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University · Bristol · United Kingdom

University of Bristol

In research, University of Bristol stands highest in Social Sciences (#83 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#85 of 6,365 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#196 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Classics, Paleontology and Public Administration — Classics is 5.7× its share of world research.

bristol.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#173
of 28,054 · #86 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#10
of 1,094
Research works
93k
▲ 2% vs 2013–17
Citations
3.2M
34.7 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
23.6%
record average 16.5%
Open access
40%
world 28%

What is University of Bristol 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 #83 of 10,521 24.8%3,771 #85
Social SciencesField #85 of 6,365 27.7%1,824 #61
Physical SciencesDomain #196 of 12,888 21.8%4,059 #84
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #41 of 2,578 28.2%656 #52
Health SciencesDomain #262 of 11,982 22.3%1,931 #104
MedicineField #272 of 10,443 21.9%1,499 #151
Arts and HumanitiesField #55 of 1,998 15.1%676 #60
Life SciencesDomain #289 of 7,800 27.8%1,152 #108
Political Science and International RelationsSubfield #46 of 1,201 28.5%274 #35
Environmental ScienceField #141 of 3,551 28.3%553 #65

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where University of Bristol 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#85 #83
  2. Social Sciences#61 #85
  3. Physical Sciences#84 #196
  4. Sociology and Political Science#52 #41
  5. Health Sciences#104 #262
  6. Medicine#151 #272
  7. Arts and Humanities#60 #55
  8. Life Sciences#108 #289
  9. Political Science and International Relations#35 #46
  10. Environmental Science#65 #141
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 Bristol specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Classics takes 5.7× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. ClassicsSubfield · 37.2 works5.7×
  2. PaleontologySubfield · 69.9 works5.3×
  3. Public AdministrationSubfield · 30.7 works5.2×
  4. History and Philosophy of ScienceSubfield · 80.4 works4.8×
← 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: 0.53× its world share, 277 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.89× its world share, 520 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.67× its world share, 74 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.48× its world share, 263 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.48× its world share, 18 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.45× its world share, 17 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.98× its world share, 167 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.89× its world share, 757 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.88× its world share, 322 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.30× its world share, 30 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.89× its world share, 1,454 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.02× its world share, 553 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.57× its world share, 216 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.55× its world share, 199 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.41× its world share, 343 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.41× its world share, 22 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.15× its world share, 331 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.71× its world share, 1,499 worksMedicineNursing: 0.46× its world share, 25 worksNursingVeterinary: 3.73× its world share, 55 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 2.15× its world share, 676 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.93× its world share, 328 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.36× its world share, 143 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.34× its world share, 313 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.46× its world share, 487 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.32× its world share, 1,824 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Veterinary, 3.7×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at University of Bristol?

Ranked on the composite score, Nigel Thrift, Julian P. T. Higgins and Roger Parsons lead among researchers whose main affiliation is University of Bristol.

  1. 1 Nigel Thrift United Kingdom · #963 worldwide 1.2k citations · 105 works
  2. 2 Julian P. T. Higgins United Kingdom · #1,669 worldwide 2.2k citations · 86 works
  3. 3 Roger Parsons United Kingdom · #2,404 worldwide 1.1k citations · 112 works
  4. 4 Yoav Ben‐Shlomo United Kingdom · #2,671 worldwide 1.3k citations · 136 works
  5. 5 John Ziman United Kingdom · #2,825 worldwide 857 citations · 100 works
  6. 6 Shah Ebrahim United Kingdom · #3,647 worldwide 1k citations · 73 works
  7. 7 Penny Whiting United Kingdom · #4,104 worldwide 13k citations · 60 works
  8. 8 William J. Browne United Kingdom · #4,684 worldwide 1.4k citations · 63 works
  9. 9 David Gunnell United Kingdom · #4,752 worldwide 1.1k citations · 100 works
  10. 10 Nigel P. Smart United Kingdom · #5,109 worldwide 1.2k citations · 98 works
All ranked researchers at University of Bristol

Which keywords describe research at University of Bristol?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Globalization, Climate Change, Public Health, Epidemiology, Gender, Colonialism, Identity and Mental Health.

