2017 Research Leaders: Leading government institutions

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 Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China 1617.26 1590.03 3855 0.8% Increase
2 French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France 773.03 751.93 4301 -0.2% Decrease
3 National Institutes of Health (NIH), United States of America (USA) 391.29 341.12 848 -10.6% Decrease
4 Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain 240.63 216.70 1154 -7.6% Decrease
5 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), United States of America (USA) 187.06 180.09 828 -1.3% Decrease
6 RIKEN, Japan 151.87 155.91 543 5.3% Increase
7 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States of America (USA) 125.69 151.14 691 23.3% Increase
8 National Research Council (CNR), Italy 138.41 126.18 530 -6.5% Decrease
9 Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), United States of America (USA) 106.86 122.78 614 17.8% Increase
10 National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), Italy 124.74 120.25 616 -1.1% Decrease
11 The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), France 114.12 113.22 915 1.8% Increase
12 Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India 116.95 112.03 183 -1.7% Decrease
13 Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), United States of America (USA) 127.47 111.22 366 -10.5% Decrease
14 National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), United States of America (USA) 93.07 98.32 319 8.3% Increase
15 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), United States of America (USA) 88.57 98.13 258 13.6% Increase
16 Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), United States of America (USA) 103.16 94.62 377 -5.9% Decrease
17 U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), United States of America (USA) 101.09 94.14 312 -4.5% Decrease
18 National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM), France 101.26 93.83 906 -5.0% Decrease
19 UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), United Kingdom (UK) 92.52 90.04 628 -0.2% Decrease
20 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United States of America (USA) 69.39 84.83 345 25.4% Increase
21 National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Japan 95.84 77.28 237 -17.3% Decrease
22 Academia Sinica, Taiwan 77.49 76.82 344 1.7% Increase
23 Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), United States of America (USA) 79.56 75.95 348 -2.1% Decrease
24 Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore 88.47 75.69 288 -12.3% Decrease
25 Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS), Czech Republic 70.46 74.51 344 8.5% Increase
26 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), United States of America (USA) 80.26 73.84 198 -5.6% Decrease
27 Institute for Basic Science (IBS), South Korea 61.95 70.81 278 17.2% Increase
28 National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan 82.95 67.48 186 -16.6% Decrease
29 People's Liberation Army (PLA), China 43.93 56.69 179 32.4% Increase
30 European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Switzerland 63.25 53.80 354 -12.8% Decrease
31 The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia 59.58 52.17 200 -10.2% Decrease
32 Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland 45.23 50.04 242 13.5% Increase
33 Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS), Poland 58.33 49.00 321 -13.8% Decrease
34 European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Germany 47.65 45.66 234 -1.7% Decrease
35 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), United States of America (USA) 41.86 45.18 191 10.7% Increase
36 Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), India 48.02 44.60 167 -4.7% Decrease
37 Smithsonian Institution, United States of America (USA) 40.82 44.17 244 11.0% Increase
38 Sandia National Laboratories, United States of America (USA) 55.24 43.75 145 -18.8% Decrease
39 National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina 39.06 41.79 262 9.7% Increase
40 National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), France 38.66 41.62 376 10.4% Increase
41 Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS), Hungary 42.14 38.93 253 -5.3% Decrease
42 National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Italy 39.77 37.99 165 -2.0% Decrease
43 Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Italy 48.01 35.75 133 -23.6% Decrease
44 NWO-I, the Institutes Organisation of NWO, Netherlands 39.31 35.02 315 -8.6% Decrease
45 Institute of Research for Development (IRD), France 29.67 33.16 519 14.6% Increase
46 National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), Italy 33.36 33.11 76 1.8% Increase
47 Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), South Korea 41.51 32.48 124 -19.7% Decrease
48 Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), Austria 26.95 32.37 240 23.2% Increase
