Subfield · Cognitive Neuroscience
Top Cognitive Neuroscience Research Institutions
University College London ranks first in 2022–2025, out of 530 ranked institutions.
Composite score: field-normalised excellence, output and total citations weighted 50 / 30 / 20, each as a percentile so no single heavy-tailed measure dominates. Floor: 40 fractional works in this field.
Ranked by research quality, 2022–2025
| # | Institution | Score | Top-10% rate | Works | Citations | All time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University College London United Kingdom · London | 100.0 | 29.7% | 633 | 7.1k | #2 |
| 2 | Harvard University United States · Cambridge | 89.0 | 27.3% | 564 | 6.6k | #1 |
| 3 | Stanford University United States · Stanford | 82.5 | 26.9% | 458 | 5.6k | #3 |
| 4 | University of Oxford United Kingdom · Oxford | 77.9 | 27.0% | 493 | 4.8k | #4 |
| 5 | New York University United States · New York | 74.3 | 26.9% | 469 | 4.8k | #9 |
| 6 | Yale University United States · New Haven | 71.4 | 25.0% | 476 | 4.5k | #5 |
| 7 | Columbia University United States · New York | 69.0 | 27.0% | 348 | 3.9k | #14 |
| 8 | University of Cambridge United Kingdom · Cambridge | 66.9 | 26.7% | 395 | 4.1k | #10 |
| 9 | University of California, Los Angeles United States · Los Angeles | 65.0 | 25.7% | 349 | 3.8k | #12 |
| 10 | King's College London United Kingdom · London | 63.3 | 28.9% | 301 | 3k | #25 |
| 11 | University of California San Diego United States · San Diego | 61.8 | 22.6% | 389 | 4.1k | #7 |
| 12 | Johns Hopkins University United States · Baltimore | 60.4 | 20.6% | 443 | 3.6k | #22 |
| 13 | Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France · Paris | 59.1 | 20.5% | 478 | 3.8k | #41 |
| 14 | University of Pennsylvania United States · Philadelphia | 57.9 | 27.1% | 347 | 3.6k | #18 |
| 15 | Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing | 56.8 | 28.6% | 293 | 4.4k | #96 |
| 16 | University of California, Berkeley United States · Berkeley | 55.8 | 28.1% | 253 | 2.9k | #11 |
| 17 | University of Toronto Canada · Toronto | 54.8 | 18.8% | 538 | 3.8k | #17 |
| 18 | McGill University Canada · Montreal | 53.9 | 22.8% | 342 | 3.4k | #20 |
| 19 | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Netherlands · Amsterdam | 53.1 | 26.2% | 278 | 2.5k | #65 |
| 20 | Radboud University Nijmegen Netherlands · Nijmegen | 52.2 | 27.4% | 341 | 3.7k | #26 |
| 21 | Tsinghua University China · Beijing | 51.5 | 24.9% | 300 | 3.5k | — |
| 22 | Monash University Australia · Melbourne | 50.7 | 26.4% | 239 | 2.5k | #76 |
| 23 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology United States · Cambridge | 50.0 | 32.6% | 186 | 2.6k | #6 |
| 24 | University of California, San Francisco United States · San Francisco | 49.3 | 25.7% | 221 | 2.7k | #28 |
| 25 | National University of Singapore Singapore · Singapore | 48.7 | 30.5% | 189 | 3.7k | — |
| 26 | Zhejiang University China · Hangzhou | 48.1 | 21.2% | 365 | 3.1k | — |
| 27 | University of Zurich Switzerland · Zurich | 47.5 | 27.3% | 232 | 2.4k | #47 |
| 28 | University of Michigan United States · Ann Arbor | 46.9 | 21.1% | 317 | 2.5k | #15 |
| 29 | The University of Sydney Australia · Sydney | 46.3 | 22.7% | 288 | 2.4k | #70 |
| 30 | Washington University in St. Louis United States · St Louis | 45.8 | 22.7% | 310 | 6.7k | #8 |
| 31 | University of California, Davis United States · Davis | 45.3 | 24.5% | 267 | 2.8k | #34 |
| 32 | University of Washington United States · Seattle | 44.8 | 21.3% | 303 | 2.6k | #23 |
| 33 | Shanghai Jiao Tong University China · Shanghai | 44.3 | 22.9% | 333 | 2.9k | — |
| 34 | Princeton University United States · Princeton | 43.8 | 33.8% | 157 | 2k | #13 |
| 35 | Carnegie Mellon University United States · Pittsburgh | 43.3 | 25.1% | 212 | 2.1k | #33 |
| 36 | Nanyang Technological University Singapore · Singapore | 42.9 | 29.6% | 188 | 2.4k | — |
