2020 Research Leaders: Leading academic institutions in chemistry

The 2020 Research Leaders are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019.

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Position Institution Share 2018 Share 2019 Count 2019 Change in Adjusted Share* 2018–2019
1 University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), China 185.75 260.35 560 30.7% Increase
2 Nanjing University (NJU), China 209.05 229.72 424 2.5% Increase
3 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), China 148.38 201.92 1026 26.9% Increase
4 Tsinghua University, China 185.65 198.25 477 -0.4% Decrease
5 Peking University (PKU), China 191.09 194.98 689 -4.8% Decrease
6 Nankai University (NKU), China 147.54 183.59 419 16.1% Increase
7 Sichuan University (SCU), China 136.25 172.75 245 18.3% Increase
8 Zhejiang University (ZJU), China 146.87 170.88 334 8.5% Increase
9 Soochow University, China 124.48 159.53 276 19.5% Increase
10 Stanford University, United States of America (USA) 158.89 156.84 340 -7.9% Decrease
11 Northwestern University (NU), United States of America (USA) 160.11 152.75 290 -11.0% Decrease
12 The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Japan 141.49 148.05 295 -2.4% Decrease
13 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States of America (USA) 165.23 146.00 321 -17.6% Decrease
14 Xiamen University (XMU), China 102.77 143.42 239 30.2% Increase
15 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland 102.90 138.33 232 25.4% Increase
16 Kyoto University, Japan 148.36 135.81 263 -14.6% Decrease
17 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland 129.66 134.50 264 -3.2% Decrease
18 Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), China 86.89 133.08 252 42.8% Increase
19 Fudan University, China 126.75 132.05 263 -2.8% Decrease
20 Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore 142.25 130.57 280 -14.4% Decrease
21 University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK) 132.81 129.69 251 -8.9% Decrease
22 Wuhan University (WHU), China 110.07 128.79 211 9.1% Increase
23 University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), United States of America (USA) 116.64 126.28 312 1.0% Increase
24 Jilin University (JLU), China 86.36 123.73 250 33.6% Increase
25 Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), China 102.92 121.82 304 10.4% Increase
26 National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore 119.66 118.69 277 -7.5% Decrease
27 University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK) 119.36 116.02 249 -9.3% Decrease
28 Hunan University (HNU), China 95.27 109.79 187 7.5% Increase
29 Harvard University, United States of America (USA) 121.68 105.01 261 -19.5% Decrease
30 Tianjin University (TJU), China 79.01 101.37 355 19.7% Increase
31 Osaka University, Japan 91.20 101.31 187 3.6% Increase
32 East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), China 92.88 100.16 157 0.6% Increase
33 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), United States of America (USA) 107.25 97.89 182 -14.9% Decrease
34 University of Michigan (U-M), United States of America (USA) 95.96 94.46 180 -8.2% Decrease
35 Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), China 63.34 93.33 172 37.4% Increase
36 Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), Japan 72.79 92.00 154 17.9% Increase
37 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), United States of America (USA) 90.04 91.57 205 -5.1% Decrease
38 University of Toronto (U of T), Canada 97.62 91.29 149 -12.8% Decrease
39 Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China 72.50 89.73 216 15.4% Increase
40 Cornell University, United States of America (USA) 68.10 88.05 223 20.6% Increase
41 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), United States of America (USA) 101.37 86.43 171 -20.5% Decrease
42 South China University of Technology (SCUT), China 81.74 86.26 195 -1.6% Decrease
43 University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), United States of America (USA) 80.17 84.73 178 -1.4% Decrease
44 University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), United States of America (USA) 64.27 81.35 141 18.1% Increase
45 University of Minnesota (UMN), United States of America (USA) 92.05 81.10 130 -17.8% Decrease
46 East China Normal University (ECNU), China 67.81 81.09 163 11.5% Increase
47 Fuzhou University (FZU), China 56.83 79.92 140 31.2% Increase
48 Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), China 57.94 79.10 202 27.3% Increase
49 California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States of America (USA) 77.30 78.34 140 -5.5% Decrease
