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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

#InstitutionScoreTop-10% rateWorksCitationsAll time
1 University College LondonUnited Kingdom · London 100.0 29.7% 633 7.1k#2
2 Harvard UniversityUnited States · Cambridge 89.0 27.3% 564 6.6k#1
3 Stanford UniversityUnited States · Stanford 82.5 26.9% 458 5.6k#3
4 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom · Oxford 77.9 27.0% 493 4.8k#4
5 New York UniversityUnited States · New York 74.3 26.9% 469 4.8k#9
6 Yale UniversityUnited States · New Haven 71.4 25.0% 476 4.5k#5
7 Columbia UniversityUnited States · New York 69.0 27.0% 348 3.9k#14
8 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom · Cambridge 66.9 26.7% 395 4.1k#10
9 University of California, Los AngelesUnited States · Los Angeles 65.0 25.7% 349 3.8k#12
10 King's College LondonUnited Kingdom · London 63.3 28.9% 301 3k#25
11 University of California San DiegoUnited States · San Diego 61.8 22.6% 389 4.1k#7
12 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States · Baltimore 60.4 20.6% 443 3.6k#22
13 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance · Paris 59.1 20.5% 478 3.8k#41
14 University of PennsylvaniaUnited States · Philadelphia 57.9 27.1% 347 3.6k#18
15 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina · Beijing 56.8 28.6% 293 4.4k#96
16 University of California, BerkeleyUnited States · Berkeley 55.8 28.1% 253 2.9k#11
17 University of TorontoCanada · Toronto 54.8 18.8% 538 3.8k#17
18 McGill UniversityCanada · Montreal 53.9 22.8% 342 3.4k#20
19 Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamNetherlands · Amsterdam 53.1 26.2% 278 2.5k#65
20 Radboud University NijmegenNetherlands · Nijmegen 52.2 27.4% 341 3.7k#26
21 Tsinghua UniversityChina · Beijing 51.5 24.9% 300 3.5k—
22 Monash UniversityAustralia · Melbourne 50.7 26.4% 239 2.5k#76
23 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States · Cambridge 50.0 32.6% 186 2.6k#6
24 University of California, San FranciscoUnited States · San Francisco 49.3 25.7% 221 2.7k#28
25 National University of SingaporeSingapore · Singapore 48.7 30.5% 189 3.7k—
26 Zhejiang UniversityChina · Hangzhou 48.1 21.2% 365 3.1k—
27 University of ZurichSwitzerland · Zurich 47.5 27.3% 232 2.4k#47
28 University of MichiganUnited States · Ann Arbor 46.9 21.1% 317 2.5k#15
29 The University of SydneyAustralia · Sydney 46.3 22.7% 288 2.4k#70
30 Washington University in St. LouisUnited States · St Louis 45.8 22.7% 310 6.7k#8
31 University of California, DavisUnited States · Davis 45.3 24.5% 267 2.8k#34
32 University of WashingtonUnited States · Seattle 44.8 21.3% 303 2.6k#23
33 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina · Shanghai 44.3 22.9% 333 2.9k—
34 Princeton UniversityUnited States · Princeton 43.8 33.8% 157 2k#13
35 Carnegie Mellon UniversityUnited States · Pittsburgh 43.3 25.1% 212 2.1k#33
36 Nanyang Technological UniversitySingapore · Singapore 42.9 29.6% 188 2.4k—
37 University of Southern CaliforniaUnited States · Los Angeles 42.4 20.4% 296 2.5k#37
38 Peking UniversityChina · Beijing 42.0 20.9% 330 2.8k—
39 The University of MelbourneAustralia · Melbourne 41.6 25.9% 286 2.5k#69
40 University of AmsterdamNetherlands · Amsterdam 41.2 30.8% 202 2.2k#39
41 InsermFrance · Paris 40.8 23.3% 295 2.7k#35
42 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina · Beijing 40.4 25.4% 246 3k—
43 University of MinnesotaUnited States · Minneapolis 40.0 21.6% 293 2.8k#46
44 University of PaduaItaly · Padua 39.7 23.0% 289 2.2k—
45 Boston UniversityUnited States · Boston 39.3 24.4% 258 2.4k#32
46 The University of Texas at AustinUnited States · Austin 39.0 21.3% 285 2.1k#53
47 Northwestern UniversityUnited States · Evanston 38.6 24.2% 234 2.3k#29
48 University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom · Edinburgh 38.3 23.0% 248 1.8k#48
49 University of PittsburghUnited States · Pittsburgh 38.0 18.9% 353 2.6k#31
50 Massachusetts General HospitalUnited States · Boston 37.6 25.0% 240 2.3k#21
51 University of California, IrvineUnited States · Irvine 37.3 22.9% 250 2.3k#40
52 Cornell UniversityUnited States · Ithaca 37.0 24.7% 201 1.8k#42
53 University of BirminghamUnited Kingdom · Birmingham 36.7 28.8% 184 1.8k#93
54 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States · Chapel Hill 36.4 11.6% 477 2.7k#55
55 Imperial College LondonUnited Kingdom · London 36.1 27.2% 216 2.3k#77
56 Aarhus UniversityDenmark · Aarhus 35.8 25.8% 210 1.8k—
57 Pennsylvania State UniversityUnited States · State College 35.5 22.7% 248 2.2k#72
