2016 Research Leaders: Leading academic institutions

The 2016 Research Leaders are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015.

Table criteria

Position Institution Share 2015 Count 2015
1 The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia 146.99 396
2 Monash University, Australia 118.10 378
3 University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia 114.04 306
4 Australian National University (ANU), Australia 105.29 298
5 The University of Melbourne (UniMelb), Australia 103.31 464
6 The University of Sydney (USYD), Australia 80.34 311
7 The University of Western Australia (UWA), Australia 48.80 209
8 The University of Adelaide (Adelaide Uni), Australia 38.20 188
9 Curtin University, Australia 29.16 102
10 University of Wollongong (UOW), Australia 25.26 84
11 Macquarie University, Australia 22.80 92
12 The University of South Australia (UniSA), Australia 22.74 73
13 Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University), Australia 21.49 63
14 University of Tasmania (UTAS), Australia 18.97 83
15 Swinburne University of Technology, Australia 15.93 109
16 Deakin University, Australia 14.73 38
17 University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia 14.39 43
18 Griffith University, Australia 13.27 50
19 James Cook University (JCU), Australia 12.78 47
20 Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia 11.25 63
21 La Trobe University, Australia 10.98 55
22 Flinders University, Australia 10.20 38
23 The University of Newcastle (UON), Australia 7.18 36
24 Western Sydney University, Australia 5.00 29
25 Southern Cross University (SCU), Australia 4.44 10
26 Murdoch University, Australia 3.44 14
27 University of New England (UNE), Australia 1.90 9
28 University of Canberra, Australia 1.74 5
29 Charles Darwin University (CDU), Australia 0.79 6
30 University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), Australia 0.45 5
31 Charles Sturt University (CSU), Australia 0.26 6
32 Edith Cowan University (ECU), Australia 0.24 6
33 Monash Institute of Medical Research (MIMR), Australia 0.22 3
34 Australian College of Optometry (ACO), Australia 0.20 1
35 Federation University Australia, Australia 0.17 2
36 University of Southern Queensland (USQ), Australia 0.09 1
37 The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA), Australia 0.09 2
38 Bond University, Australia 0.08 1
39 Central Queensland University (CQU), Australia 0.07 2
40 Victoria University (VU), Australia 0.06 1
41 Menzies School of Health Research, Australia 0.05 2
42 Australian Catholic University (ACU), Australia 0.01 1

Footnote

Each year, the Nature Index publishes tables based on counts of high-quality research outputs in the previous calendar year. Users please note:

  1. The data behind the tables are based on a relatively small proportion of total research papers, they cover the natural sciences and health sciences only and outputs are non-normalized (that is, they don’t reflect the size of the country or institution, or its overall research output).
  2. The Nature Index is one indicator of institutional research performance. The metrics of Count and Share used to order Nature Index listings are based on an institution’s or country’s publication output in 145 natural-science and health-science journals. The journals were selected on reputation by an independent panel of leading scientists in their fields. The list is reviewed periodically and journals may be removed or added. Articles from eLife were no longer included in the Nature Index from 2023 after the journal changed its publishing model.
  3. Nature Index recognizes that many other factors must be taken into account when considering research quality and institutional performance; Nature Index metrics alone should not be used to assess institutions or individuals.
  4. Nature Index data and methods are transparent and available under a creative commons licence at nature.com/nature-index/.
  5. Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

The Nature Index database undergoes regular updating, corrections, adjustment of institutional hierarchies, and removal of retracted papers and thus the live website can differ from the frozen research leaders.