2020 Research Leaders: Leading institutions in Earth & environmental sciences

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

Table criteria

Position Institution Share 2018 Share 2019 Count 2019 Change in Adjusted Share* 2018–2019
1 Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China 261.73 295.16 889 9.3% Increase
2 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany 147.87 119.55 404 -21.7% Decrease
3 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States of America (USA) 91.19 99.23 465 5.4% Increase
4 French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France 96.44 92.19 792 -7.4% Decrease
5 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland 92.00 90.38 237 -4.8% Decrease
6 Nanjing University (NJU), China 80.20 81.35 236 -1.7% Decrease
7 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), United States of America (USA) 60.74 72.96 198 16.4% Increase
8 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United States of America (USA) 57.32 68.12 279 15.2% Increase
9 Stanford University, United States of America (USA) 46.37 67.14 204 40.3% Increase
10 University of Washington (UW), United States of America (USA) 61.38 66.04 211 4.2% Increase
11 Columbia University in the City of New York (CU), United States of America (USA) 61.08 64.59 214 2.5% Increase
12 California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States of America (USA) 68.77 63.80 274 -10.1% Decrease
13 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), China 49.14 62.92 341 24.1% Increase
14 University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder), United States of America (USA) 69.63 59.20 293 -17.6% Decrease
15 Tongji University, China 49.36 56.46 180 10.9% Increase
16 University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), China 49.41 55.85 134 9.5% Increase
17 University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), United States of America (USA) 63.79 55.04 217 -16.4% Decrease
18 China University of Geosciences (CUG), China 38.53 52.05 142 30.9% Increase
19 Peking University (PKU), China 60.74 51.49 210 -17.9% Decrease
20 The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Japan 46.13 49.91 137 4.8% Increase
21 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), United States of America (USA) 52.48 44.84 148 -17.2% Decrease
22 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States of America (USA) 46.71 43.40 157 -10.0% Decrease
23 China Meteorological Administration (CMA), China 29.87 43.24 141 40.3% Increase
24 University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK) 37.37 43.17 161 11.9% Increase
25 The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), United States of America (USA) 44.68 43.13 130 -6.5% Decrease
26 Tsinghua University, China 42.03 41.76 159 -3.7% Decrease
27 University of Michigan (U-M), United States of America (USA) 36.83 41.42 114 9.0% Increase
28 National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), United States of America (USA) 45.19 40.82 142 -12.5% Decrease
29 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), United States of America (USA) 46.64 40.67 173 -15.5% Decrease
30 Harvard University, United States of America (USA) 34.66 40.64 169 13.6% Increase
31 Colorado State University, United States of America (USA) 32.01 39.15 117 18.5% Increase
32 University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), United States of America (USA) 43.25 37.93 135 -15.0% Decrease
33 University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK) 42.07 37.84 141 -12.8% Decrease
34 University of Toronto (U of T), Canada 41.17 37.42 106 -11.9% Decrease
35 Utrecht University (UU), Netherlands 35.18 37.17 130 2.4% Increase
36 Zhejiang University (ZJU), China 30.07 36.34 92 17.1% Increase
37 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), United States of America (USA) 39.15 35.79 132 -11.4% Decrease
38 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), United States of America (USA) 31.36 35.73 97 10.4% Increase
39 University of Minnesota (UMN), United States of America (USA) 31.67 35.26 133 7.9% Increase
40 University of Alberta (U of A), Canada 29.64 34.99 88 14.4% Increase
41 Yale University, United States of America (USA) 49.10 34.54 151 -31.8% Decrease
42 Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), China 27.43 34.51 97 21.9% Increase
43 The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia 35.51 34.49 103 -5.9% Decrease
44 Max Planck Society, Germany 35.61 34.31 158 -6.6% Decrease
45 Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore 25.55 34.02 88 29.1% Increase
46 Princeton University, United States of America (USA) 32.44 33.44 124 -0.1% Decrease
47 University of Leeds, United Kingdom (UK) 30.41 32.80 134 4.5% Increase
