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University · Chapel Hill · United States

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

In research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill stands highest in Health Sciences (#23 of 11,982 worldwide), Medicine (#29 of 10,443 worldwide) and Life Sciences (#52 of 7,800 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Virology, Instrumentation and Infectious Diseases — Virology is 6.3× its share of world research.

unc.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#100
of 28,054 · #45 all time
Rank in United States
#28
of 4,192
Research works
184k
▲ 196% vs 2013–17
Citations
5.8M
31.8 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
9.6%
record average 16.5%
Open access
56%
world 28%

What is University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 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
Health SciencesDomain #23 of 11,982 8.5%14,338 #16
MedicineField #29 of 10,443 8.3%11,916 #23
Life SciencesDomain #52 of 7,800 10.4%5,631 #34
Social SciencesField #46 of 6,365 13.9%3,532 #17
Social SciencesDomain #88 of 10,521 12.7%7,653 #33
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational HealthSubfield #10 of 828 9.5%1,274 #7
Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child HealthSubfield #7 of 441 11.6%598 #8
General Health ProfessionsSubfield #15 of 916 9.1%1,387 #7
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #59 of 3,579 10.1%3,340 #30
Health ProfessionsField #42 of 1,928 9.2%1,982 #10

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 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. Health Sciences#16 #23
  2. Medicine#23 #29
  3. Life Sciences#34 #52
  4. Social Sciences#17 #46
  5. Social Sciences#33 #88
  6. Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health#7 #10
  7. Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health#8 #7
  8. General Health Professions#7 #15
  9. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#30 #59
  10. Health Professions#10 #42
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 North Carolina at Chapel Hill specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Virology takes 6.3× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. VirologySubfield · 125.9 works6.3×
  2. InstrumentationSubfield · 79.3 works4.6×
  3. Infectious DiseasesSubfield · 920.6 works3.9×
  4. Behavioral NeuroscienceSubfield · 52.5 works3.9×
  5. HealthSubfield · 394.8 works3.9×
  6. Statistics and ProbabilitySubfield · 261.3 works3.6×
  7. Immunology and AllergySubfield · 90.3 works3.3×
← 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: 0.31× its world share, 515 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.81× its world share, 3,340 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 1.91× its world share, 664 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.76× its world share, 984 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 1.05× its world share, 128 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.46× its world share, 55 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.84× its world share, 456 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.39× its world share, 1,052 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.83× its world share, 449 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.41× its world share, 129 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.25× its world share, 1,280 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.73× its world share, 1,246 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.36× its world share, 432 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.27× its world share, 514 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.67× its world share, 1,281 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.97× its world share, 162 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 2.18× its world share, 1,982 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 1.80× its world share, 12k worksMedicineNursing: 1.50× its world share, 253 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.52× its world share, 24 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.55× its world share, 545 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.36× its world share, 397 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.83× its world share, 277 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.11× its world share, 817 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.98× its world share, 2,084 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.81× its world share, 3,532 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Health Professions, 2.2×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill?

Ranked on the composite score, Charles M. Perou, Patrick F. Sullivan and Wayne D. Rosamond lead among researchers whose main affiliation is University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

  1. 1 Charles M. Perou United States · #156 worldwide 4.2k citations · 229 works
  2. 2 Patrick F. Sullivan United States · #162 worldwide 3.6k citations · 158 works
  3. 3 Wayne D. Rosamond United States · #522 worldwide 2.2k citations · 111 works
  4. 4 Katherine A. Hoadley United States · #899 worldwide 2.4k citations · 106 works
  5. 5 Sidney C. Smith United States · #1,332 worldwide 2.7k citations · 88 works
  6. 6 W. Kimryn Rathmell United States · #1,384 worldwide 2k citations · 96 works
  7. 7 J. Charles Jennette United States · #1,565 worldwide 1.5k citations · 102 works
  8. 8 D. Neil Hayes United States · #1,703 worldwide 1.8k citations · 90 works
  9. 9 Barry M. Popkin United States · #1,917 worldwide 2.2k citations · 202 works
  10. 10 Howard E. Aldrich United States · #1,993 worldwide 1.9k citations · 86 works
All ranked researchers at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Which keywords describe research at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Epidemiology, Mental Health, Public Health, Antiretroviral Therapy, Risk Factors, Inflammation, Depression and Cardiovascular Disease.

