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University · Wellington · New Zealand

Victoria University of Wellington

In research, Victoria University of Wellington stands highest in Social Sciences (#317 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#219 of 6,365 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#1,116 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Public Administration, Condensed Matter Physics and Geography, Planning and Development — Public Administration is 9.6× its share of world research.

wgtn.ac.nzROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#1,092
of 28,054 · #800 all time
Rank in New Zealand
#3
of 71
Research works
28k
▲ 7% vs 2013–17
Citations
553k
19.9 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
22.5%
record average 16.5%
Open access
38%
world 28%

What is Victoria University of Wellington 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 #317 of 10,521 24.5%2,023 #191
Social SciencesField #219 of 6,365 25.4%1,068 #122
Physical SciencesDomain #1,116 of 12,888 20.7%1,520 #890
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #226 of 2,578 26.2%331 #164
PsychologyField #271 of 2,181 22.5%280 #231
Computer ScienceField #642 of 4,667 23.8%509 #598
Arts and HumanitiesField #333 of 1,998 25.5%282 #212
EducationSubfield #336 of 1,892 33.7%150 #251
Artificial IntelligenceSubfield #352 of 1,884 26.5%223 #258
Environmental ScienceField #707 of 3,551 20.7%261 #567

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Victoria University of Wellington 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#191 #317
  2. Social Sciences#122 #219
  3. Physical Sciences#890 #1,116
  4. Sociology and Political Science#164 #226
  5. Psychology#231 #271
  6. Computer Science#598 #642
  7. Arts and Humanities#212 #333
  8. Education#251 #336
  9. Artificial Intelligence#258 #352
  10. Environmental Science#567 #707
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 Victoria University of Wellington specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Public Administration takes 9.6× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Public AdministrationSubfield · 21.5 works9.6×
  2. Condensed Matter PhysicsSubfield · 28.0 works4.2×
  3. Geography, Planning and DevelopmentSubfield · 31.8 works3.7×
← 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: 0.50× its world share, 99 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.52× its world share, 116 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.28× its world share, 12 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.91× its world share, 62 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.33× its world share, 5 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.38× its world share, 6 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.70× its world share, 45 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.57× its world share, 509 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 2.22× its world share, 145 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.55× its world share, 21 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.50× its world share, 312 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.26× its world share, 261 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.35× its world share, 51 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.10× its world share, 54 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.26× its world share, 117 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.06× its world share, 116 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.25× its world share, 198 worksMedicineNursing: 0.53× its world share, 11 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.22× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 2.34× its world share, 282 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.34× its world share, 180 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.67× its world share, 67 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.64× its world share, 146 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 2.20× its world share, 280 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 2.03× its world share, 1,068 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Arts and Humanities, 2.3×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Victoria University of Wellington?

Ranked on the composite score, John Lewis, James H. Cone and Averil Coxhead lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Victoria University of Wellington.

  1. 1 John Lewis New Zealand · #11,479 worldwide 648 citations · 78 works
  2. 2 James H. Cone New Zealand · #12,501 worldwide 130 citations · 117 works
  3. 3 Averil Coxhead New Zealand · #16,635 worldwide 619 citations · 43 works
  4. 4 Paul Nation New Zealand · #17,763 worldwide 569 citations · 83 works
  5. 5 Janet Holmes New Zealand · #19,540 worldwide 658 citations · 93 works
  6. 6 Colleen Ward New Zealand · #21,355 worldwide 520 citations · 51 works
  7. 7 Terry M. Seward New Zealand · #38,079 worldwide 571 citations · 44 works
  8. 8 David Norton New Zealand · #47,776 worldwide 144 citations · 39 works
  9. 9 Norman Gemmell New Zealand · #53,480 worldwide 356 citations · 53 works
  10. 10 Tony Ward New Zealand · #54,965 worldwide 829 citations · 131 works
All ranked researchers at Victoria University of Wellington

Which keywords describe research at Victoria University of Wellington?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Globalization, Climate Change, Evolutionary Algorithms, Vulnerability, Resilience, Multiobjective Optimization, Sustainability and Decolonization.

