2018 Research Leaders: Leading institutions in Earth & environmental sciences

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

Table criteria

Position Institution Share 2016 Share 2017 Count 2017 Change in Adjusted Share* 2016–2017
1 Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China 200.07 203.38 604 6.3% Increase
2 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany 147.56 125.92 361 -10.7% Decrease
3 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States of America (USA) 117.45 105.81 504 -5.8% Decrease
4 French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France 100.50 87.80 687 -8.6% Decrease
5 California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States of America (USA) 83.07 80.86 342 1.8% Increase
6 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland 84.32 80.74 206 0.2% Increase
7 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United States of America (USA) 77.46 73.25 281 -1.1% Decrease
8 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), United States of America (USA) 68.74 68.59 188 4.4% Increase
9 University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder), United States of America (USA) 65.61 66.29 278 5.7% Increase
10 University of Washington (UW), United States of America (USA) 59.76 58.88 152 3.1% Increase
11 Nanjing University (NJU), China 51.14 58.80 169 20.3% Increase
12 University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), United States of America (USA) 51.05 56.10 196 15.0% Increase
13 Stanford University, United States of America (USA) 70.48 52.19 158 -22.5% Decrease
14 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), United States of America (USA) 58.67 50.77 131 -9.5% Decrease
15 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), United States of America (USA) 52.16 50.24 175 0.8% Increase
16 Columbia University in the City of New York (CU), United States of America (USA) 59.59 46.58 179 -18.2% Decrease
17 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States of America (USA) 48.42 46.06 140 -0.5% Decrease
18 University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), United States of America (USA) 55.72 45.45 124 -14.7% Decrease
19 Peking University (PKU), China 53.64 45.10 179 -12.0% Decrease
20 The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Japan 54.87 44.95 112 -14.3% Decrease
21 National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), United States of America (USA) 46.15 44.15 130 0.1% Increase
22 University of Minnesota (UMN), United States of America (USA) 30.43 41.98 121 44.3% Increase
23 University of Michigan (U-M), United States of America (USA) 50.13 40.19 120 -16.1% Decrease
24 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), China 22.08 38.46 187 82.2% Increase
25 Harvard University, United States of America (USA) 41.57 38.31 122 -3.6% Decrease
26 University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), United States of America (USA) 33.65 38.26 113 19.0% Increase
27 Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), United States of America (USA) 28.85 37.85 100 37.3% Increase
28 Utrecht University (UU), Netherlands 35.53 37.79 118 11.3% Increase
29 The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), United States of America (USA) 38.55 35.67 110 -3.2% Decrease
30 Tsinghua University, China 32.83 35.64 98 13.6% Increase
31 University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), China 31.78 35.25 78 16.0% Increase
32 Yale University, United States of America (USA) 46.06 34.98 95 -20.6% Decrease
33 University of California, Irvine (UCI), United States of America (USA) 28.48 33.66 105 23.6% Increase
34 University of Toronto (U of T), Canada 31.93 33.62 85 10.1% Increase
35 Colorado State University, United States of America (USA) 27.65 32.43 99 22.7% Increase
36 The University of Arizona (Arizona), United States of America (USA) 31.50 32.34 98 7.4% Increase
37 China University of Geosciences (CUG), China 30.49 32.15 79 10.3% Increase
38 Arizona State University (ASU), United States of America (USA) 27.05 31.89 85 23.3% Increase
39 University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia 40.05 31.77 86 -17.0% Decrease
40 University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK) 43.91 31.65 116 -24.6% Decrease
41 Imperial College London (ICL), United Kingdom (UK) 29.03 31.13 114 12.2% Increase
42 Princeton University, United States of America (USA) 24.54 30.82 125 31.4% Increase
43 Tongji University, China 30.84 30.58 102 3.7% Increase
44 University of Bristol (UoB), United Kingdom (UK) 24.71 30.07 99 27.3% Increase
45 National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), Italy 32.97 30.01 64 -4.8% Decrease
46 Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Denmark 21.17 29.09 75 43.7% Increase
47 University of Alberta (U of A), Canada 28.95 28.66 66 3.5% Increase
