2020 Research Leaders: Leading 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 Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China 891.72 959.80 2537 0.4% Increase
2 University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), China 185.75 260.35 560 30.7% Increase
3 French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France 241.25 233.30 1116 -9.8% Decrease
4 Nanjing University (NJU), China 209.05 229.72 424 2.5% Increase
5 Max Planck Society, Germany 229.03 223.01 563 -9.2% Decrease
6 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), China 148.38 201.92 1026 26.9% Increase
7 Tsinghua University, China 185.65 198.25 477 -0.4% Decrease
8 Peking University (PKU), China 191.09 194.98 689 -4.8% Decrease
9 Nankai University (NKU), China 147.54 183.59 419 16.1% Increase
10 Sichuan University (SCU), China 136.25 172.75 245 18.3% Increase
11 Zhejiang University (ZJU), China 146.87 170.88 334 8.5% Increase
12 Soochow University, China 124.48 159.53 276 19.5% Increase
13 Stanford University, United States of America (USA) 158.89 156.84 340 -7.9% Decrease
14 Northwestern University (NU), United States of America (USA) 160.11 152.75 290 -11.0% Decrease
15 The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Japan 141.49 148.05 295 -2.4% Decrease
16 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States of America (USA) 165.23 146.00 321 -17.6% Decrease
17 Xiamen University (XMU), China 102.77 143.42 239 30.2% Increase
18 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland 102.90 138.33 232 25.4% Increase
19 Kyoto University, Japan 148.36 135.81 263 -14.6% Decrease
20 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland 129.66 134.50 264 -3.2% Decrease
21 Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), China 86.89 133.08 252 42.8% Increase
22 Fudan University, China 126.75 132.05 263 -2.8% Decrease
23 Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore 142.25 130.57 280 -14.4% Decrease
24 University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK) 132.81 129.69 251 -8.9% Decrease
25 Wuhan University (WHU), China 110.07 128.79 211 9.1% Increase
26 University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), United States of America (USA) 116.64 126.28 312 1.0% Increase
27 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany 116.77 125.77 484 0.5% Increase
28 Jilin University (JLU), China 86.36 123.73 250 33.6% Increase
29 Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), China 102.92 121.82 304 10.4% Increase
30 National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore 119.66 118.69 277 -7.5% Decrease
31 University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK) 119.36 116.02 249 -9.3% Decrease
32 Hunan University (HNU), China 95.27 109.79 187 7.5% Increase
33 Harvard University, United States of America (USA) 121.68 105.01 261 -19.5% Decrease
34 Tianjin University (TJU), China 79.01 101.37 355 19.7% Increase
35 Osaka University, Japan 91.20 101.31 187 3.6% Increase
36 East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), China 92.88 100.16 157 0.6% Increase
37 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), United States of America (USA) 107.25 97.89 182 -14.9% Decrease
38 University of Michigan (U-M), United States of America (USA) 95.96 94.46 180 -8.2% Decrease
39 Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), China 63.34 93.33 172 37.4% Increase
40 Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), Japan 72.79 92.00 154 17.9% Increase
41 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), United States of America (USA) 90.04 91.57 205 -5.1% Decrease
42 University of Toronto (U of T), Canada 97.62 91.29 149 -12.8% Decrease
43 Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China 72.50 89.73 216 15.4% Increase
44 Leibniz Association, Germany 71.60 88.20 254 14.9% Increase
45 Cornell University, United States of America (USA) 68.10 88.05 223 20.6% Increase
46 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), United States of America (USA) 101.37 86.43 171 -20.5% Decrease
47 South China University of Technology (SCUT), China 81.74 86.26 195 -1.6% Decrease
48 University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), United States of America (USA) 80.17 84.73 178 -1.4% Decrease
49 University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), United States of America (USA) 64.27 81.35 141 18.1% Increase
50 University of Minnesota (UMN), United States of America (USA) 92.05 81.10 130 -17.8% Decrease
51 East China Normal University (ECNU), China 67.81 81.09 163 11.5% Increase
