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University · Boulder · United States

University of Colorado Boulder

In research, University of Colorado Boulder stands highest in Physical Sciences (#103 of 12,888 worldwide), Earth and Planetary Sciences (#14 of 1,209 worldwide) and Social Sciences (#266 of 10,521 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Atmospheric Science and Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics — Astronomy and Astrophysics is 8.4× its share of world research.

colorado.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#148
of 28,054 · #57 all time
Rank in United States
#44
of 4,192
Research works
69k
▲ 9% vs 2013–17
Citations
3M
42.9 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
23.9%
record average 16.5%
Open access
31%
world 28%

What is University of Colorado Boulder 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 #103 of 12,888 22.0%4,545 #51
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #14 of 1,209 23.5%476 #10
Social SciencesDomain #266 of 10,521 29.2%1,887 #88
Physics and AstronomyField #52 of 1,646 25.1%811 #46
Social SciencesField #217 of 6,365 33.0%956 #63
Atmospheric ScienceSubfield #13 of 301 25.2%272 #8
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsSubfield #28 of 565 25.9%263 #22
Environmental ScienceField #193 of 3,551 25.4%617 #44
Life SciencesDomain #451 of 7,800 23.7%832 #132
EngineeringField #389 of 6,636 18.2%1,441 #106

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where University of Colorado Boulder 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#51 #103
  2. Earth and Planetary Sciences#10 #14
  3. Social Sciences#88 #266
  4. Physics and Astronomy#46 #52
  5. Social Sciences#63 #217
  6. Atmospheric Science#8 #13
  7. Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics#22 #28
  8. Environmental Science#44 #193
  9. Life Sciences#132 #451
  10. Engineering#106 #389
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 Colorado Boulder specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Astronomy and Astrophysics takes 8.4× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 343.4 works8.4×
  2. Atmospheric ScienceSubfield · 272.2 works7.8×
  3. Atomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsSubfield · 263.4 works4.7×
  4. Physics and AstronomyField · 811.0 works4.6×
  5. Condensed Matter PhysicsSubfield · 55.7 works4.4×
  6. Earth and Planetary SciencesField · 475.9 works3.9×
← 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, 135 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.08× its world share, 454 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.41× its world share, 33 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.58× its world share, 202 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.25× its world share, 7 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.01× its world share, 28 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.94× its world share, 117 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.99× its world share, 606 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 3.85× its world share, 476 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.83× its world share, 60 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.22× its world share, 1,441 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.57× its world share, 617 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.96× its world share, 264 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.35× its world share, 126 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 4.62× its world share, 811 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.07× its world share, 3 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.50× its world share, 105 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.33× its world share, 497 worksMedicineNursing: 0.38× its world share, 15 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.32× its world share, 4 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.12× its world share, 256 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.48× its world share, 123 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.41× its world share, 108 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.65× its world share, 110 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.39× its world share, 335 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.96× its world share, 956 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 Colorado Boulder?

Ranked on the composite score, Christopher N. Bowman, William R. Hendee and John Lynch lead among researchers whose main affiliation is University of Colorado Boulder.

  1. 1 Christopher N. Bowman · #2,300 worldwide 1.9k citations · 103 works
  2. 2 William R. Hendee · #2,416 worldwide 1.4k citations · 78 works
  3. 3 John Lynch · #2,651 worldwide 3.2k citations · 69 works
  4. 4 Carl Wieman · #2,877 worldwide 1.6k citations · 143 works
  5. 5 Dragan Maksimović · #3,656 worldwide 1.7k citations · 134 works
  6. 6 Thomas DeGrand · #5,289 worldwide 2k citations · 86 works
  7. 7 James R. Markusen · #5,466 worldwide 1.4k citations · 64 works
  8. 8 Walter Kintsch · #5,514 worldwide 2.6k citations · 58 works
  9. 9 Steven F. Maier · #6,447 worldwide 1.4k citations · 87 works
  10. 10 William W. Adams · #7,432 worldwide 1.3k citations · 64 works
All ranked researchers at University of Colorado Boulder

Which keywords describe research at University of Colorado Boulder?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Solar Wind, Remote Sensing, Ocean Circulation, Air Quality, Global Warming, Satellite Observations and Hydrological Cycle.

