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University · Cologne · Germany

University of Cologne

In research, University of Cologne stands highest in Social Sciences (#109 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#115 of 6,365 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#488 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Classics, Algebra and Number Theory and Language and Linguistics — Classics is 11.4× its share of world research.

portal.uni-koeln.deROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#331
of 28,054 · #218 all time
Rank in Germany
#16
of 1,178
Research works
57k
▲ 22% vs 2013–17
Citations
1.4M
23.6 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
20.4%
record average 16.5%
Open access
31%
world 28%

What is University of Cologne 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 #109 of 10,521 20.0%2,899 #199
Social SciencesField #115 of 6,365 21.5%1,369 #233
Physical SciencesDomain #488 of 12,888 20.3%1,526 #262
MedicineField #475 of 10,443 19.0%1,162 #241
Decision SciencesField #32 of 703 24.2%67 #87
Health SciencesDomain #580 of 11,982 19.3%1,379 #289
Life SciencesDomain #385 of 7,800 24.0%784 #201
Arts and HumanitiesField #105 of 1,998 14.6%753 #173
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #203 of 2,578 20.6%499 #215
MathematicsField #87 of 1,053 16.0%164 #146

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where University of Cologne 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#199 #109
  2. Social Sciences#233 #115
  3. Physical Sciences#262 #488
  4. Medicine#241 #475
  5. Decision Sciences#87 #32
  6. Health Sciences#289 #580
  7. Life Sciences#201 #385
  8. Arts and Humanities#173 #105
  9. Sociology and Political Science#215 #203
  10. Mathematics#146 #87
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 Cologne specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Classics takes 11.4× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. ClassicsSubfield · 44.8 works11×
  2. Algebra and Number TheorySubfield · 26.4 works6.2×
  3. Language and LinguisticsSubfield · 144.5 works5.0×
  4. MuseologySubfield · 35.8 works4.4×
  5. Literature and Literary TheorySubfield · 153.6 works4.4×
← 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: 0.36× its world share, 113 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.23× its world share, 432 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.89× its world share, 59 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.58× its world share, 169 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.46× its world share, 11 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.36× its world share, 8 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.10× its world share, 113 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.45× its world share, 231 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.71× its world share, 176 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.34× its world share, 20 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.24× its world share, 241 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.60× its world share, 197 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.45× its world share, 104 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 2.11× its world share, 164 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.85× its world share, 271 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.59× its world share, 19 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.06× its world share, 184 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.92× its world share, 1,162 worksMedicineNursing: 0.34× its world share, 11 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.26× its world share, 2 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 3.96× its world share, 753 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.83× its world share, 177 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.05× its world share, 67 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.14× its world share, 160 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.85× its world share, 372 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.64× its world share, 1,369 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Arts and Humanities, 4.0×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at University of Cologne?

Ranked on the composite score, Dietrich Stauffer, Harald Seifert and Werner Reinartz lead among researchers whose main affiliation is University of Cologne.

  1. 1 Dietrich Stauffer Germany · #5,866 worldwide 1.6k citations · 118 works
  2. 2 Harald Seifert Germany · #8,088 worldwide 794 citations · 57 works
  3. 3 Werner Reinartz Germany · #12,709 worldwide 1.2k citations · 49 works
  4. 4 Werner Eck Germany · #16,388 worldwide 153 citations · 105 works
  5. 5 Klaus Rajewsky Germany · #17,190 worldwide 692 citations · 74 works
  6. 6 Peter Nürnberg Germany · #19,815 worldwide 672 citations · 69 works
  7. 7 Gerd Fätkenheuer Germany · #19,817 worldwide 899 citations · 40 works
  8. 8 Friedrich W. Hehl Germany · #20,240 worldwide 933 citations · 75 works
  9. 9 Andreas Beyer Germany · #20,653 worldwide 546 citations · 43 works
  10. 10 Kay Hofmann Germany · #22,481 worldwide 493 citations · 61 works
All ranked researchers at University of Cologne

Which keywords describe research at University of Cologne?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Governance, Identity, Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse, Gender, Bildungsungleichheit, Ethnografisches Schreiben, History and Literature.