48 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), United States of America (USA) 19.35 28.09 82 51.9% Increase
49 Australian National University (ANU), Australia 31.30 28.06 86 -6.2% Decrease
50 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), United States of America (USA) 33.38 27.66 90 -13.3% Decrease
51 Texas A&M University (TAMU), United States of America (USA) 21.10 26.97 91 33.7% Increase
52 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), United States of America (USA) 29.27 26.82 78 -4.2% Decrease
53 University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK) 32.11 25.95 93 -15.5% Decrease
54 Max Planck Society, Germany 37.54 25.88 120 -27.9% Decrease
55 University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), United States of America (USA) 34.18 25.78 139 -21.1% Decrease
56 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), United States of America (USA) 16.14 25.59 65 65.8% Increase
57 Beijing Normal University (BNU), China 27.32 25.53 105 -2.2% Decrease
58 University of Leeds, United Kingdom (UK) 31.15 25.30 101 -15.0% Decrease
59 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), United States of America (USA) 34.31 25.03 69 -23.7% Decrease
60 Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore 25.91 24.83 60 0.2% Increase
61 University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UH Mānoa), United States of America (USA) 35.37 24.52 87 -27.5% Decrease
62 The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia 27.43 24.26 85 -7.5% Decrease
63 University of Florida (UF), United States of America (USA) 25.01 23.86 67 -0.2% Decrease
64 University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), United States of America (USA) 21.20 23.67 62 16.8% Increase
65 University of California, Davis (UC Davis), United States of America (USA) 22.97 23.64 78 7.7% Increase
66 Oregon State University, United States of America (USA) 22.52 23.22 91 7.9% Increase
67 Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), China 16.84 23.17 46 43.9% Increase
68 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), United States of America (USA) 26.14 23.09 56 -7.6% Decrease
69 The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia 27.89 23.03 97 -13.6% Decrease
70 China Meteorological Administration (CMA), China 19.23 23.01 80 25.2% Increase
71 The University of Chicago (UChicago), United States of America (USA) 16.54 22.73 76 43.7% Increase
72 University of Oslo (UiO), Norway 20.82 22.63 92 13.7% Increase
73 Zhejiang University (ZJU), China 22.37 22.03 48 3.0% Increase
74 Hokkaido University, Japan 15.76 22.02 54 46.2% Increase
75 Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Canada 20.82 21.99 58 10.5% Increase
76 Rice University, United States of America (USA) 13.67 21.93 57 67.8% Increase
77 Purdue University, United States of America (USA) 15.21 21.93 57 50.9% Increase
78 Institute of Research for Development (IRD), France 23.52 21.66 306 -3.7% Decrease
79 Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), Switzerland 27.51 21.52 70 -18.2% Decrease
80 University of California, Riverside (UCR), United States of America (USA) 21.81 21.29 51 2.1% Increase
81 Duke University, United States of America (USA) 26.02 20.98 67 -15.7% Decrease
82 Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain 28.45 20.50 90 -24.6% Decrease
83 Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS), United States of America (USA) 19.05 20.48 74 12.5% Increase
84 The University of Utah (Utah), United States of America (USA) 16.25 20.33 61 30.9% Increase
85 Brown University, United States of America (USA) 23.65 20.30 53 -10.2% Decrease
86 Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Netherlands 13.98 20.18 57 50.9% Increase
87 Johns Hopkins University (JHU), United States of America (USA) 28.09 20.14 98 -25.0% Decrease
88 Leibniz Association, Germany 29.06 19.44 94 -30.0% Decrease
89 Tohoku University, Japan 23.04 19.19 54 -12.9% Decrease
90 Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL), United States of America (USA) 20.94 19.17 47 -4.2% Decrease
91 McGill University, Canada 28.04 18.47 64 -31.1% Decrease
92 University of Bremen (Uni Bremen), Germany 15.66 18.46 59 23.3% Increase
93 Fudan University, China 13.32 18.46 33 44.9% Increase
94 The University of Iowa (UI), United States of America (USA) 15.41 18.44 78 25.2% Increase
95 Wuhan University (WHU), China 10.52 18.35 41 82.4% Increase
96 Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Japan 26.38 18.20 73 -27.8% Decrease
97 Cornell University, United States of America (USA) 16.89 17.87 64 10.7% Increase
98 University of Copenhagen (UCPH), Denmark 23.10 17.81 70 -19.3% Decrease
99 University of Exeter, United Kingdom (UK) 16.26 17.48 64 12.5% Increase
100 University of Southampton (Soton), United Kingdom (UK) 14.15 17.08 71 26.3% Increase

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.