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University · Freiburg im Breisgau · Germany

University of Freiburg

In research, University of Freiburg stands highest in Life Sciences (#199 of 7,800 worldwide), Medicine (#334 of 10,443 worldwide) and Health Sciences (#407 of 11,982 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Classics, Museology and Nature and Landscape Conservation — Classics is 6.4× its share of world research.

uni-freiburg.deROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#300
of 28,054 · #135 all time
Rank in Germany
#15
of 1,178
Research works
68k
▲ 9% vs 2013–17
Citations
2M
29.9 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
21.0%
record average 16.5%
Open access
29%
world 28%

What is University of Freiburg 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
Life SciencesDomain #199 of 7,800 26.0%1,226 #115
MedicineField #334 of 10,443 20.0%1,364 #225
Health SciencesDomain #407 of 11,982 20.7%1,567 #232
Social SciencesDomain #382 of 10,521 19.7%1,922 #355
Physical SciencesDomain #477 of 12,888 19.8%2,510 #133
Social SciencesField #367 of 6,365 21.1%823 #470
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #261 of 3,579 22.1%638 #117
Environmental ScienceField #259 of 3,551 30.2%385 #169
Arts and HumanitiesField #170 of 1,998 13.1%552 #183
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #250 of 2,578 18.7%332 #341

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where University of Freiburg 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. Life Sciences#115 #199
  2. Medicine#225 #334
  3. Health Sciences#232 #407
  4. Social Sciences#355 #382
  5. Physical Sciences#133 #477
  6. Social Sciences#470 #367
  7. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#117 #261
  8. Environmental Science#169 #259
  9. Arts and Humanities#183 #170
  10. Sociology and Political Science#341 #250
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 Freiburg specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Classics takes 6.4× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. ClassicsSubfield · 27.5 works6.4×
  2. MuseologySubfield · 31.4 works3.5×
  3. Nature and Landscape ConservationSubfield · 60.9 works3.5×
  4. PhilosophySubfield · 108.4 works3.5×
  5. Literature and Literary TheorySubfield · 126.4 works3.3×
  6. History and Philosophy of ScienceSubfield · 35.1 works3.1×
← 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: 0.60× its world share, 206 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.66× its world share, 638 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 1.69× its world share, 123 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 2.06× its world share, 241 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.70× its world share, 18 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.04× its world share, 26 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.55× its world share, 176 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.61× its world share, 344 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.92× its world share, 104 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.86× its world share, 57 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.79× its world share, 853 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.07× its world share, 386 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.73× its world share, 184 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.81× its world share, 154 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.41× its world share, 227 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 1.52× its world share, 53 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.67× its world share, 127 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.98× its world share, 1,364 worksMedicineNursing: 0.49× its world share, 17 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.54× its world share, 5 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 2.64× its world share, 552 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.52× its world share, 121 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.77× its world share, 54 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.72× its world share, 111 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.19× its world share, 262 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.90× its world share, 822 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Arts and Humanities, 2.6×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at University of Freiburg?

Ranked on the composite score, Wolfram Burgard, Frank Hutter and Thomas Brox lead among researchers whose main affiliation is University of Freiburg.

  1. 1 Wolfram Burgard · #103 worldwide 6.3k citations · 232 works
  2. 2 Frank Hutter · #1,078 worldwide 3.8k citations · 105 works
  3. 3 Thomas Brox · #1,178 worldwide 3.3k citations · 106 works
  4. 4 M. Fehling–Kaschek · #1,205 worldwide 4k citations · 95 works
  5. 5 S. Aefsky · #2,337 worldwide 3.8k citations · 75 works
  6. 6 J. Bouchami · #2,508 worldwide 3.8k citations · 73 works
  7. 7 B. DeWilde · #2,988 worldwide 3.5k citations · 69 works
  8. 8 T. Barber · #3,413 worldwide 3.5k citations · 65 works
  9. 9 F. Ahles · #3,963 worldwide 3.5k citations · 63 works
  10. 10 Jürgen Osterhammel · #5,719 worldwide 286 citations · 125 works
All ranked researchers at University of Freiburg

Which keywords describe research at University of Freiburg?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: History, Climate Change, Identity, Literature, Gender, Ethics, Philosophy and Epidemiology.