58 Beijing Normal UniversityChina · Beijing 35.3 21.0% 316 2.3k—
59 University of GlasgowUnited Kingdom · Glasgow 35.0 24.8% 182 1.5k#85
60 Sapienza University of RomeItaly · Rome 34.7 22.3% 275 1.8k—
61 Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityHong Kong · Hong Kong 34.5 25.5% 197 1.9k—
62 Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain SciencesGermany · Leipzig 34.2 32.9% 134 1.6k#75
63 University of Wisconsin–MadisonUnited States · Madison 34.0 20.0% 280 2k#27
64 University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChina · Chengdu 33.7 24.2% 250 2.4k—
65 Utrecht UniversityNetherlands · Utrecht 33.5 25.6% 204 1.8k#94
66 University of British ColumbiaCanada · Vancouver 33.2 17.2% 274 1.9k#45
67 University of ChicagoUnited States · Chicago 33.0 18.7% 315 2k#43
68 KU LeuvenBelgium · Leuven 32.7 19.5% 312 2.1k#68
69 University of OsloNorway · Oslo 32.5 24.8% 178 1.5k—
70 Macquarie UniversityAustralia · Sydney 32.3 23.5% 178 1.7k—
71 Karolinska InstitutetSweden · Stockholm 32.0 25.9% 165 1.7k#61
72 Sichuan UniversityChina · Chengdu 31.8 26.8% 162 1.8k—
73 Fudan UniversityChina · Shanghai 31.6 21.2% 220 2.1k—
74 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenGermany · Munich 31.4 19.2% 271 2k—
75 Vanderbilt UniversityUnited States · Nashville 31.2 17.6% 259 1.8k#49
76 University of BolognaItaly · Bologna 31.0 24.8% 192 1.7k—
77 Georgia Institute of TechnologyUnited States · Atlanta 30.8 20.8% 212 2k#78
78 Emory UniversityUnited States · Atlanta 30.5 20.4% 258 1.9k#66
79 ETH ZurichSwitzerland · Zurich 30.3 28.8% 126 1.5k—
80 The University of TokyoJapan · Tokyo 30.1 11.7% 378 2k—
81 Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina · Xi'an 29.9 22.0% 184 1.8k—
82 Sun Yat-sen UniversityChina · Guangzhou 29.7 17.8% 232 1.8k—
83 Indiana University BloomingtonUnited States · Bloomington 29.6 25.3% 172 1.8k#56
84 University of TübingenGermany · Tübingen 29.4 20.9% 230 1.9k#73
85 University of GroningenNetherlands · Groningen 29.2 20.1% 202 1.6k#87
86 Allen Institute for Brain ScienceUnited States · Seattle 29.0 31.0% 151 1.7k—
87 University of GenevaSwitzerland · Geneva 28.8 24.6% 185 1.7k#79
88 University of Hong KongHong Kong · Pok Fu Lam 28.6 21.2% 208 1.5k—
89 University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignUnited States · Urbana 28.4 19.3% 228 1.5k#50
90 UNSW SydneyAustralia · Sydney 28.3 20.7% 207 1.6k#67
91 Chinese University of Hong KongHong Kong · Hong Kong 28.1 23.9% 176 1.3k—
92 The University of QueenslandAustralia · Brisbane 27.9 20.5% 258 2.2k#99
93 Tianjin UniversityChina · Tianjin 27.7 19.0% 219 1.9k—
94 University of NottinghamUnited Kingdom · Nottingham 27.6 22.1% 160 1.5k#95
95 The Ohio State UniversityUnited States · Columbus 27.4 16.1% 239 1.5k#60
96 Shenzhen UniversityChina · Shenzhen 27.2 28.3% 148 1.5k—
97 Western UniversityCanada · London 27.1 19.2% 253 1.8k#54
98 Beijing Institute of TechnologyChina · Beijing 26.9 23.6% 166 1.7k—
99 École Polytechnique Fédérale de LausanneSwitzerland · Lausanne 26.7 28.5% 164 1.8k#84
100 University of Maryland, College ParkUnited 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.

27 – 30: 21 places30 – 34: 16 places34 – 38: 13 places38 – 41: 11 places41 – 45: 8 places45 – 49: 6 places49 – 52: 6 places52 – 56: 4 places56 – 60: 3 places60 – 63: 2 places63 – 67: 3 places67 – 71: 1 places71 – 74: 1 places74 – 78: 2 places78 – 82: 0 places82 – 85: 1 places85 – 89: 1 places89 – 93: 0 places93 – 96: 0 places96 – 100: 1 places27100

One bar per band of score, counting the rows on this page.

Ranked by volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 633 works
  2. 2 Harvard UniversityUnited States 564 works
  3. 3 University of TorontoCanada 538 works
  4. 4 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 493 works
  5. 5 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 478 works
  6. 6 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 477 works
  7. 7 Yale UniversityUnited States 476 works
  8. 8 New York UniversityUnited States 469 works
  9. 9 Stanford UniversityUnited States 458 works
  10. 10 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 443 works
  11. 11 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 395 works
  12. 12 University of California San DiegoUnited States 389 works
  13. 13 The University of TokyoJapan 378 works
  14. 14 Zhejiang UniversityChina 365 works
  15. 15 University of PittsburghUnited States 353 works

Cognitive Neuroscience by country