Nature Index

By modelling the course of climate change, scientists are building an arsenal to prepare for its impact.

Collaboration following the Fukushima disaster led to discoveries that could improve management of bluefin tuna.

A mutually beneficial collaboration between a water company and a small applied science university yields an innovative and sustainable treatment.

Top 5 Earth and environmental science articles by Altmetric Score from 2012 to 2017.

The scale of growth in cities challenges scientists and policy-makers.

Interdisciplinary encounters across the geosciences are yielding new insights into the workings of Earth and beyond.

Academic reward structures discourage the pursuit of vital research.

A description of the terminology and methodology used in this supplement, and a guide to the functionality available free online at natureindex.com

Urgent environmental problems central to national well-being jostle for the attention of China’s scientists as they strive to produce research with global prestige.

A graphic representation shows how Japan’s production of natural-science papers has fallen but some institutions shine.

Gakushuin University is the top-ranking institution when assessed on the quality of its research in the natural sciences.

Continuing decline in Japan’s research performance bodes ill for the country’s ambition to become a ‘super-smart’ society.

International collaborations are rising, but not enough to put Japan on the international researcher circuit.

Japan's vision of a high-tech, 'super-smart' society relies on sustained investment to arrest scientific decline.

Efforts to improve Japan's scientific status include top-down institutional change, but tradition is hard to break.

An institute’s work on warning and mitigation systems for catastrophic events is a national priority.

Across the scientific fields, Japanese researchers are bringing together the virtual and real worlds.

A push for more Japanese women of science.

With permanent academic jobs scarce, young researchers on temporary contracts are nervous about the future. The government wants industry to utilize their talents.

Osaka University bets on commercial-academic collaborations to survive.