52 Fuzhou University (FZU), China 56.83 79.92 140 31.2% Increase
53 Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), China 57.94 79.10 202 27.3% Increase
54 California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States of America (USA) 77.30 78.34 140 -5.5% Decrease
55 Lanzhou University (LZU), China 75.61 77.32 149 -4.6% Decrease
56 The University of Manchester (UoM), United Kingdom (UK) 75.61 76.57 157 -5.5% Decrease
57 Shandong University (SDU), China 58.60 73.56 171 17.1% Increase
58 Dalian University of Technology (DUT), China 56.66 73.48 138 21.0% Increase
59 Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), Germany 91.32 73.23 159 -25.2% Decrease
60 Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), United States of America (USA) 54.74 70.42 158 20.0% Increase
61 University of Pennsylvania (Penn), United States of America (USA) 77.88 69.49 155 -16.8% Decrease
62 RWTH Aachen University (RWTH Aachen), Germany 65.10 69.40 140 -0.6% Decrease
63 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), United States of America (USA) 89.27 69.19 298 -27.7% Decrease
64 Seoul National University (SNU), South Korea 68.58 67.57 131 -8.1% Decrease
65 Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT), China 63.01 67.22 147 -0.5% Decrease
66 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), South Korea 74.34 66.81 145 -16.2% Decrease
67 Hokkaido University, Japan 60.92 66.19 130 1.3% Increase
68 The University of Chicago (UChicago), United States of America (USA) 66.90 65.82 149 -8.2% Decrease
69 Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany 65.31 65.46 148 -6.5% Decrease
70 Imperial College London (ICL), United Kingdom (UK) 65.33 64.71 175 -7.6% Decrease
71 University of Münster (WWU), Germany 76.30 64.02 99 -21.7% Decrease
72 Southwest University (SWU), China 46.30 63.38 79 27.7% Increase
73 Columbia University in the City of New York (CU), United States of America (USA) 53.21 62.88 142 10.2% Increase
74 Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU), China 44.74 62.59 152 30.5% Increase
75 Yale University, United States of America (USA) 68.97 62.25 102 -15.8% Decrease
76 Princeton University, United States of America (USA) 70.54 62.16 109 -17.8% Decrease
77 Shandong Normal University (SDNU), China 65.27 61.88 90 -11.6% Decrease
78 Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), China 42.83 61.22 139 33.3% Increase
79 Zhengzhou University (ZZU), China 33.52 61.11 193 70.1% Increase
80 Johns Hopkins University (JHU), United States of America (USA) 46.72 60.78 132 21.3% Increase
81 University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), United States of America (USA) 65.25 59.73 156 -14.6% Decrease
82 Texas A&M University (TAMU), United States of America (USA) 66.34 59.61 108 -16.2% Decrease
83 Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain 62.51 59.16 257 -11.7% Decrease
84 University of Washington (UW), United States of America (USA) 69.87 58.72 129 -21.6% Decrease
85 The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), United States of America (USA) 62.71 58.50 127 -13.0% Decrease
86 Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Russia 54.75 58.04 173 -1.1% Decrease
87 Kyushu University, Japan 46.37 58.03 121 16.7% Increase
88 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), United States of America (USA) 44.86 56.59 138 17.7% Increase
89 Tohoku University, Japan 59.39 56.56 124 -11.2% Decrease
90 Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India 53.95 56.55 111 -2.2% Decrease
91 The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), United States of America (USA) 59.95 56.53 108 -12.1% Decrease
92 Nagoya University, Japan 69.34 56.19 131 -24.4% Decrease
93 University of Würzburg (JMU), Germany 42.79 56.06 99 22.2% Increase
94 Beijing Normal University (BNU), China 33.51 55.72 115 55.1% Increase
95 Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), United States of America (USA) 62.41 55.69 246 -16.8% Decrease
96 The Ohio State University (OSU), United States of America (USA) 48.37 55.64 90 7.3% Increase
97 Purdue University, United States of America (USA) 66.19 54.87 115 -22.7% Decrease
98 University of Bristol (UoB), United Kingdom (UK) 58.26 54.51 97 -12.7% Decrease
99 University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia 42.90 54.50 147 18.5% Increase
100 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia 58.26 54.26 113 -13.1% 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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