▲ 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 Change487▲ 2.3×95 topics
  2. Machine Learning232◆ 0.90×80 topics
  3. Remote Sensing205▲ 2.1×36 topics
  4. Globalization146◆ 0.94×101 topics
  5. Solar Wind129▲ 18×2 topics
  6. Social Media122◆ 1.08×30 topics
  7. Global Warming115▲ 3.6×15 topics
  8. Ocean Circulation91▲ 8.9×3 topics
  9. Air Quality91▲ 6.3×6 topics
  10. Data Assimilation79▲ 6.4×4 topics
  11. Satellite Observations74▲ 9.8×3 topics
  12. Hydrological Cycle73▲ 9.8×2 topics
  13. Sea Level Rise72▲ 7.1×3 topics
  14. Electron Acceleration70▲ 13×2 topics
  15. Solar System Abundances70▲ 18×1 topic
  16. Terrestrial Planets70▲ 18×1 topic
  17. Entanglement70▲ 5.9×4 topics
  18. Ionosphere69▲ 16×1 topic
  19. Magnetosphere69▲ 16×1 topic
  20. Hydrological Modeling67▲ 3.6×5 topics
  21. Greenhouse Gas Emissions64▲ 3.0×9 topics
  22. Hydrology64▲ 6.4×4 topics
  23. Boundary Layer62▲ 6.4×4 topics
  24. Coronal Mass Ejections60▲ 21×1 topic
  25. Solar Dynamics Observatory60▲ 21×1 topic
  26. Nonlinear Optics60▲ 6.8×4 topics
  27. Quantum Information53▲ 5.7×3 topics
  28. Arctic52▲ 5.8×4 topics
  29. Extreme Events52▲ 7.5×2 topics
  30. Ensemble Kalman Filter48▲ 6.1×2 topics
  31. Climate Modeling48▲ 8.6×1 topic
  32. Precipitation Extremes48▲ 8.6×1 topic
  33. Chemical Composition46▲ 6.2×2 topics
  34. Atmospheric Aerosols46▲ 11×1 topic
  35. Black Carbon46▲ 11×1 topic
  36. Convective Parameterization46▲ 11×1 topic
  37. Mesoscale Modeling46▲ 11×1 topic
  38. Microresonators46▲ 7.2×3 topics
  39. Orbit Determination42▲ 12×2 topics
  40. Mars40▲ 16×1 topic

Which research topics does University of Colorado Boulder publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Astro and Planetary Science, Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics, Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics and Climate variability and models.

Astro and Planetary Scie…70Astro and Planetary Science: 70 fractional worksIonosphere and magnetosp…69Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics: 69 fractional worksSolar and Space Plasma D…60Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics: 60 fractional worksClimate variability and …48Climate variability and models: 48 fractional worksAtmospheric chemistry and aerosols: 46 fractional worksMeteorological Phenomena and Simulations: 46 fractional worksPlanetary Science and Ex…40Planetary Science and Exploration: 40 fractional worksAtmospheric Ozone and Climate: 39 fractional worksAdvanced Fiber Laser Technologies: 38 fractional worksAtmospheric and Environm…38Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics: 38 fractional works
Astronomy and AstrophysicsGlobal and Planetary ChangeAtmospheric ScienceAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

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

  1. 1 Astro and Planetary ScienceAstronomy and Astrophysics 70 works
  2. 2 Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamicsAstronomy and Astrophysics 69 works
  3. 3 Solar and Space Plasma DynamicsAstronomy and Astrophysics 60 works
  4. 4 Climate variability and modelsGlobal and Planetary Change 48 works
  5. 5 Atmospheric chemistry and aerosolsAtmospheric Science 46 works
  6. 6 Meteorological Phenomena and SimulationsAtmospheric Science 46 works
  7. 7 Planetary Science and ExplorationAstronomy and Astrophysics 40 works
  8. 8 Atmospheric Ozone and ClimateAtmospheric Science 39 works
  9. 9 Advanced Fiber Laser TechnologiesAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics 38 works
  10. 10 Atmospheric and Environmental Gas DynamicsGlobal and Planetary Change 38 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 available31.4%not open68.6%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors14.3%domestic only85.7%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has University of Colorado Boulder'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 Boulder

All research institutions in Boulder

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.