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University · Cambridge · United Kingdom

University of Cambridge

In research, University of Cambridge stands highest in Social Sciences (#3 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#4 of 6,365 worldwide) and Sociology and Political Science (#7 of 2,578 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Theoretical Computer Science, Classics and History and Philosophy of Science — Theoretical Computer Science is 9.4× its share of world research.

cam.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#22
of 28,054 · #8 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#3
of 1,094
Research works
186k
▲ 7% vs 2013–17
Citations
7.8M
42.0 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
25.0%
record average 16.5%
Open access
38%
world 28%

What is University of Cambridge 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 #3 of 10,521 23.0%8,264 #10
Social SciencesField #4 of 6,365 25.1%3,814 #6
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #7 of 2,578 25.4%1,277 #8
Physical SciencesDomain #43 of 12,888 25.4%8,110 #10
Arts and HumanitiesField #8 of 1,998 16.1%2,217 #2
Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield #2 of 443 35.2%457 —
Life SciencesDomain #37 of 7,800 29.8%2,674 #20
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #25 of 3,579 29.3%1,392 #11
Political Science and International RelationsSubfield #9 of 1,201 20.7%852 #10
Health SciencesDomain #94 of 11,982 25.3%3,031 #54

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where University of Cambridge 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#10 #3
  2. Social Sciences#6 #4
  3. Sociology and Political Science#8 #7
  4. Physical Sciences#10 #43
  5. Arts and Humanities#2 #8
  6. Life Sciences#20 #37
  7. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#11 #25
  8. Political Science and International Relations#10 #9
  9. Health Sciences#54 #94
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 Cambridge specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Theoretical Computer Science takes 9.4× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Theoretical Computer ScienceSubfield · 35.4 works9.4×
  2. ClassicsSubfield · 107.1 works8.2×
  3. History and Philosophy of ScienceSubfield · 234.8 works6.9×
  4. AnthropologySubfield · 363.8 works5.9×
  5. HistorySubfield · 375.5 works5.3×
  6. Space and Planetary ScienceSubfield · 21.0 works4.7×
  7. Religious studiesSubfield · 162.7 works4.4×
  8. ArcheologySubfield · 280.4 works4.2×
← 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, 423 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.18× its world share, 1,392 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.80× its world share, 178 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.84× its world share, 659 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.30× its world share, 23 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.96× its world share, 74 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.85× its world share, 294 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.83× its world share, 1,427 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.38× its world share, 479 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.73× its world share, 149 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.75× its world share, 2,490 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.75× its world share, 821 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.88× its world share, 678 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.75× its world share, 454 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 2.53× its world share, 1,244 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.13× its world share, 14 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.62× its world share, 358 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.61× its world share, 2,571 worksMedicineNursing: 0.36× its world share, 39 worksNursingVeterinary: 1.63× its world share, 49 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 3.48× its world share, 2,217 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.67× its world share, 475 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.95× its world share, 202 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.50× its world share, 709 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.26× its world share, 847 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.37× its world share, 3,814 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Arts and Humanities, 3.5×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at University of Cambridge?

Ranked on the composite score, Carol Brayne, Michael F. Ashby and Nicholas J. Wareham lead among researchers whose main affiliation is University of Cambridge.

  1. 1 Carol Brayne United Kingdom · #131 worldwide 3.9k citations · 167 works
  2. 2 Michael F. Ashby United Kingdom · #174 worldwide 2.6k citations · 152 works
  3. 3 Nicholas J. Wareham United Kingdom · #615 worldwide 4k citations · 216 works
  4. 4 Edward T. Bullmore United Kingdom · #709 worldwide 2.6k citations · 165 works
  5. 5 Simon Baron‐Cohen United Kingdom · #719 worldwide 3.8k citations · 212 works
  6. 6 S. W. Hawking United Kingdom · #774 worldwide 4.5k citations · 101 works
  7. 7 Ronald Aylmer Fisher United Kingdom · #947 worldwide 2k citations · 229 works
  8. 8 Douglas F. Easton United Kingdom · #1,051 worldwide 2.3k citations · 136 works
  9. 9 Robert Luben United Kingdom · #1,318 worldwide 1.6k citations · 109 works
  10. 10 Barry J. Everitt United Kingdom · #1,474 worldwide 2.2k citations · 159 works
All ranked researchers at University of Cambridge

Which keywords describe research at University of Cambridge?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Globalization, Colonialism, History, Gender, Human Rights, Nationalism, Religion and Identity.

