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University · Birmingham · United Kingdom

University of Birmingham

In research, University of Birmingham stands highest in Social Sciences (#81 of 10,521 worldwide), Health Sciences (#98 of 11,982 worldwide) and Medicine (#106 of 10,443 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Pharmacy, Discrete Mathematics and Combinatorics and Classics — Pharmacy is 6.4× its share of world research.

birmingham.ac.uk/index.aspxROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#150
of 28,054 · #110 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#8
of 1,094
Research works
99k
▲ 9% vs 2013–17
Citations
2.8M
28.9 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
25.5%
record average 16.5%
Open access
35%
world 28%

What is University of Birmingham 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 #81 of 10,521 27.5%3,908 #75
Health SciencesDomain #98 of 11,982 23.6%2,540 #71
MedicineField #106 of 10,443 23.3%1,985 #79
Social SciencesField #84 of 6,365 27.6%1,894 #67
Arts and HumanitiesField #33 of 1,998 19.1%671 #14
Physical SciencesDomain #213 of 12,888 24.4%3,969 #132
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #56 of 2,578 27.7%677 #60
Life SciencesDomain #193 of 7,800 26.9%1,162 #142
Political Science and International RelationsSubfield #40 of 1,201 22.5%405 #21
Environmental ScienceField #130 of 3,551 30.1%505 #99

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where University of Birmingham 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#75 #81
  2. Health Sciences#71 #98
  3. Medicine#79 #106
  4. Social Sciences#67 #84
  5. Arts and Humanities#14 #33
  6. Physical Sciences#132 #213
  7. Sociology and Political Science#60 #56
  8. Life Sciences#142 #193
  9. Political Science and International Relations#21 #40
  10. Environmental Science#99 #130
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 of Birmingham specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Pharmacy takes 6.4× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. PharmacySubfield · 66.0 works6.4×
  2. Discrete Mathematics and CombinatoricsSubfield · 23.5 works5.1×
  3. ClassicsSubfield · 30.6 works4.4×
  4. History and Philosophy of ScienceSubfield · 60.7 works3.4×
  5. HistorySubfield · 120.5 works3.2×
← 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: 0.40× its world share, 219 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.88× its world share, 541 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.91× its world share, 106 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.42× its world share, 267 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.71× its world share, 29 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.03× its world share, 42 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.71× its world share, 130 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.70× its world share, 627 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.97× its world share, 175 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.91× its world share, 97 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.93× its world share, 1,618 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.88× its world share, 505 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.77× its world share, 312 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.08× its world share, 148 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.23× its world share, 316 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 1.13× its world share, 63 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.45× its world share, 443 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.89× its world share, 1,985 worksMedicineNursing: 0.69× its world share, 39 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.57× its world share, 9 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 2.01× its world share, 671 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.93× its world share, 345 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.10× its world share, 123 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.34× its world share, 333 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.53× its world share, 542 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.29× its world share, 1,894 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Arts and Humanities, 2.0×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at University of Birmingham?

Ranked on the composite score, Max Weber, Paulus Kirchhof and Harry Smith lead among researchers whose main affiliation is University of Birmingham.

  1. 1 Max Weber · #687 worldwide 960 citations · 119 works
  2. 2 Paulus Kirchhof · #2,258 worldwide 2k citations · 145 works
  3. 3 Harry Smith · #3,169 worldwide 1.4k citations · 124 works
  4. 4 Paramjit Gill · #4,513 worldwide 4.2k citations · 59 works
  5. 5 Nick Freemantle · #5,812 worldwide 1.1k citations · 102 works
  6. 6 Martin L. Parry · #7,250 worldwide 928 citations · 64 works
  7. 7 Jonathan J Deeks · #7,402 worldwide 1.2k citations · 106 works
  8. 8 R. N. Swanson · #8,054 worldwide 314 citations · 73 works
  9. 9 Keith Wheatley · #9,081 worldwide 1k citations · 52 works
  10. 10 R. W. Davies · #10,631 worldwide 364 citations · 66 works
All ranked researchers at University of Birmingham

Which keywords describe research at University of Birmingham?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Globalization, Epidemiology, Gender, Mental Health, Identity, Neoliberalism, Religion and History.

