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Subfield · Immunology and Microbiology

Microbiology research

Microbiology is a subfield of Immunology and Microbiology. Science Explorer counts 144k research works in it since 1950. 16.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: study of microscopic organisms.

Research works
144k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
24k
per year above
Top-10% rate
16.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
6
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+17%
the tick is no change

What is Microbiology research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Antimicrobial Peptides, Host Defense, Sexually Transmitted Infections, Vaginal Microbiome, Mycoplasma, Pasteurella. Gaining share since 2009–13: Microbiology, Sustainable Development Goals. Losing share: Endoscope, Infection.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 12 words, with their numbers
  1. Antimicrobial Peptides7,510◆ 1.12×1 topic
  2. Host Defense7,510◆ 1.12×1 topic
  3. Sexually Transmitted Infections6,500◆ 1.00×1 topic
  4. Vaginal Microbiome6,500◆ 1.00×1 topic
  5. Mycoplasma5,710◆ 0.97×1 topic
  6. Pasteurella5,710◆ 0.97×1 topic
  7. Bacterial Meningitis5,168◆ 0.98×1 topic
  8. Neisseria meningitidis5,168◆ 0.98×1 topic
  9. Endoscope2,189▼ 0.81×1 topic
  10. Infection2,189▼ 0.81×1 topic
  11. Microbiology333▲ 1.29×1 topic
  12. Sustainable Development Goals333▲ 1.29×1 topic

Which countries lead Microbiology research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and the United Kingdom rank highest in Microbiology. By volume, China and the United States publish the most (4k and 3.9k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #3 all time 25.5% top 10% · 4k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 15.5% top 10% · 3.9k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom · #2 all time 19.7% top 10% · 864 works
  4. 4 India · #12 all time 13.1% top 10% · 1.4k works
  5. 5 Australia · #6 all time 21.3% top 10% · 542 works
  6. 6 Italy · #9 all time 21.9% top 10% · 566 works
  7. 7 France · #7 all time 16.0% top 10% · 595 works
  8. 8 Germany · #4 all time 15.8% top 10% · 647 works
  9. 9 South Korea · #17 all time 18.0% top 10% · 412 works
  10. 10 Canada · #5 all time 18.4% top 10% · 460 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 22 countries ranked in Microbiology. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Microbiology

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 4k works
  2. 2 United States 3.9k works
  3. 3 India 1.4k works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 864 works
  5. 5 Brazil 774 works
  6. 6 Germany 647 works
  7. 7 Japan 644 works
  8. 8 France 595 works
  9. 9 Italy 566 works
  10. 10 Australia 542 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 29.0%United States: 28.0%India: 9.8%United Kingdom: 6.2%6 others listed: 27.0%29%largest
China4,040 · 29.0%United States3,901 · 28.0%India1,368 · 9.8%United Kingdom864 · 6.2%6 others listed3,768 · 27.0%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Microbiology research?

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (United States) ranks first in Microbiology on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by .

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States · Chapel Hill · #10 all time 8.8% top 10% · 71 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 1 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Microbiology.

Top 100 Microbiology institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 71 works
  2. 2 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical CollegeChina 54 works
  3. 3 Sichuan UniversityChina 46 works
  4. 4 Huazhong Agricultural UniversityChina 46 works
  5. 5 The University of MelbourneAustralia 42 works
  6. 6 University of WashingtonUnited States 42 works
  7. 7 Zhejiang UniversityChina 41 works
  8. 8 Universidade de São PauloBrazil 40 works
  9. 9 University of Alabama at BirminghamUnited States 40 works
  10. 10 Centers for Disease Control and PreventionUnited States 38 works

Who are the leading researchers in Microbiology?

