2018 Research Leaders: Leading academic institutions in biological sciences

The 2018 Research Leaders are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017.

Table criteria

Region/country

Sector

Subject/journals

Position	Institution	Share 2016	Share 2017	Count 2017	Change in Adjusted Share* 2016–2017
1	Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), Germany	53.44	72.72	278	32.4%
2	Heidelberg University (Uni Heidelberg), Germany	49.24	57.74	231	14.0%
3	University of Freiburg (Uni Freiburg), Germany	33.46	44.83	154	30.3%
4	University of Tübingen (Uni Tübingen), Germany	38.42	33.51	173	-15.2%
5	Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany	32.33	32.09	171	-3.5%
6	Goethe University Frankfurt (GU), Germany	29.56	31.14	96	2.5%
7	University of Würzburg (JMU), Germany	24.68	30.78	80	21.3%
8	Free University of Berlin (FU Berlin), Germany	31.43	30.06	246	-7.0%
9	University of Cologne (UoC), Germany	36.19	27.13	117	-27.1%
10	Humboldt University of Berlin (HU Berlin), Germany	26.34	25.52	234	-5.7%
11	University of Hamburg (UHH), Germany	25.53	25.28	107	-3.7%
12	University of Göttingen, Germany	36.22	24.58	100	-34.0%
13	University of Bonn (Uni Bonn), Germany	29.90	21.26	114	-30.9%
14	University of Münster (WWU), Germany	25.67	19.88	72	-24.7%
15	TU Dresden, Germany	17.60	19.17	136	6.0%
16	Hannover Medical School (MHH), Germany	16.56	17.34	73	1.8%
17	Philipps University of Marburg (Uni Marburg), Germany	8.35	17.24	60	100.7%
18	Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), Germany	13.41	17.23	76	25.0%
19	University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Germany	14.55	16.00	69	7.0%
20	Leipzig University, Germany	11.85	12.65	75	3.9%
21	University of Kiel (CAU), Germany	11.76	11.81	70	-2.3%
22	Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU), Germany	16.60	11.54	65	-32.4%
23	University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), Germany	6.29	10.42	59	61.0%
24	University of Regensburg (UR), Germany	12.06	8.63	50	-30.4%
25	Friedrich Schiller University Jena (FSU), Germany	7.50	8.40	59	8.9%
26	Ulm University, Germany	13.01	8.08	52	-39.6%
27	Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), Germany	13.26	7.41	45	-45.6%
28	University of Osnabrück (Uni Osnabrück), Germany	4.44	6.91	20	51.5%
29	Saarland University (Saar-Uni), Germany	9.99	6.34	25	-38.2%
30	Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg (OVGU), Germany	4.31	6.19	34	39.6%
31	RWTH Aachen University (RWTH Aachen), Germany	7.62	6.09	51	-22.3%
32	Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), Germany	4.77	5.73	54	16.9%
33	University of Lübeck, Germany	6.52	5.39	64	-19.6%
34	University of Greifswald, Germany	3.24	5.10	33	53.1%
35	University of Hohenheim, Germany	2.71	5.08	14	82.1%
36	Technical University Braunschweig (TU Braunschweig), Germany	7.08	4.62	25	-36.6%
37	Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany	9.73	4.52	14	-54.8%
38	University of Potsdam, Germany	7.68	4.51	32	-42.9%
39	University of Oldenburg, Germany	3.78	3.86	15	-0.8%
40	Giessen University (JLU), Germany	6.43	3.83	18	-42.0%
41	University of Konstanz, Germany	6.95	3.64	23	-49.0%
42	Leibniz University Hannover (LUH), Germany	2.57	3.58	11	35.8%
43	Bielefeld University, Germany	5.98	3.54	16	-42.4%
44	Technical University of Darmstadt (TU Darmstadt), Germany	4.76	3.46	15	-29.2%
45	University of Bremen (Uni Bremen), Germany	1.57	3.34	17	107.3%
46	University of Stuttgart, Germany	2.34	3.10	13	28.8%
47	University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (TiHo), Germany	0.90	2.82	15	203.7%
48	University of Bayreuth (UBT), Germany	3.29	2.26	11	-33.4%
49	TU Dortmund University, Germany	0.45	1.98	9	330.8%
50	University of Rostock, Germany	2.02	1.72	10	-17.4%
51	Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), Germany	2.34	1.54	16	-36.1%
52	Constructor University, Germany	0.62	1.40	6	119.0%
53	University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU), Germany	2.84	1.13	5	-61.1%
54	Leuphana University of Lueneburg, Germany	0.00	0.71	2	0.0%
55	University of Passau, Germany	0.00	0.50	1	0.0%
56	University of Kassel, Germany	1.27	0.35	2	-73.2%
57	Heidelberg University of Education, Germany	0.00	0.25	1	0.0%
58	Aachen University of Applied Sciences (FH Aachen), Germany	0.00	0.20	1	0.0%
59	European School of Management and Technology (ESMT Berlin), Germany	0.00	0.17	1	0.0%
60	Chemnitz University of Technology (TU Chemnitz), Germany	0.00	0.13	2	0.0%
61	Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW Hamburg), Germany	0.05	0.13	1	131.0%
62	Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, Germany	0.01	0.12	2	1,170.1%
63	Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg (TUBAF), Germany	0.00	0.10	1	0.0%
64	Institute for Advanced Study Berlin, Germany	0.03	0.10	2	242.3%
65	Lübeck University of Applied Sciences, Germany	0.09	0.08	1	-17.7%
66	University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer, Germany	0.00	0.07	1	0.0%
67	University of Augsburg, Germany	0.09	0.07	2	-28.9%
68	Witten/Herdecke University (UW/H), Germany	0.27	0.07	1	-76.2%
69	Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen University of Applied Sciences (THM), Germany	0.02	0.07	2	180.8%
70	Fresenius University of Applied Sciences, Germany	0.00	0.06	1	0.0%
70	University of Bamberg, Germany	0.25	0.06	1	-75.7%
71	Hannover University of Music, Drama and Media (HMTMH), Germany	0.00	0.04	1	0.0%
72	University of Mannheim, Germany	0.00	0.03	4	0.0%
73	Mannheim University of Applied Sciences, Germany	0.09	0.03	1	-69.2%
73	Aalen University, Germany	0.08	0.03	1	-65.7%
74	University of Applied Sciences Trier, Germany	0.00	0.03	1	0.0%
75	Brandenburg Medical School - Theodor Fontane (MHB), Germany	0.06	0.02	1	-72.7%
76	Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, Germany	0.00	0.02	1	0.0%
77	Jena University of Applied Sciences (EAH Jena), Germany	0.00	0.01	1	0.0%

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

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).
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.
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.
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2018 Research Leaders: Leading academic institutions in biological sciences

Table criteria

Footnote