▲ 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 Change409▲ 1.39×100 topics
  2. Epidemiology408◆ 0.94×133 topics
  3. Globalization399▲ 1.86×122 topics
  4. Deep Learning307▼ 0.82×82 topics
  5. Public Health272▲ 1.72×63 topics
  6. Machine Learning269▼ 0.75×83 topics
  7. Mental Health239▲ 1.49×45 topics
  8. Sustainability202▼ 0.76×90 topics
  9. Human Rights190▲ 1.69×62 topics
  10. Identity189▲ 2.4×66 topics
  11. Gender181▲ 3.1×50 topics
  12. Colonialism171▲ 3.3×45 topics
  13. History168▲ 2.2×45 topics
  14. Literature149▲ 2.5×52 topics
  15. Neural Networks148◆ 0.88×37 topics
  16. Nationalism145▲ 2.9×30 topics
  17. Ethics133▲ 2.5×40 topics
  18. Religion130▲ 2.5×38 topics
  19. Depression128▲ 1.33×24 topics
  20. Culture125▲ 2.2×31 topics
  21. Cardiovascular Disease123◆ 1.01×36 topics
  22. Neoliberalism118▲ 3.0×24 topics
  23. Genetics106▲ 1.39×25 topics
  24. Prevalence106▲ 2.4×15 topics
  25. Health95▲ 2.2×22 topics
  26. Cultural Identity93▲ 1.65×33 topics
  27. Global Warming87▲ 1.96×15 topics
  28. Neuroscience86▲ 2.7×16 topics
  29. Feminism85▲ 2.8×23 topics
  30. International Law84▲ 2.5×22 topics
  31. Society84▲ 4.0×19 topics
  32. Adolescents82▲ 2.0×11 topics
  33. Genetic Variation79▲ 3.4×9 topics
  34. Politics75▲ 2.5×22 topics
  35. Entanglement69▲ 4.3×4 topics
  36. Cosmopolitanism68▲ 5.7×7 topics
  37. Global Governance67▲ 2.7×19 topics
  38. National Identity55▲ 4.4×9 topics
  39. Turbulent Flow54▲ 4.2×4 topics
  40. Medicine48▲ 5.3×9 topics

Which research topics does University of Bristol publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Health, Environment, Cognitive Aging, Genetic Associations and Epidemiology, Quantum Information and Cryptography and Aerodynamics and Acoustics in Jet Flows.

Health, Environment, Cog…30Health, Environment, Cognitive Aging: 30 fractional worksGenetic Associations and…30Genetic Associations and Epidemiology: 30 fractional worksQuantum Information and Cryptography: 30 fractional worksAerodynamics and Acoustics in Jet Flows: 27 fractional worksPlant and animal studies27Plant and animal studies: 27 fractional worksObesity, Physical Activity, Diet: 26 fractional worksGeology and Paleoclimatology Research: 26 fractional worksMechanical Behavior of C…24Mechanical Behavior of Composites: 24 fractional worksMedieval Literature and History: 24 fractional worksQuantum Mechanics and Applications: 23 fractional works
Health, Toxicology and MutagenesisGeneticsArtificial IntelligenceAerospace Engineering6 others

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

  1. 1 Health, Environment, Cognitive Aging Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis 30 works
  2. 2 Genetic Associations and Epidemiology Genetics 30 works
  3. 3 Quantum Information and Cryptography Artificial Intelligence 30 works
  4. 4 Aerodynamics and Acoustics in Jet Flows Aerospace Engineering 27 works
  5. 5 Plant and animal studies Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 27 works
  6. 6 Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health 26 works
  7. 7 Geology and Paleoclimatology Research Atmospheric Science 26 works
  8. 8 Mechanical Behavior of Composites Mechanics of Materials 24 works
  9. 9 Medieval Literature and History Classics 24 works
  10. 10 Quantum Mechanics and Applications Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics 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 available40.1%not open59.9%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors21.2%domestic only78.8%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has University of Bristol'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 Bristol

All research institutions in Bristol

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.