2021 Research Leaders: Leading institutions in Earth & environmental sciences

The 2021 Research Leaders are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020.

Table criteria

Position Institution Share 2019 Share 2020 Count 2020 Change in Adjusted Share* 2019–2020
1 Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China 295.16 329.02 1050 6.6% Increase
2 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany 119.55 144.27 471 15.4% Increase
3 French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France 92.19 90.66 758 -6.0% Decrease
4 Nanjing University (NJU), China 81.35 86.79 265 2.0% Increase
5 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland 90.38 86.30 261 -8.7% Decrease
6 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States of America (USA) 99.23 84.94 425 -18.2% Decrease
7 California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States of America (USA) 63.80 73.08 284 9.5% Increase
8 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United States of America (USA) 68.12 71.33 314 0.1% Increase
9 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), United States of America (USA) 72.96 69.42 188 -9.1% Decrease
10 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), China 62.92 68.64 381 4.3% Increase
11 Peking University (PKU), China 51.49 68.40 276 27.0% Increase
12 Tongji University, China 56.46 65.10 217 10.2% Increase
13 Columbia University in the City of New York (CU), United States of America (USA) 64.59 63.33 224 -6.3% Decrease
14 China University of Geosciences (CUG), China 52.05 59.92 169 10.0% Increase
15 Stanford University, United States of America (USA) 67.14 58.20 183 -17.1% Decrease
16 University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), China 55.85 55.89 145 -4.3% Decrease
17 University of Washington (UW), United States of America (USA) 66.04 55.25 206 -20.0% Decrease
18 University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), United States of America (USA) 55.04 53.13 214 -7.7% Decrease
19 Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), China 34.51 52.49 159 45.4% Increase
20 University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder), United States of America (USA) 59.20 51.54 261 -16.8% Decrease
21 Tsinghua University, China 41.76 50.03 183 14.5% Increase
22 Yale University, United States of America (USA) 34.54 48.69 197 34.7% Increase
23 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States of America (USA) 43.40 48.31 156 6.4% Increase
24 University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), United States of America (USA) 37.93 47.80 172 20.5% Increase
25 China Meteorological Administration (CMA), China 43.24 46.81 147 3.5% Increase
26 The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia 34.49 46.58 118 29.1% Increase
27 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), United States of America (USA) 44.84 46.23 163 -1.5% Decrease
28 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), United States of America (USA) 40.67 45.79 184 7.6% Increase
29 National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), United States of America (USA) 40.82 45.64 171 6.9% Increase
30 The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), United States of America (USA) 43.13 45.53 141 0.9% Increase
31 The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Japan 49.91 45.46 142 -12.9% Decrease
32 University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia 30.33 43.28 139 36.4% Increase
33 University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK) 43.17 43.12 168 -4.5% Decrease
34 University of Toronto (U of T), Canada 37.42 42.67 135 9.0% Increase
35 University of Michigan (U-M), United States of America (USA) 41.42 42.40 148 -2.1% Decrease
36 Arizona State University (ASU), United States of America (USA) 22.44 40.74 140 73.5% Increase
37 University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK) 37.84 39.87 149 0.7% Increase
38 Beijing Normal University (BNU), China 32.20 39.77 191 18.1% Increase
39 Harvard University, United States of America (USA) 40.64 39.51 157 -7.1% Decrease
40 Zhejiang University (ZJU), China 36.34 38.05 89 0.1% Increase
41 University of Minnesota (UMN), United States of America (USA) 35.26 36.77 147 -0.3% Decrease
42 The University of Arizona (Arizona), United States of America (USA) 31.15 36.48 135 11.9% Increase
43 Colorado State University, United States of America (USA) 39.15 35.71 126 -12.8% Decrease
44 Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), China 27.95 35.24 234 20.5% Increase
45 Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), China 29.45 34.34 78 11.4% Increase
46 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), United States of America (USA) 28.20 34.33 103 16.3% Increase
47 Princeton University, United States of America (USA) 33.44 33.55 142 -4.1% Decrease
