2019 Research Leaders: Leading institutions in Earth & environmental sciences

The 2019 Research Leaders are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018.

Table criteria

Position Institution Share 2017 Share 2018 Count 2018 Change in Adjusted Share* 2017–2018
1 Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China 203.38 261.73 774 17.6% Increase
2 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany 125.92 147.87 446 7.3% Increase
3 French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France 87.80 96.44 757 0.3% Increase
4 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland 80.74 92.00 255 4.1% Increase
5 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States of America (USA) 105.81 91.19 459 -21.3% Decrease
6 Nanjing University (NJU), China 58.80 80.20 232 24.6% Increase
7 University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder), United States of America (USA) 66.29 69.63 304 -4.1% Decrease
8 California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States of America (USA) 80.86 68.77 287 -22.3% Decrease
9 University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), United States of America (USA) 56.10 63.79 233 3.9% Increase
10 University of Washington (UW), United States of America (USA) 58.88 61.38 196 -4.8% Decrease
11 Columbia University in the City of New York (CU), United States of America (USA) 46.58 61.08 207 19.8% Increase
12 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), United States of America (USA) 68.59 60.74 173 -19.1% Decrease
13 Peking University (PKU), China 45.10 60.74 239 23.0% Increase
14 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United States of America (USA) 73.25 57.32 267 -28.5% Decrease
15 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), United States of America (USA) 50.77 52.48 151 -5.6% Decrease
16 University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), China 35.25 49.41 103 28.0% Increase
17 Tongji University, China 30.58 49.36 155 47.4% Increase
18 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), China 38.46 49.14 263 16.7% Increase
19 Yale University, United States of America (USA) 34.98 49.10 161 28.2% Increase
20 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States of America (USA) 46.06 46.71 153 -7.4% Decrease
21 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), United States of America (USA) 50.24 46.64 186 -15.2% Decrease
22 Stanford University, United States of America (USA) 52.19 46.37 159 -18.8% Decrease
23 The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Japan 44.95 46.13 124 -6.3% Decrease
24 National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), United States of America (USA) 44.15 45.19 142 -6.5% Decrease
25 The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), United States of America (USA) 35.67 44.68 137 14.4% Increase
26 University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), United States of America (USA) 45.45 43.25 139 -13.1% Decrease
27 University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK) 25.95 42.07 154 48.1% Increase
28 Tsinghua University, China 35.64 42.03 155 7.7% Increase
29 University of Toronto (U of T), Canada 33.62 41.17 108 11.8% Increase
30 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), United States of America (USA) 27.66 39.15 130 29.3% Increase
31 China University of Geosciences (CUG), China 32.15 38.53 107 9.5% Increase
32 Beijing Normal University (BNU), China 25.53 38.25 152 36.9% Increase
33 The University of Arizona (Arizona), United States of America (USA) 32.34 38.16 135 7.8% Increase
34 University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK) 31.65 37.37 140 7.9% Increase
35 University of Michigan (U-M), United States of America (USA) 40.19 36.83 121 -16.3% Decrease
36 Max Planck Society, Germany 25.88 35.61 157 25.7% Increase
37 The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia 24.26 35.51 91 33.7% Increase
38 Utrecht University (UU), Netherlands 37.79 35.18 119 -15.0% Decrease
39 Harvard University, United States of America (USA) 38.31 34.66 142 -17.4% Decrease
40 University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), United States of America (USA) 25.78 33.70 170 19.4% Increase
41 Imperial College London (ICL), United Kingdom (UK) 31.13 33.11 114 -2.9% Decrease
42 Arizona State University (ASU), United States of America (USA) 31.89 32.72 111 -6.3% Decrease
43 University of California, Davis (UC Davis), United States of America (USA) 23.64 32.52 103 25.6% Increase
44 Princeton University, United States of America (USA) 30.82 32.44 140 -3.9% Decrease
45 University of California, Irvine (UCI), United States of America (USA) 33.66 32.16 101 -12.7% Decrease
46 Colorado State University, United States of America (USA) 32.43 32.01 102 -9.8% Decrease
47 University of Minnesota (UMN), United States of America (USA) 41.98 31.67 125 -31.1% Decrease
48 Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), China 23.17 31.59 60 24.5% Increase
