2017 tables: Institutions - Earth & environmental sciences - academic

The 2017 tables are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016.

Table criteria

# Institution Share 2015 Share 2016 Count 2016 Change in Adjusted Share 2015-2016*
1 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland 86.99 84.32 241 -9.5%
2 University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK) 29.03 43.91 136 41.2%
3 Utrecht University (UU), Netherlands 31.65 35.53 113 4.8%
4 University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK) 27.34 32.11 112 9.6%
5 University of Leeds, United Kingdom (UK) 32.81 31.15 125 -11.4%
6 Imperial College London (ICL), United Kingdom (UK) 24.85 29.03 127 9.1%
7 University of Bristol (UoB), United Kingdom (UK) 29.39 24.71 97 -21.5%
8 Stockholm University, Sweden 21.71 23.61 80 1.5%
9 University of Copenhagen (UCPH), Denmark 19.29 23.10 89 11.8%
10 Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Denmark 21.69 21.17 50 -8.9%
11 University of Oslo (UiO), Norway 11.68 20.82 75 66.4%
12 The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (UK) 16.72 20.64 74 15.2%
13 Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Netherlands 15.45 18.35 48 10.9%
14 Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), Germany 8.87 18.05 42 89.9%
15 University of Exeter, United Kingdom (UK) 20.56 16.26 60 -26.2%
16 University of Paris, France 25.57 16.20 100 -40.9%
17 The University of Manchester (UoM), United Kingdom (UK) 9.96 16.09 49 50.8%
18 University of Potsdam, Germany 9.63 15.80 49 53.1%
19 University of Reading, United Kingdom (UK) 13.19 15.72 71 11.3%
20 University of Bremen (Uni Bremen), Germany 15.14 15.66 65 -3.4%
21 UCL, United Kingdom (UK) 21.44 15.14 84 -34.1%
22 University of Bayreuth (UBT), Germany 15.30 15.12 40 -7.8%
23 Durham University, United Kingdom (UK) 13.60 14.75 69 1.2%
24 Ghent University (UGent), Belgium 16.26 14.44 35 -17.1%
25 University of Southampton (Soton), United Kingdom (UK) 16.15 14.15 64 -18.3%
26 Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Netherlands 12.68 13.98 56 2.9%
27 University of Bern (UniBE), Switzerland 17.79 13.02 54 -31.7%
28 Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany 18.44 13.01 40 -34.2%
29 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland 10.87 12.79 49 9.8%
30 University of Helsinki, Finland 12.18 12.48 48 -4.4%
31 VU Amsterdam, Netherlands 8.45 12.41 31 37.1%
32 University of Tübingen (Uni Tübingen), Germany 10.05 11.98 32 11.2%
33 University of Lyon, France 11.95 11.83 73 -7.6%
34 Free University of Berlin (FU Berlin), Germany 12.66 11.54 50 -15.0%
35 University of Münster (WWU), Germany 8.81 10.54 39 11.6%
36 Sorbonne University, France 12.98 10.41 142 -25.1%
37 Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium 8.45 10.38 28 14.6%
38 University of Bergen (UIB), Norway 9.05 10.20 57 5.3%
39 University of Liverpool, United Kingdom (UK) 8.85 10.18 47 7.3%
40 University of Lausanne (UNIL), Switzerland 13.39 10.17 37 -29.1%
41 Lancaster University, United Kingdom (UK) 7.26 9.82 43 26.4%
42 Université PSL, France 9.51 9.35 121 -8.1%
43 Grenoble Alpes University (UGA), France 6.47 9.28 87 33.9%
44 University of Barcelona (UB), Spain 7.20 8.87 29 14.9%
45 Aarhus University (AU), Denmark 9.64 8.79 39 -14.9%
46 The Open University (OU), United Kingdom (UK) 5.67 8.52 31 40.4%
47 Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany 5.78 8.42 25 35.8%
48 Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), Germany 8.65 8.32 21 -10.3%
49 Lund University (LU), Sweden 10.02 8.04 36 -25.1%
50 Goethe University Frankfurt (GU), Germany 6.11 7.84 33 19.8%
51 University of Glasgow, United Kingdom (UK) 6.03 7.71 55 19.3%
52 University of Lorraine (UL), France 7.67 7.62 45 -7.3%
53 Charles University (CU), Czech Republic 3.99 7.59 25 77.4%