48 Max Planck Society, Germany 34.31 32.89 157 -8.4% Decrease
49 Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST), China 23.40 32.41 136 32.4% Increase
50 Utrecht University (UU), Netherlands 37.17 31.55 123 -18.9% Decrease
51 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), United States of America (USA) 35.79 31.30 123 -16.4% Decrease
52 Imperial College London (ICL), United Kingdom (UK) 32.24 31.30 124 -7.2% Decrease
53 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), United States of America (USA) 35.73 31.25 121 -16.4% Decrease
54 Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain 30.80 31.25 149 -3.0% Decrease
55 Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore 34.02 29.20 65 -18.0% Decrease
56 University of California, Irvine (UCI), United States of America (USA) 26.28 28.53 99 3.7% Increase
57 Australian National University (ANU), Australia 24.52 28.37 110 10.6% Increase
58 University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), United States of America (USA) 32.71 28.17 111 -17.7% Decrease
59 University of Leeds, United Kingdom (UK) 32.80 27.92 119 -18.6% Decrease
60 University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UH Mānoa), United States of America (USA) 25.66 27.79 150 3.5% Increase
61 University of Oslo (UiO), Norway 26.45 27.30 93 -1.3% Decrease
62 Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), United States of America (USA) 18.42 27.26 94 41.5% Increase
63 University of California, Davis (UC Davis), United States of America (USA) 18.13 27.22 114 43.5% Increase
64 Fudan University, China 14.71 27.12 79 76.3% Increase
65 University of Alberta (U of A), Canada 34.99 27.03 82 -26.2% Decrease
66 University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), United States of America (USA) 29.68 26.69 160 -14.1% Decrease
67 Wuhan University (WHU), China 28.19 26.56 57 -9.9% Decrease
68 UCL, United Kingdom (UK) 20.49 26.56 129 23.9% Increase
69 Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Netherlands 17.87 26.04 78 39.3% Increase
70 Texas A&M University (TAMU), United States of America (USA) 26.20 25.39 123 -7.4% Decrease
71 Curtin University, Australia 21.49 25.19 76 12.0% Increase
72 Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), China 10.50 25.12 86 128.6% Increase
73 The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), China 26.09 25.06 61 -8.2% Decrease
74 Brown University, United States of America (USA) 19.84 25.05 84 20.7% Increase
75 Monash University, Australia 22.82 24.86 87 4.1% Increase
76 Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), United States of America (USA) 29.09 24.52 101 -19.4% Decrease
77 University of Bristol (UoB), United Kingdom (UK) 27.13 24.04 101 -15.3% Decrease
78 The University of Utah (Utah), United States of America (USA) 17.22 23.91 77 32.7% Increase
79 Leibniz Association, Germany 26.58 23.84 137 -14.3% Decrease
80 Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Denmark 14.97 23.68 70 51.2% Increase
81 Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), Switzerland 24.20 23.67 80 -6.5% Decrease
82 University of Southern California (USC), United States of America (USA) 22.42 23.63 69 0.7% Increase
83 Johns Hopkins University (JHU), United States of America (USA) 20.71 23.00 119 6.1% Increase
84 Dalian University of Technology (DUT), China 15.57 22.48 29 38.0% Increase
85 The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (UK) 16.84 22.46 85 27.5% Increase
86 Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Canada 22.10 22.42 80 -3.1% Decrease
87 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), United States of America (USA) 23.66 22.33 56 -9.8% Decrease
88 The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia 17.81 22.31 124 19.7% Increase
89 Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Russia 18.63 22.27 94 14.2% Increase
90 National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore 12.89 22.25 54 65.0% Increase
91 Institute of Research for Development (IRD), France 21.86 21.45 342 -6.2% Decrease
92 University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), United States of America (USA) 25.61 21.32 88 -20.4% Decrease
93 Rice University, United States of America (USA) 26.42 21.20 93 -23.3% Decrease
94 Cornell University, United States of America (USA) 25.84 21.05 112 -22.1% Decrease
95 McGill University, Canada 23.39 20.97 99 -14.3% Decrease
96 Nankai University (NKU), China 21.76 20.65 41 -9.3% Decrease
97 National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), Italy 17.88 20.54 66 9.8% Increase
98 Jinan University (JNU), China 14.06 20.43 49 38.9% Increase
99 Duke University, United States of America (USA) 21.77 20.32 86 -10.8% Decrease
100 Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Japan 22.90 20.11 77 -16.1% 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.