49 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), United States of America (USA) 25.03 31.36 90 14.5% Increase
50 University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia 31.77 30.66 99 -11.8% Decrease
51 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), United States of America (USA) 26.82 30.50 80 3.9% Increase
52 University of Leeds, United Kingdom (UK) 25.30 30.41 125 9.8% Increase
53 Zhejiang University (ZJU), China 22.03 30.07 58 24.7% Increase
54 Wuhan University (WHU), China 18.35 29.88 62 48.8% Increase
55 China Meteorological Administration (CMA), China 23.01 29.87 107 18.6% Increase
56 University of Alberta (U of A), Canada 28.66 29.64 75 -5.5% Decrease
57 Leibniz Association, Germany 19.44 29.35 138 37.9% Increase
58 Cornell University, United States of America (USA) 17.87 29.21 89 49.3% Increase
59 Texas A&M University (TAMU), United States of America (USA) 26.97 28.84 101 -2.3% Decrease
60 Australian National University (ANU), Australia 28.06 28.44 106 -7.4% Decrease
61 University of Bristol (UoB), United Kingdom (UK) 30.07 28.34 105 -13.9% Decrease
62 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), United States of America (USA) 28.09 27.78 85 -9.7% Decrease
63 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), United States of America (USA) 23.09 27.74 61 9.7% Increase
64 University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), United States of America (USA) 16.45 27.63 97 53.5% Increase
65 Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), China 15.31 27.43 85 63.6% Increase
66 University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UH Mānoa), United States of America (USA) 24.52 26.52 129 -1.2% Decrease
67 Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore 24.83 25.55 62 -6.0% Decrease
68 University of Bremen (Uni Bremen), Germany 18.46 24.84 87 22.9% Increase
69 Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain 20.50 24.74 113 10.2% Increase
70 National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), Italy 30.01 24.46 56 -25.6% Decrease
71 Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), Switzerland 21.52 24.40 78 3.6% Increase
72 Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), United States of America (USA) 37.85 24.20 98 -41.6% Decrease
73 The University of Iowa (UI), United States of America (USA) 18.44 23.95 86 18.6% Increase
74 University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), United States of America (USA) 38.26 23.94 105 -42.8% Decrease
75 Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), China 10.90 23.09 131 93.4% Increase
76 Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Canada 21.99 22.84 71 -5.1% Decrease
77 Duke University, United States of America (USA) 20.98 22.83 82 -0.6% Decrease
78 Curtin University, Australia 15.65 22.56 71 31.7% Increase
79 Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Japan 18.20 22.51 86 13.0% Increase
80 Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL), United States of America (USA) 19.17 22.08 61 5.2% Increase
81 Tohoku University, Japan 19.19 21.92 71 4.3% Increase
82 University of Exeter, United Kingdom (UK) 17.48 21.58 83 12.8% Increase
83 McGill University, Canada 18.47 21.56 80 6.6% Increase
84 Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Netherlands 16.78 21.52 57 17.2% Increase
85 Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Denmark 29.09 21.36 62 -32.9% Decrease
86 National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore 14.13 21.22 48 37.2% Increase
87 Institute of Research for Development (IRD), France 21.66 21.22 338 -10.5% Decrease
88 University of Oslo (UiO), Norway 22.63 20.99 81 -15.3% Decrease
89 Rice University, United States of America (USA) 21.93 20.82 78 -13.3% Decrease
90 Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Netherlands 20.18 20.73 56 -6.1% Decrease
91 Johns Hopkins University (JHU), United States of America (USA) 20.14 20.61 111 -6.5% Decrease
92 University of Southern California (USC), United States of America (USA) 10.21 20.29 55 81.4% Increase
93 Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS), United States of America (USA) 20.48 20.17 71 -10.0% Decrease
94 The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (UK) 14.97 19.97 78 21.9% Increase
95 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), United States of America (USA) 25.59 19.82 64 -29.2% Decrease
96 The University of Melbourne (UniMelb), Australia 13.86 19.82 72 30.6% Increase
97 UCL, United Kingdom (UK) 14.91 19.72 86 20.8% Increase
98 University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), United States of America (USA) 23.67 19.55 69 -24.5% Decrease
99 University of Florida (UF), United States of America (USA) 23.86 19.28 81 -26.2% Decrease
100 Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST), China 16.57 19.23 85 6.0% 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.