54 Umeå University (UMU), Sweden 7.68 7.44 19 -9.5%
55 University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of Norway (UiT), Norway 4.18 7.39 31 65.2%
56 University of Vienna, Austria 7.16 7.31 37 -4.8%
57 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Sweden 7.70 7.26 30 -12.0%
58 University of Iceland, Iceland 8.10 7.23 28 -16.7%
59 University of Granada (UGR), Spain 4.11 7.18 16 63.0%
60 Newcastle University, United Kingdom (UK) 9.21 6.91 54 -30.0%
61 University of Cologne (UoC), Germany 6.80 6.88 24 -5.6%
62 Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), Germany 6.11 6.84 23 4.5%
63 University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland 6.01 6.70 24 4.1%
64 University of Strasbourg, France 2.54 6.63 36 143.9%
65 University of Zurich (UZH), Switzerland 5.63 6.53 24 8.1%
66 University of Naples Federico II (UNINA), Italy 5.02 6.51 13 21.0%
67 Gustave Eiffel University, France 5.68 6.41 63 5.3%
68 KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden 5.97 6.39 61 -0.1%
69 Cardiff University, United Kingdom (UK) 3.91 6.38 28 52.3%
70 The University of Sheffield, United Kingdom (UK) 4.66 6.37 38 27.6%
71 University Clermont Auvergne, France 6.17 6.26 54 -5.3%
72 Uppsala University (UU), Sweden 6.31 6.11 33 -9.6%
73 RWTH Aachen University (RWTH Aachen), Germany 2.15 6.10 20 165.3%
74 University of Birmingham (UB), United Kingdom (UK) 6.68 6.07 23 -15.2%
75 Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway 5.29 5.89 17 3.8%
76 University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), France 6.22 5.85 78 -12.2%
77 University of Toulouse, France 6.50 5.80 103 -16.7%
78 University of Leicester, United Kingdom (UK) 4.54 5.61 24 15.4%
79 Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), Germany 4.56 5.57 17 14.0%
80 University of Antwerp (UA), Belgium 3.70 5.48 16 38.3%
81 Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), Spain 4.36 5.28 11 13.1%
82 University of London - Royal Holloway (RHUL), United Kingdom (UK) 6.51 5.20 19 -25.5%
83 University of Hamburg (UHH), Germany 5.32 5.14 24 -9.8%
84 University of Bonn (Uni Bonn), Germany 6.44 5.05 16 -26.9%
85 University of East Anglia (UEA), United Kingdom (UK) 6.54 5.04 28 -28.0%
86 University of Göttingen, Germany 7.31 5.01 17 -36.0%
87 University of Bath, United Kingdom (UK) 3.54 5.00 13 32.1%
88 National University of Ireland Galway (NUI Galway), Ireland 0.88 4.98 12 426.3%
89 University of Kiel (CAU), Germany 6.89 4.82 31 -34.6%
90 Bangor University, United Kingdom (UK) 3.49 4.81 14 28.6%
91 University of Savoy (USMB), France 5.84 4.77 61 -23.7%
92 University of Liège (ULg), Belgium 3.46 4.77 20 28.6%
93 University of Twente (UTwente), Netherlands 1.75 4.65 8 147.7%
94 University of St Andrews, United Kingdom (UK) 3.03 4.64 25 43.0%
95 University of Roma Tre, Italy 4.18 4.60 12 2.8%
96 Cranfield University, United Kingdom (UK) 2.48 4.57 18 71.8%
97 University of Montpellier, France 2.76 4.52 52 52.8%
98 University of Plymouth, United Kingdom (UK) 4.18 4.50 17 0.4%
99 Aix-Marseille University (AMU), France 3.03 4.47 52 37.6%
100 University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom (UK) 0.64 4.42 10 541.9%

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 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 82 natural-science journals, selected on reputation by an independent panel of leading scientists in their fields.
  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/.

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 annual tables.

*The change in adjusted Share accounts for the small annual variation in the total number of articles in Nature Index journals. Share values have been adjusted to 2021 levels to calculate the percentage change. For more information on the adjustment, please see the Adjusted metric explainer.