Mortality256▲ 1.60×13 topics
  28. Adolescents254▲ 2.5×10 topics
  29. Genetic Mutations254▲ 2.1×23 topics
  30. Gender247▲ 1.65×54 topics
  31. Health Disparities246▲ 3.4×9 topics
  32. Prevalence243▲ 2.1×15 topics
  33. Health Equity236▲ 3.1×6 topics
  34. Colonialism234▲ 1.78×45 topics
  35. Nationalism229▲ 1.79×32 topics
  36. Emotion Regulation224▲ 2.6×9 topics
  37. Neurobiology193▲ 2.7×10 topics
  38. Mortality Risk183▲ 2.8×6 topics
  39. Cognitive Decline165▲ 4.9×2 topics
  40. Neighborhood Effects149▲ 4.9×3 topics

Which research topics does University College London publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research, Health disparities and outcomes, COVID-19 and Mental Health and Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development.

Dementia and Cognitive I…120Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research: 120 fractional worksHealth disparities and o…106Health disparities and outcomes: 106 fractional worksCOVID-19 and Mental Health: 80 fractional worksChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development: 79 fractional worksAlzheimer's disease research and treatments: 72 fractional worksFunctional Brain Connectivity Studies: 69 fractional worksNeural dynamics and brain function: 68 fractional worksNoise Effects and Manage…67Noise Effects and Management: 67 fractional worksHealth Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life: 66 fractional worksUrban Transport and Accessibility: 65 fractional works
Psychiatry and Mental healthHealthClinical PsychologyPhysiology4 others

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

  1. 1 Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research Psychiatry and Mental health 120 works
  2. 2 Health disparities and outcomes Health 106 works
  3. 3 COVID-19 and Mental Health Clinical Psychology 80 works
  4. 4 Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development Clinical Psychology 79 works
  5. 5 Alzheimer's disease research and treatments Physiology 72 works
  6. 6 Functional Brain Connectivity Studies Cognitive Neuroscience 69 works
  7. 7 Neural dynamics and brain function Cognitive Neuroscience 68 works
  8. 8 Noise Effects and Management Speech and Hearing 67 works
  9. 9 Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life Economics and Econometrics 66 works
  10. 10 Urban Transport and Accessibility Transportation 65 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 available45.5%not open54.5%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors30.3%domestic only69.7%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has University College London's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 15% 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 London

All research institutions in London

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.