▲ 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 Change260▲ 1.34×93 topics
  2. Epidemiology244▼ 0.85×129 topics
  3. Inflammation170◆ 1.13×81 topics
  4. History163▲ 3.2×43 topics
  5. Sustainability161◆ 0.91×72 topics
  6. Identity155▲ 3.0×52 topics
  7. Literature136▲ 3.5×42 topics
  8. Gender130▲ 3.3×37 topics
  9. Renewable Energy129▲ 1.24×38 topics
  10. Ethics123▲ 3.5×45 topics
  11. Globalization121▼ 0.85×97 topics
  12. Philosophy119▲ 3.7×34 topics
  13. Cancer101◆ 1.04×53 topics
  14. Human Rights87▲ 1.17×54 topics
  15. Governance78▲ 3.3×16 topics
  16. Culture71▲ 1.85×25 topics
  17. Nationalism70▲ 2.1×26 topics
  18. Neurological Disorders70▲ 1.70×19 topics
  19. Religion68▲ 1.98×31 topics
  20. Bildung67▲ 29×3 topics
  21. Global Warming65▲ 2.2×14 topics
  22. Narrative64▲ 5.5×11 topics
  23. Biodiversity Conservation63▲ 2.3×16 topics
  24. Migration59▲ 2.4×21 topics
  25. Aesthetics53▲ 9.8×10 topics
  26. Autorschaft48▲ 31×1 topic
  27. Literaturkritik48▲ 31×1 topic
  28. Fluid Dynamics48▲ 4.8×6 topics
  29. Sociology47▲ 4.8×18 topics
  30. Psychology45▲ 4.8×9 topics
  31. Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse44▲ 15×2 topics
  32. Art43▲ 6.9×10 topics
  33. Electron Transport36▲ 5.6×3 topics
  34. Materiality34▲ 13×2 topics
  35. Bildungsungleichheit33▲ 16×1 topic
  36. Ethnografisches Schreiben33▲ 16×1 topic
  37. Materials Science33▲ 11×4 topics
  38. Engineering31▲ 9.4×3 topics
  39. Cultural Memory31▲ 8.5×5 topics
  40. Turbine Technology30▲ 23×1 topic

Which research topics does University of Freiburg publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: German Literature and Culture Studies, Sociology and Education Studies, Physics and Engineering Research Articles and Libraries and Information Services.

German Literature and Cu…48German Literature and Culture Studies: 48 fractional worksSociology and Education …33Sociology and Education Studies: 33 fractional worksPhysics and Engineering …30Physics and Engineering Research Articles: 30 fractional worksLibraries and Informatio…28Libraries and Information Services: 28 fractional worksNietzsche, Schopenhauer, and Hegel: 27 fractional worksEcology, Conservation, and Geographical Studies: 24 fractional worksLinguistic research and …24Linguistic research and analysis: 24 fractional worksPlant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics: 21 fractional worksPhotosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms: 20 fractional worksMatrix Theory and Algori…19Matrix Theory and Algorithms: 19 fractional works
Literature and Literary TheorySociology and Political ScienceComputational MechanicsMuseology6 others

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

  1. 1 German Literature and Culture StudiesLiterature and Literary Theory 48 works
  2. 2 Sociology and Education StudiesSociology and Political Science 33 works
  3. 3 Physics and Engineering Research ArticlesComputational Mechanics 30 works
  4. 4 Libraries and Information ServicesMuseology 28 works
  5. 5 Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, and HegelPhilosophy 27 works
  6. 6 Ecology, Conservation, and Geographical StudiesNature and Landscape Conservation 24 works
  7. 7 Linguistic research and analysisLanguage and Linguistics 24 works
  8. 8 Plant Water Relations and Carbon DynamicsGlobal and Planetary Change 21 works
  9. 9 Photosynthetic Processes and MechanismsMolecular Biology 20 works
  10. 10 Matrix Theory and AlgorithmsComputational Theory and Mathematics 19 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 available28.9%not open71.1%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors18.6%domestic only81.4%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has University of Freiburg'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 Freiburg im Breisgau

All research institutions in Freiburg im Breisgau

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.