| 37 | University of Southern California United States · Los Angeles | 42.4 | 20.4% | 296 | 2.5k | #37 |
| 38 | Peking University China · Beijing | 42.0 | 20.9% | 330 | 2.8k | — |
| 39 | The University of Melbourne Australia · Melbourne | 41.6 | 25.9% | 286 | 2.5k | #69 |
| 40 | University of Amsterdam Netherlands · Amsterdam | 41.2 | 30.8% | 202 | 2.2k | #39 |
| 41 | Inserm France · Paris | 40.8 | 23.3% | 295 | 2.7k | #35 |
| 42 | University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing | 40.4 | 25.4% | 246 | 3k | — |
| 43 | University of Minnesota United States · Minneapolis | 40.0 | 21.6% | 293 | 2.8k | #46 |
| 44 | University of Padua Italy · Padua | 39.7 | 23.0% | 289 | 2.2k | — |
| 45 | Boston University United States · Boston | 39.3 | 24.4% | 258 | 2.4k | #32 |
| 46 | The University of Texas at Austin United States · Austin | 39.0 | 21.3% | 285 | 2.1k | #53 |
| 47 | Northwestern University United States · Evanston | 38.6 | 24.2% | 234 | 2.3k | #29 |
| 48 | University of Edinburgh United Kingdom · Edinburgh | 38.3 | 23.0% | 248 | 1.8k | #48 |
| 49 | University of Pittsburgh United States · Pittsburgh | 38.0 | 18.9% | 353 | 2.6k | #31 |
| 50 | Massachusetts General Hospital United States · Boston | 37.6 | 25.0% | 240 | 2.3k | #21 |
| 51 | University of California, Irvine United States · Irvine | 37.3 | 22.9% | 250 | 2.3k | #40 |
| 52 | Cornell University United States · Ithaca | 37.0 | 24.7% | 201 | 1.8k | #42 |
| 53 | University of Birmingham United Kingdom · Birmingham | 36.7 | 28.8% | 184 | 1.8k | #93 |
| 54 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States · Chapel Hill | 36.4 | 11.6% | 477 | 2.7k | #55 |
| 55 | Imperial College London United Kingdom · London | 36.1 | 27.2% | 216 | 2.3k | #77 |
| 56 | Aarhus University Denmark · Aarhus | 35.8 | 25.8% | 210 | 1.8k | — |
| 57 | Pennsylvania State University United States · State College | 35.5 | 22.7% | 248 | 2.2k | #72 |
| 58 | Beijing Normal University China · Beijing | 35.3 | 21.0% | 316 | 2.3k | — |
| 59 | University of Glasgow United Kingdom · Glasgow | 35.0 | 24.8% | 182 | 1.5k | #85 |
| 60 | Sapienza University of Rome Italy · Rome | 34.7 | 22.3% | 275 | 1.8k | — |
| 61 | Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong · Hong Kong | 34.5 | 25.5% | 197 | 1.9k | — |
| 62 | Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences Germany · Leipzig | 34.2 | 32.9% | 134 | 1.6k | #75 |
| 63 | University of Wisconsin–Madison United States · Madison | 34.0 | 20.0% | 280 | 2k | #27 |
| 64 | University of Electronic Science and Technology of China China · Chengdu | 33.7 | 24.2% | 250 | 2.4k | — |
| 65 | Utrecht University Netherlands · Utrecht | 33.5 | 25.6% | 204 | 1.8k | #94 |
| 66 | University of British Columbia Canada · Vancouver | 33.2 | 17.2% | 274 | 1.9k | #45 |
| 67 | University of Chicago United States · Chicago | 33.0 | 18.7% | 315 | 2k | #43 |
| 68 | KU Leuven Belgium · Leuven | 32.7 | 19.5% | 312 | 2.1k | #68 |
| 69 | University of Oslo Norway · Oslo | 32.5 | 24.8% | 178 | 1.5k | — |
| 70 | Macquarie University Australia · Sydney | 32.3 | 23.5% | 178 | 1.7k | — |
| 71 | Karolinska Institutet Sweden · Stockholm | 32.0 | 25.9% | 165 | 1.7k | #61 |
| 72 | Sichuan University China · Chengdu | 31.8 | 26.8% | 162 | 1.8k | — |
| 73 | Fudan University China · Shanghai | 31.6 | 21.2% | 220 | 2.1k | — |
| 74 | Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München Germany · Munich | 31.4 | 19.2% | 271 | 2k | — |
| 75 | Vanderbilt University United States · Nashville | 31.2 | 17.6% | 259 | 1.8k | #49 |
| 76 | University of Bologna Italy · Bologna | 31.0 | 24.8% | 192 | 1.7k | — |
| 77 | Georgia Institute of Technology United States · Atlanta | 30.8 | 20.8% | 212 | 2k | #78 |
| 78 | Emory University United States · Atlanta | 30.5 | 20.4% | 258 | 1.9k | #66 |