48 University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), United States of America (USA) 23.94 32.71 121 32.4% Increase
49 Imperial College London (ICL), United Kingdom (UK) 33.11 32.24 121 -5.6% Decrease
50 Beijing Normal University (BNU), China 38.25 32.20 157 -18.4% Decrease
51 The University of Arizona (Arizona), United States of America (USA) 38.16 31.15 114 -20.9% Decrease
52 Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain 24.74 30.80 136 20.6% Increase
53 University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia 30.66 30.33 114 -4.1% Decrease
54 University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), United States of America (USA) 33.70 29.68 184 -14.6% Decrease
55 Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), China 31.59 29.45 58 -9.6% Decrease
56 Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), United States of America (USA) 24.20 29.09 107 16.5% Increase
57 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), United States of America (USA) 30.50 28.20 89 -10.4% Decrease
58 Wuhan University (WHU), China 29.88 28.19 60 -8.6% Decrease
59 Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), China 23.09 27.95 159 17.3% Increase
60 University of California, Riverside (UCR), United States of America (USA) 13.13 27.60 73 103.7% Increase
61 University of Bristol (UoB), United Kingdom (UK) 28.34 27.13 101 -7.2% Decrease
62 Leibniz Association, Germany 29.35 26.58 120 -12.2% Decrease
63 University of Oslo (UiO), Norway 20.99 26.45 90 22.1% Increase
64 Rice University, United States of America (USA) 20.82 26.42 85 23.0% Increase
65 University of California, Irvine (UCI), United States of America (USA) 32.16 26.28 106 -20.8% Decrease
66 Texas A&M University (TAMU), United States of America (USA) 28.84 26.20 105 -11.9% Decrease
67 The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), China 13.40 26.09 57 88.7% Increase
68 Cornell University, United States of America (USA) 29.21 25.84 106 -14.3% Decrease
69 University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UH Mānoa), United States of America (USA) 26.52 25.66 137 -6.2% Decrease
70 University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), United States of America (USA) 27.63 25.61 84 -10.2% Decrease
71 University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), United States of America (USA) 19.55 24.78 85 22.8% Increase
72 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland 14.52 24.72 80 64.9% Increase
73 Australian National University (ANU), Australia 28.44 24.52 106 -16.4% Decrease
74 Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), Switzerland 24.40 24.20 74 -3.9% Decrease
75 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), United States of America (USA) 27.74 23.66 53 -17.4% Decrease
76 Oregon State University, United States of America (USA) 18.80 23.57 99 21.5% Increase
77 Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST), China 19.23 23.40 108 17.9% Increase
78 McGill University, Canada 21.56 23.39 99 5.1% Increase
79 Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Japan 22.51 22.90 79 -1.4% Decrease
80 Monash University, Australia 18.80 22.82 90 17.7% Increase
81 University of Copenhagen (UCPH), Denmark 14.24 22.81 84 55.2% Increase
82 Arizona State University (ASU), United States of America (USA) 32.72 22.44 89 -33.5% Decrease
83 University of Southern California (USC), United States of America (USA) 20.29 22.42 58 7.1% Increase
84 Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Canada 22.84 22.10 70 -6.2% Decrease
85 University of Florida (UF), United States of America (USA) 19.28 22.10 93 11.1% Increase
86 China University of Geosciences, Beijing (CUGB), China 15.45 22.03 56 38.2% Increase
87 Institute of Research for Development (IRD), France 21.22 21.86 366 -0.1% Decrease
88 Duke University, United States of America (USA) 22.83 21.77 81 -7.6% Decrease
89 Nankai University (NKU), China 15.33 21.76 36 37.5% Increase
90 Curtin University, Australia 22.56 21.49 70 -7.7% Decrease
91 China Earthquake Administration (CEA), China 18.20 20.98 50 11.7% Increase
92 Johns Hopkins University (JHU), United States of America (USA) 20.61 20.71 98 -2.6% Decrease
93 UCL, United Kingdom (UK) 19.72 20.49 97 0.7% Increase
94 Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China 13.01 20.33 31 51.4% Increase
95 Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS), United States of America (USA) 20.17 20.06 60 -3.6% Decrease
96 University of Bergen (UIB), Norway 13.12 20.01 91 47.8% Increase
97 Aarhus University (AU), Denmark 14.11 19.92 77 36.8% Increase
98 Tohoku University, Japan 21.92 19.88 57 -12.1% Decrease
99 Brown University, United States of America (USA) 16.19 19.84 63 18.7% Increase
100 The University of Melbourne (UniMelb), Australia 19.82 19.81 71 -3.2% 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.