▲ 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. Identity200▲ 4.2×55 topics
  2. Epidemiology194▼ 0.74×128 topics
  3. Governance175▲ 8.1×16 topics
  4. Climate Change172◆ 0.97×85 topics
  5. Gender168▲ 4.7×41 topics
  6. Globalization157▲ 1.21×101 topics
  7. History144▲ 3.1×41 topics
  8. Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse142▲ 52×2 topics
  9. Education138▲ 1.22×71 topics
  10. Literature130▲ 3.6×45 topics
  11. Human Rights113▲ 1.66×55 topics
  12. Ethics104▲ 3.3×39 topics
  13. Bildungsungleichheit101▲ 52×1 topic
  14. Ethnografisches Schreiben101▲ 52×1 topic
  15. Philosophy100▲ 3.4×30 topics
  16. Cultural Studies100▲ 4.0×30 topics
  17. Nationalism94▲ 3.1×27 topics
  18. Religion78▲ 2.5×31 topics
  19. Bildung75▲ 35×3 topics
  20. Sociolinguistics62▲ 5.0×8 topics
  21. Autorschaft60▲ 43×1 topic
  22. Literaturkritik60▲ 43×1 topic
  23. Art60▲ 10×9 topics
  24. Narrative60▲ 5.7×13 topics
  25. Teacher Education54▲ 6.5×6 topics
  26. Society53▲ 4.2×17 topics
  27. Language Acquisition52▲ 6.9×4 topics
  28. Social History52▲ 9.5×7 topics
  29. Sociology49▲ 5.5×19 topics
  30. Photography48▲ 18×5 topics
  31. Aesthetics47▲ 9.5×8 topics
  32. Cultural History47▲ 5.8×13 topics
  33. Curriculum47▲ 7.5×6 topics
  34. Teaching47▲ 5.7×5 topics
  35. Cultural Memory46▲ 14×5 topics
  36. Genetic Testing46▲ 6.1×4 topics
  37. Informed Consent44▲ 8.8×3 topics
  38. Competence41▲ 53×1 topic
  39. Materiality40▲ 17×2 topics
  40. Language Variation40▲ 10×3 topics

Which research topics does University of Cologne publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Sociology and Education Studies, German Literature and Culture Studies, Education Methods and Technologies and Medical and Health Sciences Research.

Sociology and Education …101Sociology and Education Studies: 101 fractional worksGerman Literature and Culture Studies: 60 fractional worksEducation Methods and Technologies: 41 fractional worksMedical and Health Sciences Research: 37 fractional worksLinguistic research and analysis: 33 fractional worksHealth and Medical Studies: 32 fractional worksEuropean history and pol…31European history and politics: 31 fractional worksLinguistic Education and Pedagogy: 30 fractional worksLibraries and Information Services: 28 fractional worksGerman legal, social, and political studies: 26 fractional works
Sociology and Political ScienceLiterature and Literary TheoryEducationPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health4 others

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

  1. 1 Sociology and Education Studies Sociology and Political Science 101 works
  2. 2 German Literature and Culture Studies Literature and Literary Theory 60 works
  3. 3 Education Methods and Technologies Education 41 works
  4. 4 Medical and Health Sciences Research Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health 37 works
  5. 5 Linguistic research and analysis Language and Linguistics 33 works
  6. 6 Health and Medical Studies General Health Professions 32 works
  7. 7 European history and politics Political Science and International Relations 31 works
  8. 8 Linguistic Education and Pedagogy Language and Linguistics 30 works
  9. 9 Libraries and Information Services Museology 28 works
  10. 10 German legal, social, and political studies Sociology and Political Science 26 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 available30.7%not open69.3%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors19.2%domestic only80.8%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has University of Cologne's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 22% 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 Cologne

All research institutions in Cologne

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.