▲ 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. Globalization847▲ 1.96×141 topics
  2. Climate Change630◆ 1.06×115 topics
  3. Machine Learning605▼ 0.84×87 topics
  4. Epidemiology582▼ 0.67×134 topics
  5. Deep Learning530▼ 0.70×81 topics
  6. Human Rights474▲ 2.1×73 topics
  7. History471▲ 3.0×58 topics
  8. Colonialism440▲ 4.2×46 topics
  9. Sustainability419▼ 0.78×111 topics
  10. Identity405▲ 2.5×70 topics
  11. Gender393▲ 3.3×51 topics
  12. Literature354▲ 3.0×57 topics
  13. Nationalism352▲ 3.5×33 topics
  14. Religion350▲ 3.3×41 topics
  15. Culture327▲ 2.8×34 topics
  16. Ethics301▲ 2.8×54 topics
  17. Neoliberalism274▲ 3.5×28 topics
  18. Philosophy268▲ 2.8×42 topics
  19. Society245▲ 5.7×23 topics
  20. International Law242▲ 3.6×26 topics
  21. Ethnicity191▲ 2.3×22 topics
  22. Politics188▲ 3.1×22 topics
  23. Monetary Policy187▲ 3.5×11 topics
  24. Feminism186▲ 3.0×24 topics
  25. Theology184▲ 8.7×6 topics
  26. Black Holes146▲ 7.0×3 topics
  27. Late Antiquity145▲ 12×3 topics
  28. Postcolonialism136▲ 5.0×20 topics
  29. Cultural Transmission136▲ 7.7×5 topics
  30. Medicine136▲ 7.4×10 topics
  31. Holocene128▲ 5.0×3 topics
  32. Race127▲ 5.2×17 topics
  33. Demography124▲ 12×3 topics
  34. Cosmopolitanism122▲ 5.1×9 topics
  35. Social History120▲ 6.5×7 topics
  36. Asset Pricing116▲ 6.0×3 topics
  37. Ancient Rome115▲ 16×1 topic
  38. Greek Literature115▲ 16×1 topic
  39. Church History108▲ 11×3 topics
  40. Europe106▲ 8.0×3 topics

Which research topics does University of Cambridge publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Classical Antiquity Studies, Diverse Scientific and Economic Studies, Historical Economic and Social Studies and Biblical Studies and Interpretation.

Classical Antiquity Stud…115Classical Antiquity Studies: 115 fractional worksDiverse Scientific and E…94Diverse Scientific and Economic Studies: 94 fractional worksHistorical Economic and Social Studies: 91 fractional worksBiblical Studies and Int…91Biblical Studies and Interpretation: 91 fractional worksCosmology and Gravitatio…77Cosmology and Gravitation Theories: 77 fractional worksMaritime and Coastal Archaeology: 77 fractional worksReformation and Early Modern Christianity: 71 fractional worksBlack Holes and Theoreti…67Black Holes and Theoretical Physics: 67 fractional worksLegal case studies and regulations: 66 fractional worksLinguistic Variation and Morphology: 60 fractional works
AnthropologyEconomics and EconometricsReligious studiesAstronomy and Astrophysics5 others

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

  1. 1 Classical Antiquity Studies Anthropology 115 works
  2. 2 Diverse Scientific and Economic Studies Economics and Econometrics 94 works
  3. 3 Historical Economic and Social Studies Economics and Econometrics 91 works
  4. 4 Biblical Studies and Interpretation Religious studies 91 works
  5. 5 Cosmology and Gravitation Theories Astronomy and Astrophysics 77 works
  6. 6 Maritime and Coastal Archaeology Archeology 77 works
  7. 7 Reformation and Early Modern Christianity History 71 works
  8. 8 Black Holes and Theoretical Physics Nuclear and High Energy Physics 67 works
  9. 9 Legal case studies and regulations Political Science and International Relations 66 works
  10. 10 Linguistic Variation and Morphology Linguistics and Language 60 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 available38.2%not open61.8%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors28.4%domestic only71.6%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has University of Cambridge's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 7% 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 Cambridge

All research institutions in Cambridge

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.