▲ 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. Epidemiology2,957▲ 2.2×135 topics
  2. Mental Health1,512▲ 3.0×42 topics
  3. Inflammation1,274▲ 1.77×83 topics
  4. Public Health1,257▲ 2.5×67 topics
  5. Risk Factors1,027▲ 2.7×36 topics
  6. Depression900▲ 3.0×24 topics
  7. Quality of Life890▲ 1.79×54 topics
  8. Cardiovascular Disease843▲ 2.2×39 topics
  9. COVID-19779▲ 1.65×29 topics
  10. Cancer757▲ 1.63×56 topics
  11. Pandemic694▲ 1.88×11 topics
  12. Treatment680▲ 1.62×50 topics
  13. Metabolic Syndrome679▲ 2.4×24 topics
  14. Antiretroviral Therapy624▲ 11×6 topics
  15. Obesity580▲ 2.2×27 topics
  16. Genetics573▲ 2.4×26 topics
  17. Diagnosis534▲ 1.66×40 topics
  18. Adolescents513▲ 4.0×9 topics
  19. Anxiety509▲ 3.1×12 topics
  20. Immune Response508▲ 2.6×22 topics
  21. Health Disparities507▲ 5.6×9 topics
  22. Global Burden494▲ 2.7×12 topics
  23. Prevalence486▲ 3.5×14 topics
  24. Vaccine469▲ 3.4×11 topics
  25. Primary Care465▲ 3.6×15 topics
  26. Mortality449▲ 2.2×13 topics
  27. Social Support444▲ 2.3×18 topics
  28. Mortality Rates432▲ 13×2 topics
  29. SARS-CoV-2414▲ 3.7×6 topics
  30. Health Outcomes386▲ 4.1×8 topics
  31. HIV Transmission375▲ 15×2 topics
  32. Chronic Disease369▲ 6.1×4 topics
  33. Viral Load365▲ 13×2 topics
  34. Global Burden of Disease336▲ 4.0×4 topics
  35. Preexposure Prophylaxis329▲ 20×1 topic
  36. Stigma and Discrimination329▲ 20×1 topic
  37. Children329▲ 4.1×7 topics
  38. Stigma292▲ 6.2×5 topics
  39. Cancer Incidence279▲ 5.9×4 topics
  40. HIV261▲ 9.1×4 topics

Which research topics does University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions, Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations, COVID-19 and Mental Health and SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research.

HIV/AIDS Research and In…329HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions: 329 fractional worksFood Security and Health…196Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations: 196 fractional worksCOVID-19 and Mental Health: 164 fractional worksSARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research: 162 fractional worksNuclear physics research…162Nuclear physics research studies: 162 fractional worksLGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy: 155 fractional worksVaccine Coverage and Hesitancy: 150 fractional worksAdolescent Sexual and Re…143Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health: 143 fractional worksCervical Cancer and HPV Research: 137 fractional worksHIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk: 126 fractional works
Infectious DiseasesGeneral Health ProfessionsClinical PsychologyNuclear and High Energy Physics3 others

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

  1. 1 HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions Infectious Diseases 329 works
  2. 2 Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations General Health Professions 196 works
  3. 3 COVID-19 and Mental Health Clinical Psychology 164 works
  4. 4 SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research Infectious Diseases 162 works
  5. 5 Nuclear physics research studies Nuclear and High Energy Physics 162 works
  6. 6 LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy Social Psychology 155 works
  7. 7 Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy Health 150 works
  8. 8 Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health General Health Professions 143 works
  9. 9 Cervical Cancer and HPV Research Epidemiology 137 works
  10. 10 HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk Epidemiology 126 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 available55.5%not open44.5%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors9.4%domestic only90.6%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 196% 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 Chapel Hill

All research institutions in Chapel Hill

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.