▲ 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 Change236▲ 2.1×87 topics
  2. Globalization218▲ 2.7×90 topics
  3. Machine Learning153◆ 1.13×74 topics
  4. Sustainability141▲ 1.39×69 topics
  5. Deep Learning137◆ 0.96×73 topics
  6. Mental Health101▲ 1.65×37 topics
  7. Evolutionary Algorithms99▲ 23×4 topics
  8. Resilience88▲ 4.4×15 topics
  9. Human Rights84▲ 1.97×49 topics
  10. Social Media79▲ 1.33×28 topics
  11. Vulnerability69▲ 7.4×7 topics
  12. Classification67▲ 3.5×12 topics
  13. Colonialism67▲ 3.4×37 topics
  14. Identity66▲ 2.2×51 topics
  15. Gender61▲ 2.7×39 topics
  16. Social Capital60▲ 2.8×15 topics
  17. Neoliberalism59▲ 4.0×19 topics
  18. Multiobjective Optimization58▲ 26×2 topics
  19. Higher Education57▲ 2.5×18 topics
  20. Feature Selection56▲ 6.1×6 topics
  21. Decolonization56▲ 17×7 topics
  22. Particle Swarm Optimization55▲ 11×3 topics
  23. International Law54▲ 4.2×18 topics
  24. Metaheuristics47▲ 14×4 topics
  25. Health Equity45▲ 4.0×6 topics
  26. Language Teaching44▲ 4.2×6 topics
  27. Constraint Handling44▲ 13×2 topics
  28. Corpus Linguistics44▲ 4.9×5 topics
  29. Genetic Programming44▲ 48×1 topic
  30. Symbolic Regression44▲ 48×1 topic
  31. Global Governance42▲ 4.5×15 topics
  32. Ant Colony Optimization42▲ 18×2 topics
  33. Differential Evolution41▲ 13×2 topics
  34. Firefly Algorithm40▲ 27×1 topic
  35. Global Optimization40▲ 18×2 topics
  36. Nature-Inspired Algorithms40▲ 27×1 topic
  37. Environmental Policy38▲ 4.6×6 topics
  38. Ocean Acidification35▲ 11×3 topics
  39. Public Opinion34▲ 6.6×6 topics
  40. Cosmopolitanism32▲ 7.0×6 topics

Which research topics does Victoria University of Wellington publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Evolutionary Algorithms and Applications, Metaheuristic Optimization Algorithms Research, Island Studies and Pacific Affairs and Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights.

Evolutionary Algorithms and Applications: 44 fractional worksMetaheuristic Optimization Algorithms Research: 40 fractional worksIsland Studies and Pacific Affairs: 24 fractional worksIndigenous Health, Education, and Rights: 23 fractional worksSecond Language Acquisition and Learning: 21 fractional worksNew Zealand Economic and Social Studies: 21 fractional worksDisaster Management and …18Disaster Management and Resilience: 18 fractional worksGeology and Paleoclimatology Research: 18 fractional worksEFL/ESL Teaching and Learning: 18 fractional worksSecond Language Learning…17Second Language Learning and Teaching: 17 fractional works
Artificial IntelligenceDemographyHealthDevelopmental and Educational Psychology5 others

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

  1. 1 Evolutionary Algorithms and Applications Artificial Intelligence 44 works
  2. 2 Metaheuristic Optimization Algorithms Research Artificial Intelligence 40 works
  3. 3 Island Studies and Pacific Affairs Demography 24 works
  4. 4 Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights Health 23 works
  5. 5 Second Language Acquisition and Learning Developmental and Educational Psychology 21 works
  6. 6 New Zealand Economic and Social Studies Economics and Econometrics 21 works
  7. 7 Disaster Management and Resilience Sociology and Political Science 18 works
  8. 8 Geology and Paleoclimatology Research Atmospheric Science 18 works
  9. 9 EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning Language and Linguistics 18 works
  10. 10 Second Language Learning and Teaching Literature and Literary Theory 17 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 available38.0%not open62.0%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors23.6%domestic only76.4%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Victoria University of Wellington'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 Wellington

All research institutions in Wellington

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.