50 Lanzhou University (LZU), China 75.61 77.32 149 -4.6% Decrease
51 The University of Manchester (UoM), United Kingdom (UK) 75.61 76.57 157 -5.5% Decrease
52 Shandong University (SDU), China 58.60 73.56 171 17.1% Increase
53 Dalian University of Technology (DUT), China 56.66 73.48 138 21.0% Increase
54 Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), Germany 91.32 73.23 159 -25.2% Decrease
55 Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), United States of America (USA) 54.74 70.42 158 20.0% Increase
56 University of Pennsylvania (Penn), United States of America (USA) 77.88 69.49 155 -16.8% Decrease
57 RWTH Aachen University (RWTH Aachen), Germany 65.10 69.40 140 -0.6% Decrease
58 Seoul National University (SNU), South Korea 68.58 67.57 131 -8.1% Decrease
59 Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT), China 63.01 67.22 147 -0.5% Decrease
60 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), South Korea 74.34 66.81 145 -16.2% Decrease
61 Hokkaido University, Japan 60.92 66.19 130 1.3% Increase
62 The University of Chicago (UChicago), United States of America (USA) 66.90 65.82 149 -8.2% Decrease
63 Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany 65.31 65.46 148 -6.5% Decrease
64 Imperial College London (ICL), United Kingdom (UK) 65.33 64.71 175 -7.6% Decrease
65 University of Münster (WWU), Germany 76.30 64.02 99 -21.7% Decrease
66 Southwest University (SWU), China 46.30 63.38 79 27.7% Increase
67 Columbia University in the City of New York (CU), United States of America (USA) 53.21 62.88 142 10.2% Increase
68 Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU), China 44.74 62.59 152 30.5% Increase
69 Yale University, United States of America (USA) 68.97 62.25 102 -15.8% Decrease
70 Princeton University, United States of America (USA) 70.54 62.16 109 -17.8% Decrease
71 Shandong Normal University (SDNU), China 65.27 61.88 90 -11.6% Decrease
72 Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), China 42.83 61.22 139 33.3% Increase
73 Zhengzhou University (ZZU), China 33.52 61.11 193 70.1% Increase
74 Johns Hopkins University (JHU), United States of America (USA) 46.72 60.78 132 21.3% Increase
75 University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), United States of America (USA) 65.25 59.73 156 -14.6% Decrease
76 Texas A&M University (TAMU), United States of America (USA) 66.34 59.61 108 -16.2% Decrease
77 Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany 48.63 59.19 158 13.5% Increase
78 University of Washington (UW), United States of America (USA) 69.87 58.72 129 -21.6% Decrease
79 The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), United States of America (USA) 62.71 58.50 127 -13.0% Decrease
80 Kyushu University, Japan 46.37 58.03 121 16.7% Increase
81 Tohoku University, Japan 59.39 56.56 124 -11.2% Decrease
82 The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), United States of America (USA) 59.95 56.53 108 -12.1% Decrease
83 Nagoya University, Japan 69.34 56.19 131 -24.4% Decrease
84 University of Würzburg (JMU), Germany 42.79 56.06 99 22.2% Increase
85 Beijing Normal University (BNU), China 33.51 55.72 115 55.1% Increase
86 The Ohio State University (OSU), United States of America (USA) 48.37 55.64 90 7.3% Increase
87 Purdue University, United States of America (USA) 66.19 54.87 115 -22.7% Decrease
88 University of Bristol (UoB), United Kingdom (UK) 58.26 54.51 97 -12.7% Decrease
89 University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia 42.90 54.50 147 18.5% Increase
90 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia 58.26 54.26 113 -13.1% Decrease
91 University of Göttingen, Germany 48.06 53.82 103 4.4% Increase
92 University of California, Irvine (UCI), United States of America (USA) 66.38 52.33 108 -26.5% Decrease
93 University of Freiburg (Uni Freiburg), Germany 33.26 49.55 80 39.0% Increase
94 Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), South Korea 36.25 49.48 119 27.3% Increase
95 Central South University (CSU), China 31.90 48.60 101 42.1% Increase
96 Duke University, United States of America (USA) 37.34 48.25 91 20.5% Increase
97 Southeast University (SEU), China 46.13 47.37 88 -4.2% Decrease
98 TU Dresden, Germany 33.79 46.09 117 27.2% Increase
99 The University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada 36.50 46.07 82 17.7% Increase
100 The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), China 46.80 45.79 135 -8.7% 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.


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