49 Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), Switzerland 31.98 32.29 101 3.6% Increase
50 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, United States of America (USA) 34.30 30.90 325 -7.6% Decrease
51 National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), United States of America (USA) 39.19 29.06 76 -23.9% Decrease
52 National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS), Japan 44.32 28.60 161 -33.8% Decrease
53 Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), Spain 23.46 28.47 177 24.4% Increase
54 Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), India 24.49 27.96 109 17.1% Increase
55 Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Japan 21.56 27.45 84 30.6% Increase
56 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), United States of America (USA) 29.51 26.78 65 -6.9% Decrease
57 European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), France 21.24 23.57 133 13.8% Increase
58 National Research Center Kurchatov Institute (NRCKI), Russia 21.97 22.84 269 6.6% Increase
59 Korea Institute for Advanced Study (KIAS), South Korea 16.40 22.51 63 40.8% Increase
60 China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP), China 15.73 22.47 86 46.5% Increase
61 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), United States of America (USA) 19.58 22.43 130 17.5% Increase
62 Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Canada 30.67 22.29 69 -25.4% Decrease
63 India Department of Space (DOS), India 17.82 21.38 37 23.1% Increase
64 Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA), Switzerland 28.66 21.33 63 -23.7% Decrease
65 Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), China 12.96 21.14 92 67.3% Increase
66 National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing (NIBS), China 13.56 20.95 57 58.5% Increase
67 China Meteorological Administration (CMA), China 17.30 19.44 74 15.3% Increase
68 Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy 18.68 18.98 163 4.2% Increase
69 High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Japan 23.08 18.58 167 -17.4% Decrease
70 Harish-Chandra Research Institute (HRI), India 15.31 18.29 32 22.5% Increase
71 Brazil Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communication (MCTIC), Brazil 12.72 18.17 170 46.5% Increase
72 Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), United States of America (USA) 17.48 17.67 108 3.7% Increase
73 IMDEA Institutes, Spain 13.05 17.58 68 38.2% Increase
74 National Research Council (NRC), Canada 21.20 16.42 93 -20.6% Decrease
75 Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), China 14.66 15.86 75 10.9% Increase
76 Met Office, United Kingdom (UK) 15.79 15.46 43 0.5% Increase
77 Research Organization of Information and Systems (ROIS), Japan 11.80 15.26 86 32.7% Increase
78 China Earthquake Administration (CEA), China 14.91 14.79 47 1.8% Increase
79 Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Australia 12.13 14.77 77 24.9% Increase
80 Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM), Iran 9.66 14.59 80 54.9% Increase
81 NERC British Antarctic Survey (BAS), United Kingdom (UK) 9.40 14.47 40 57.8% Increase
82 Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc), India 6.17 13.55 25 125.2% Increase
83 NERC National Oceanography Centre (NOC), United Kingdom (UK) 15.04 12.33 58 -15.9% Decrease
84 Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), Finland 7.03 12.13 41 77.0% Increase
85 Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI), Japan 14.42 11.88 108 -15.5% Decrease
86 The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU), Ukraine 17.01 11.57 159 -30.2% Decrease
87 Jozef Stefan Institute (IJS), Slovenia 21.27 11.52 128 -44.5% Decrease
88 Natural History Museum, United Kingdom (UK) 8.87 11.51 50 33.0% Increase
89 National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST), Japan 7.81 11.46 27 50.5% Increase
90 Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), Russia 11.95 10.61 204 -8.9% Decrease
91 Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Greece 12.13 10.53 47 -10.9% Decrease
92 National Physical Laboratory (NPL), United Kingdom (UK) 6.44 10.40 43 65.6% Increase
93 National Museum of Natural History (MNHN), France 9.28 9.96 123 10.1% Increase
94 Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science (IGAKUKEN), Japan 7.37 9.93 23 38.2% Increase
95 European Commission (EC), Belgium 8.12 9.86 31 24.6% Increase
96 NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), United Kingdom (UK) 6.11 9.57 31 60.5% Increase
97 Joint Genome Institute (JGI), United States of America (USA) 4.90 9.45 37 97.6% Increase
98 German Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG), Germany 4.79 9.41 23 101.7% Increase
99 Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP), India 14.74 9.22 89 -35.8% Decrease
100 Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), South Korea 11.20 9.20 29 -15.8% 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.