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University · Santa Cruz · United States

University of California, Santa Cruz

In research, University of California, Santa Cruz stands highest in Physical Sciences (#561 of 12,888 worldwide), Astronomy and Astrophysics (#23 of 443 worldwide) and Social Sciences (#593 of 10,521 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Instrumentation, Astronomy and Astrophysics and Oceanography — Instrumentation is 14.9× its share of world research.

ucsc.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#555
of 28,054 · #243 all time
Rank in United States
#115
of 4,192
Research works
32k
▲ 4% vs 2013–17
Citations
1.5M
47.9 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
23.9%
record average 16.5%
Open access
39%
world 28%

What is University of California, Santa Cruz 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
Physical SciencesDomain #561 of 12,888 22.0%1,962 #226
Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield #23 of 443 35.4%201 #14
Social SciencesDomain #593 of 10,521 26.3%1,042 #161
Life SciencesDomain #508 of 7,800 26.4%555 #332
Social SciencesField #484 of 6,365 28.1%567 #172
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #280 of 3,579 25.7%296 #219
Computer ScienceField #570 of 4,667 17.8%471 #111
Environmental ScienceField #499 of 3,551 25.9%322 #162
Physics and AstronomyField #244 of 1,646 31.1%386 #148
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #480 of 2,578 28.0%211 #175

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where University of California, Santa Cruz 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. Physical Sciences#226 #561
  2. Astronomy and Astrophysics#14 #23
  3. Social Sciences#161 #593
  4. Life Sciences#332 #508
  5. Social Sciences#172 #484
  6. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#219 #280
  7. Computer Science#111 #570
  8. Environmental Science#162 #499
  9. Physics and Astronomy#148 #244
  10. Sociology and Political Science#175 #480
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 California, Santa Cruz specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Instrumentation takes 14.9× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. InstrumentationSubfield · 28.1 works15×
  2. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 200.8 works10×
  3. OceanographySubfield · 67.2 works6.3×
  4. Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsSubfield · 65.0 works5.5×
← 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: 0.74× its world share, 133 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.47× its world share, 296 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.60× its world share, 23 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.63× its world share, 100 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.25× its world share, 3 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.55× its world share, 7 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.63× its world share, 38 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.60× its world share, 471 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 3.22× its world share, 190 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.81× its world share, 28 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.65× its world share, 366 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.72× its world share, 322 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.56× its world share, 74 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.80× its world share, 80 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 4.60× its world share, 386 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.04× its world share, 1 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.35× its world share, 35 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.24× its world share, 172 worksMedicineNursing: 0.32× its world share, 6 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.50× its world share, 3 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.54× its world share, 168 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.27× its world share, 32 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.95× its world share, 35 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.08× its world share, 87 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.33× its world share, 153 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.19× its world share, 566 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 4.6×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at University of California, Santa Cruz?

Ranked on the composite score, David Haussler, Martı́n Abadi and A. M. Litke lead among researchers whose main affiliation is University of California, Santa Cruz.

  1. 1 David Haussler United States · #915 worldwide 3.4k citations · 97 works
  2. 2 Martı́n Abadi United States · #1,899 worldwide 3.2k citations · 78 works
  3. 3 A. M. Litke United States · #1,926 worldwide 7.4k citations · 336 works
  4. 4 S. E. Woosley United States · #2,741 worldwide 2.7k citations · 166 works
  5. 5 Howard E. Haber United States · #3,654 worldwide 3.1k citations · 67 works
  6. 6 H. F-W. Sadrozinski United States · #3,717 worldwide 9.1k citations · 500 works
  7. 7 D. C. Williams United States · #3,922 worldwide 3k citations · 155 works
  8. 8 E. Charles United States · #4,802 worldwide 3.1k citations · 166 works
  9. 9 Stefano Profumo United States · #5,590 worldwide 2.1k citations · 83 works
  10. 10 A. P. Young United States · #5,820 worldwide 3.2k citations · 57 works
All ranked researchers at University of California, Santa Cruz

Which keywords describe research at University of California, Santa Cruz?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Population Dynamics, Conservation, Dark Matter, Globalization, Deep Learning, Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics.