Among the most productive authors in Microbiology, Zulfiqar A Bhutta, Ziad A. Memish and Maarten J. Postma rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Zulfiqar A Bhutta Pakistan · #29 worldwide 7k citations · 258 works
  2. 2 Ziad A. Memish Saudi Arabia · #58 worldwide 5.3k citations · 162 works
  3. 3 Maarten J. Postma Netherlands · #90 worldwide 4.6k citations · 251 works
  4. 4 Hugh R. Taylor Australia · #158 worldwide 2.9k citations · 132 works
  5. 5 Charles R. Newton Kenya · #226 worldwide 3.8k citations · 117 works
  6. 6 Matthew E. Falagas United States · #324 worldwide 2k citations · 134 works
  7. 7 Charles Shey Wiysonge South Africa · #1,242 worldwide 4.2k citations · 85 works
  8. 8 Nicola Low Switzerland · #1,728 worldwide 2.5k citations · 79 works
  9. 9 Nicolas Wentzensen United States · #1,761 worldwide 2.1k citations · 82 works
  10. 10 Stanford T. Shulman United States · #2,443 worldwide 1.3k citations · 90 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 3,771 highest-output authors in Microbiology. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Microbiology researchers

Where is Microbiology research done?

The largest centres of Microbiology research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), London (United Kingdom), Guangzhou (China) and Shanghai (China).

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 567 works
  2. 2 London United Kingdom 272 works
  3. 3 Guangzhou China 259 works
  4. 4 Shanghai China 242 works
  5. 5 Paris France 232 works
  6. 6 Moscow Russia 229 works
  7. 7 Tokyo Japan 187 works
  8. 8 Hangzhou China 181 works
  9. 9 São Paulo Brazil 180 works
  10. 10 Seoul South Korea 175 works
See Microbiology on the map

Microbiology research by country

The best places for Microbiology research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Microbiology?

Among universities, judged by research, Northeast Agricultural University, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Örebro University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%60%mean 26.05%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Northeast Agricultural University: 30, 47.7%London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine: 23, 26.7%Örebro University: 13, 28.8%University of Gondar: 22, 26.0%Huazhong Agricultural University: 46, 20.5%University of Veterinary Medicine: 22, 2.5%Sichuan University: 46, 36.8%University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences: 15, 11.9%Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College: 54, 30.4%Monash University: 25, 29.2%Northeast Agricultur…Örebro UniversityLondon School of Hyg…University of Gondar
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 Northeast Agricultural UniversityChina 57.047.7%5.3×30 -17.0%
2 London School of Hygiene & Tropical MedicineUnited Kingdom 57.026.7%7.1×23 +36.9%
3 Örebro UniversitySweden 57.028.8%6.6×13 +386.6%
4 University of GondarEthiopia 54.126.0%7.1×22 +119.2%
5 Huazhong Agricultural UniversityChina 49.420.5%6.3×46 +4.4%
6 University of Veterinary MedicineHungary 47.72.5%17.4×22 +93.0%
7 Sichuan UniversityChina 47.536.8%1.3×46 +31.0%
8 University of Veterinary and Animal SciencesPakistan 47.511.9%10.9×15 +38.3%
9 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical CollegeChina 46.830.4%2.6×54 +0.1%
10 Monash UniversityAustralia 45.229.2%1.4×25 +109.3%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Microbiology research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 17% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Alexander von Humboldt Studies, Antimicrobial Peptides and Activities and Reproductive tract infections research.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. Alexander von Humboldt Studies+109%
  2. Antimicrobial Peptides and Activities+56%
  3. Reproductive tract infections research+52%
  4. Bacterial Infections and Vaccines+48%
  5. Microbial infections and disease research+45%
  6. Medical Device Sterilization and Disinfection+44%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Microbiology include?

Reproductive tract infec…34kReproductive tract infections research: 34k fractional worksMicrobial infections and…33kMicrobial infections and disease research: 33k fractional worksAntimicrobial Peptides a…33kAntimicrobial Peptides and Activities: 33k fractional worksBacterial Infections and…29kBacterial Infections and Vaccines: 29k fractional worksMedical Device Sterilization and Disinfection: 12k fractional worksAlexander von Humboldt Studies: 1,803 fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.