2017 Research Leaders: Leading corporate institutions in Earth & environmental sciences

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

Table criteria

Position Institution Share 2015 Share 2016 Count 2016 Change in Adjusted Share* 2015–2016
1 GNS Science, New Zealand 11.79 8.88 28 -29.7% Decrease
2 Science Systems and Applications, Inc. (SSAI), United States of America (USA) 5.58 6.34 36 6.1% Increase
3 National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd. (NIWA), New Zealand 5.26 5.56 34 -1.4% Decrease
4 Exxon Mobil Corporation (ExxonMobil), United States of America (USA) 2.28 4.59 13 88.0% Increase
5 Shell plc, United Kingdom (UK) 5.11 4.35 17 -20.6% Decrease
6 Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc. (AER), United States of America (USA) 4.80 3.83 8 -25.4% Decrease
7 Norwegian Research Centre AS (NORCE), Norway 2.72 3.17 43 8.9% Increase
8 DowDuPont Inc., United States of America (USA) 1.84 2.53 4 28.7% Increase
9 China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China 0.24 2.38 9 815.9% Increase
10 KWH Water B.V., Netherlands 4.70 2.31 7 -54.2% Decrease
11 GATS Inc., United States of America (USA) 2.87 2.22 8 -27.9% Decrease
12 Chevron Corporation, United States of America (USA) 0.78 2.12 5 153.7% Increase
13 Ford Motor Company, United States of America (USA) 1.02 2.00 3 83.1% Increase
14 Veolia Environnement S.A., France 1.61 1.98 7 14.7% Increase
15 Aerodyne Research, Inc. (ARI), United States of America (USA) 5.70 1.91 20 -68.8% Decrease
16 BASF SE, Germany 0.00 1.80 5 0.0% Increase
17 NorthWest Research Associates, Inc. (NWRA), United States of America (USA) 3.77 1.59 17 -60.6% Decrease
18 Jacobs, United States of America (USA) 0.52 1.45 7 158.2% Increase
19 ConocoPhillips Company, United States of America (USA) 1.11 1.37 4 14.8% Increase
20 South Australian Water Corporation (SA Water), Australia 1.84 1.26 3 -36.5% Decrease
21 Berliner Wasserbetriebe (BWB), Germany 0.90 1.22 4 26.1% Increase
22 Institut Dr. Nowak GmbH & Co. KG, Germany 0.00 1.17 3 0.0% Increase
23 Total S.A., France 1.13 1.08 6 -10.2% Decrease
24 Eau de Paris, France 0.00 1.04 2 0.0% Increase
25 I.M. Systems Group, Inc. (IMSG), United States of America (USA) 0.56 1.04 26 72.8% Increase
26 Computational Physics, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.60 1.03 3 62.3% Increase
27 Exponent, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.00 1.00 1 0.0% Increase
28 Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), Brazil 0.95 0.91 4 -9.9% Decrease
29 Profilomic, France 0.00 0.86 1 0.0% Increase
30 Aguas de Barcelona, ​​Metropolitan Business Management Integrated Water Cycle, SA, Spain 0.22 0.83 1 250.0% Increase
30 Wessex Water Services Ltd., United Kingdom (UK) 0.33 0.83 2 133.3% Increase
31 Melbourne Water Corporation, Australia 0.36 0.82 20 115.3% Increase
32 Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras), Brazil 0.55 0.80 3 36.7% Increase
33 Global Aquatic Research LLC (GAR), United States of America (USA) 0.22 0.79 4 238.9% Increase
34 RJ Lee Group, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.00 0.78 2 0.0% Increase
35 Schlumberger Limited, United States of America (USA) 0.33 0.77 5 114.9% Increase
36 Brown and Caldwell, Inc. (BC), United States of America (USA) 0.17 0.76 4 325.8% Increase
37 Bioremediation Consulting Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.00 0.75 1 0.0% Increase
37 SGS SA, Switzerland 0.31 0.75 1 126.2% Increase
37 WeatherTiger, LLC, United States of America (USA) 0.00 0.75 1 0.0% Increase
37 Array Information Technology, United States of America (USA) 0.00 0.75 2 0.0% Increase
38 Stratton Park Engineering Company (SPEC), United States of America (USA) 0.20 0.75 5 248.5% Increase
39 Eni s.p.a., Italy 0.00 0.69 2 0.0% Increase
40 Vaisala Oyj, Finland 0.33 0.66 3 90.6% Increase
41 AstraZeneca plc, United Kingdom (UK) 0.39 0.64 4 52.7% Increase
42 Oasen N.V., Netherlands 0.00 0.63 3 0.0% Increase
42 Areva, France 1.00 0.63 1 -41.7% Decrease
43 AECOM, United States of America (USA) 0.60 0.62 2 -3.7% Decrease
44 China North Industries Group Corporation (NORINCO Group), China 0.00 0.60 2 0.0% Increase
45 Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP), Qatar 0.78 0.59 4 -28.8% Decrease

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.