▲ 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. Epidemiology452◆ 0.99×133 topics
  2. Globalization386▲ 1.70×122 topics
  3. Deep Learning274▼ 0.69×81 topics
  4. Machine Learning271▼ 0.72×90 topics
  5. Mental Health254▲ 1.49×40 topics
  6. Sustainability251◆ 0.89×92 topics
  7. Climate Change250▼ 0.80×99 topics
  8. Inflammation215◆ 0.89×82 topics
  9. Public Health208▲ 1.24×63 topics
  10. Environmental Impact189◆ 0.96×59 topics
  11. Human Rights183▲ 1.54×63 topics
  12. Gender180▲ 2.9×49 topics
  13. Identity176▲ 2.1×63 topics
  14. Quality of Life165◆ 0.99×57 topics
  15. History160▲ 1.98×50 topics
  16. Renewable Energy159◆ 0.95×46 topics
  17. Cardiovascular Disease147◆ 1.14×39 topics
  18. Religion141▲ 2.6×35 topics
  19. Colonialism135▲ 2.5×46 topics
  20. Neoliberalism132▲ 3.2×23 topics
  21. Economic Growth132▲ 1.34×30 topics
  22. Literature129▲ 2.0×51 topics
  23. Nationalism128▲ 2.4×31 topics
  24. Ethics112▲ 2.0×41 topics
  25. Culture112▲ 1.83×33 topics
  26. Mortality111▲ 1.66×13 topics
  27. Primary Care109▲ 2.5×15 topics
  28. Feminism93▲ 2.9×23 topics
  29. Politics85▲ 2.7×19 topics
  30. Clinical Guidelines84▲ 2.5×9 topics
  31. International Relations81▲ 2.9×22 topics
  32. Global Governance78▲ 3.0×18 topics
  33. Society72▲ 3.2×22 topics
  34. Healthcare Quality71▲ 6.0×5 topics
  35. Conflict67▲ 3.6×11 topics
  36. NGOs62▲ 5.4×5 topics
  37. Secularism60▲ 5.0×5 topics
  38. Physician Liability60▲ 13×2 topics
  39. Defensive Medicine58▲ 19×1 topic
  40. Malpractice Risk58▲ 19×1 topic

Which research topics does University of Birmingham publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Medical Malpractice and Liability Issues, Air Quality and Health Impacts, Advanced Battery Technologies Research and Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation.

Medical Malpractice and Liability Issues: 58 fractional worksAir Quality and Health Impacts: 35 fractional worksAdvanced Battery Technologies Research: 28 fractional worksMusculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation: 27 fractional worksAdditive Manufacturing a…26Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing Technologies: 26 fractional worksRecycling and Waste Management Techniques: 26 fractional worksReligion, Society, and Development: 25 fractional worksAdsorption and Cooling S…25Adsorption and Cooling Systems: 25 fractional worksPost-Soviet Geopolitical Dynamics: 25 fractional worksMigration, Refugees, and Integration: 23 fractional works
PharmacyHealth, Toxicology and MutagenesisAutomotive EngineeringPharmacology4 others

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

  1. 1 Medical Malpractice and Liability IssuesPharmacy 58 works
  2. 2 Air Quality and Health ImpactsHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis 35 works
  3. 3 Advanced Battery Technologies ResearchAutomotive Engineering 28 works
  4. 4 Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitationPharmacology 27 works
  5. 5 Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing TechnologiesAutomotive Engineering 26 works
  6. 6 Recycling and Waste Management TechniquesIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering 26 works
  7. 7 Religion, Society, and DevelopmentSociology and Political Science 25 works
  8. 8 Adsorption and Cooling SystemsMechanical Engineering 25 works
  9. 9 Post-Soviet Geopolitical DynamicsPolitical Science and International Relations 25 works
  10. 10 Migration, Refugees, and IntegrationSociology and Political Science 23 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 available35.1%not open64.9%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors20.2%domestic only79.8%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has University of Birmingham's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 9% 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 Birmingham

All research institutions in Birmingham

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.