▲ 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 Change274▲ 2.7×84 topics
  2. Deep Learning130◆ 1.01×75 topics
  3. Machine Learning124◆ 1.00×72 topics
  4. Globalization106▲ 1.43×75 topics
  5. Neural Networks85▲ 1.46×35 topics
  6. Conservation72▲ 4.4×22 topics
  7. Population Dynamics66▲ 6.9×11 topics
  8. Biodiversity58▲ 2.1×29 topics
  9. Colonialism52▲ 2.9×30 topics
  10. Global Warming51▲ 3.3×13 topics
  11. Identity51▲ 1.84×39 topics
  12. Dark Matter50▲ 12×4 topics
  13. Gender49▲ 2.4×38 topics
  14. Invasive Species47▲ 2.9×18 topics
  15. Social Interaction42▲ 2.8×11 topics
  16. Neoliberalism42▲ 3.1×20 topics
  17. Ecosystem Services41▲ 2.8×11 topics
  18. Exoplanets41▲ 27×1 topic
  19. Stellar Astrophysics41▲ 27×1 topic
  20. Star Formation40▲ 20×2 topics
  21. Acoustic Communication38▲ 20×2 topics
  22. Habitat Fragmentation35▲ 4.2×5 topics
  23. Predator-Prey Interactions35▲ 12×3 topics
  24. Black Holes35▲ 9.7×3 topics
  25. Feminism34▲ 3.2×19 topics
  26. Cosmology32▲ 13×4 topics
  27. Anthropogenic Noise32▲ 29×1 topic
  28. Marine Mammals32▲ 29×1 topic
  29. Magnetic Fields30▲ 12×3 topics
  30. Particle Physics30▲ 11×2 topics
  31. Accretion Disks30▲ 17×2 topics
  32. Ocean Acidification29▲ 11×3 topics
  33. Fisheries Sustainability29▲ 8.7×2 topics
  34. Ocean Circulation28▲ 5.8×3 topics
  35. Solar System Abundances28▲ 16×1 topic
  36. Terrestrial Planets28▲ 16×1 topic
  37. Trophic Cascades28▲ 7.9×2 topics
  38. Supernovae28▲ 8.9×2 topics
  39. Astronomical Instrumentation27▲ 28×1 topic
  40. Spectrograph27▲ 28×1 topic

Which research topics does University of California, Santa Cruz publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies, Marine animal studies overview, Astro and Planetary Science and Astronomy and Astrophysical Research.

Stellar, planetary, and …41Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies: 41 fractional worksMarine animal studies ov…32Marine animal studies overview: 32 fractional worksAstro and Planetary Scie…28Astro and Planetary Science: 28 fractional worksAstronomy and Astrophysi…27Astronomy and Astrophysical Research: 27 fractional worksAstrophysics and Star Formation Studies: 20 fractional worksPsychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction: 20 fractional worksParticle physics theoret…20Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies: 20 fractional worksGalaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena: 20 fractional worksMarine and fisheries research: 19 fractional worksDigital Games and Media18Digital Games and Media: 18 fractional works
Astronomy and AstrophysicsEcologyInstrumentationSocial Psychology3 others

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

  1. 1 Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 41 works
  2. 2 Marine animal studies overview Ecology 32 works
  3. 3 Astro and Planetary Science Astronomy and Astrophysics 28 works
  4. 4 Astronomy and Astrophysical Research Instrumentation 27 works
  5. 5 Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 20 works
  6. 6 Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction Social Psychology 20 works
  7. 7 Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies Nuclear and High Energy Physics 20 works
  8. 8 Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena Astronomy and Astrophysics 20 works
  9. 9 Marine and fisheries research Global and Planetary Change 19 works
  10. 10 Digital Games and Media Sociology and Political Science 18 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 available38.9%not open61.1%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors16.9%domestic only83.1%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has University of California, Santa Cruz's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 4% 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 Santa Cruz

All research institutions in Santa Cruz

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.