| 79 | ETH Zurich Switzerland · Zurich | 30.3 | 28.8% | 126 | 1.5k | — |
| 80 | The University of Tokyo Japan · Tokyo | 30.1 | 11.7% | 378 | 2k | — |
| 81 | Xi'an Jiaotong University China · Xi'an | 29.9 | 22.0% | 184 | 1.8k | — |
| 82 | Sun Yat-sen University China · Guangzhou | 29.7 | 17.8% | 232 | 1.8k | — |
| 83 | Indiana University Bloomington United States · Bloomington | 29.6 | 25.3% | 172 | 1.8k | #56 |
| 84 | University of Tübingen Germany · Tübingen | 29.4 | 20.9% | 230 | 1.9k | #73 |
| 85 | University of Groningen Netherlands · Groningen | 29.2 | 20.1% | 202 | 1.6k | #87 |
| 86 | Allen Institute for Brain Science United States · Seattle | 29.0 | 31.0% | 151 | 1.7k | — |
| 87 | University of Geneva Switzerland · Geneva | 28.8 | 24.6% | 185 | 1.7k | #79 |
| 88 | University of Hong Kong Hong Kong · Pok Fu Lam | 28.6 | 21.2% | 208 | 1.5k | — |
| 89 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign United States · Urbana | 28.4 | 19.3% | 228 | 1.5k | #50 |
| 90 | UNSW Sydney Australia · Sydney | 28.3 | 20.7% | 207 | 1.6k | #67 |
| 91 | Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong · Hong Kong | 28.1 | 23.9% | 176 | 1.3k | — |
| 92 | The University of Queensland Australia · Brisbane | 27.9 | 20.5% | 258 | 2.2k | #99 |
| 93 | Tianjin University China · Tianjin | 27.7 | 19.0% | 219 | 1.9k | — |
| 94 | University of Nottingham United Kingdom · Nottingham | 27.6 | 22.1% | 160 | 1.5k | #95 |
| 95 | The Ohio State University United States · Columbus | 27.4 | 16.1% | 239 | 1.5k | #60 |
| 96 | Shenzhen University China · Shenzhen | 27.2 | 28.3% | 148 | 1.5k | — |
| 97 | Western University Canada · London | 27.1 | 19.2% | 253 | 1.8k | #54 |
| 98 | Beijing Institute of Technology China · Beijing | 26.9 | 23.6% | 166 | 1.7k | — |
| 99 | École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Switzerland · Lausanne | 26.7 | 28.5% | 164 | 1.8k | #84 |
| 100 | University of Maryland, College Park United States · College Park | 26.6 | 21.5% | 209 | 1.7k | #58 |
institutions ranked worldwide in Cognitive Neuroscience (530). rank on the composite score within the stated pool. The score track runs 0 to 100; the rate track carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field.
How spread out this pool is
Every row above on one axis — one tick each, right is a higher score. A field where the top few are far clear of everyone and one that runs down evenly look identical as a table.
One bar per band of score, counting the rows on this page.
Ranked by volume, 2022–2025
- 1 University College London United Kingdom 633 works
- 2 Harvard University United States 564 works
- 3 University of Toronto Canada 538 works
- 4 University of Oxford United Kingdom 493 works
- 5 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France 478 works
- 6 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States 477 works
- 7 Yale University United States 476 works
- 8 New York University United States 469 works
- 9 Stanford University United States 458 works
- 10 Johns Hopkins University United States 443 works
- 11 University of Cambridge United Kingdom 395 works
- 12 University of California San Diego United States 389 works
- 13 The University of Tokyo Japan 378 works
- 14 Zhejiang University China 365 works
- 15 University of Pittsburgh United States 353 works
Cognitive Neuroscience by country
- United States
- China
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- Canada
- Australia
- Italy
- India
- France
- Netherlands
- Spain
- South Korea
- Switzerland
- Japan
- Sweden
- Hong Kong
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore
- Norway
- Greece
- Türkiye
- Denmark
- Belgium
- Portugal
- Israel
- Austria
- Brazil
- Iran
- Poland
- Taiwan
- Finland
- Malaysia
- Ireland
- Russia
- Egypt
- Mexico
- Czechia
- New Zealand
- Hungary
- Argentina
- Serbia
- Croatia