2017 Research Leaders: Leading institutions in Earth & environmental sciences

The 2017 Research Leaders are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016.

Table criteria

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Position Institution Share 2015 Share 2016 Count 2016 Change in Share 2015–2016
1 Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China 91.30 118.44 309
29.7%
2 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany 98.96 107.63 307
8.8%
3 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States of America (USA) 60.51 71.12 301
17.5%
4 French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France 60.39 70.82 479
17.3%
5 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United States of America (USA) 52.27 63.77 256
22.0%
6 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland 62.92 61.15 169
-2.8%
7 California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States of America (USA) 47.57 59.94 212
26.0%
8 The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Japan 38.98 50.36 101
29.2%
9 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), United States of America (USA) 53.30 50.21 124
-5.8%
10 University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), United States of America (USA) 40.49 48.71 128
20.3%
11 Columbia University in the City of New York (CU), United States of America (USA) 48.93 48.41 146
-1.1%
12 University of Washington (UW), United States of America (USA) 36.48 46.26 133
26.8%
13 Stanford University, United States of America (USA) 46.18 44.57 111
-3.5%
14 National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), United States of America (USA) 25.96 40.04 119
54.2%
15 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), United States of America (USA) 29.78 39.85 103
33.8%
16 University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder), United States of America (USA) 42.60 36.76 181
-13.7%
17 National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), Italy 29.90 31.53 70
5.5%
18 University of Michigan (U-M), United States of America (USA) 19.73 31.50 70
59.6%
19 Harvard University, United States of America (USA) 21.34 31.38 92
47.0%
20 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States of America (USA) 27.25 28.83 82
5.8%
21 University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK) 21.97 28.22 97
28.5%
22 Nanjing University (NJU), China 22.27 27.82 85
24.9%
23 Peking University (PKU), China 19.98 27.58 113
38.0%
24 The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), United States of America (USA) 23.40 27.11 80
15.8%
25 Australian National University (ANU), Australia 21.21 26.80 61
26.4%
26 University of Leeds, United Kingdom (UK) 26.99 26.46 105
-2.0%
27 University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK) 21.44 26.04 92
21.4%
28 Utrecht University (UU), Netherlands 23.77 25.80 82
8.5%
29 University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), United States of America (USA) 35.87 24.76 101
-31.0%
30 Max Planck Society, Germany 18.99 24.22 87
27.5%
31 University of California, Irvine (UCI), United States of America (USA) 18.05 23.99 76
32.9%
32 Yale University, United States of America (USA) 15.67 23.84 68
52.1%
33 University of Toronto (U of T), Canada 21.67 23.84 63
10.0%
34 University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), United States of America (USA) 19.35 23.82 79
23.1%
35 Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Japan 16.78 22.58 64
34.5%
36 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), United States of America (USA) 25.63 22.50 64
-12.2%
37 Colorado State University, United States of America (USA) 17.95 22.07 64
23.0%
38 University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia 16.20 21.53 54
32.8%
39 Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), United States of America (USA) 21.28 21.09 63
-0.9%
40 Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain 20.87 20.27 72
-2.8%
41 University of Maryland (UMD), United States of America (USA) 20.15 20.20 100
0.3%
42 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), United States of America (USA) 12.27 20.06 51
63.4%
43 Leibniz Association, Germany 25.44 20.05 70
-21.2%
44 The University of Arizona (Arizona), United States of America (USA) 20.12 20.03 59
-0.4%
45 McGill University, Canada 15.46 19.80 56
28.1%
46 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), United States of America (USA) 23.78 19.70 62
-17.2%
47 University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), China 12.53 19.27 54
53.8%
48 University of Bristol (UoB), United Kingdom (UK) 24.03 18.94 74
-21.2%
49 University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UH Mānoa), United States of America (USA) 19.94 18.88 66
-5.3%
50 University of Minnesota (UMN), United States of America (USA) 26.10 18.56 62
-28.9%
51 University of Miami (UM), United States of America (USA) 11.41 18.54 60
62.5%
52 Stockholm University, Sweden 20.23 18.38 66
-9.2%
53 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), United States of America (USA) 22.00 18.13 67
-17.6%
54 Tohoku University, Japan 17.75 17.52 45
-1.3%
55 University of Alberta (U of A), Canada 17.97 17.37 48
-3.3%
56 Texas A&M University (TAMU), United States of America (USA) 13.79 16.87 51
22.4%
57 Oregon State University, United States of America (USA) 18.14 16.84 61
-7.2%
58 Brown University, United States of America (USA) 11.72 16.74 36
42.8%
59 University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), United States of America (USA) 12.02 16.60 58
38.1%
60 Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Canada 24.98 16.58 49
-33.6%
61 Princeton University, United States of America (USA) 17.14 16.39 61
-4.4%
62 French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), France 12.77 16.38 198
28.2%
63 Imperial College London (ICL), United Kingdom (UK) 12.16 15.96 61
31.3%
64 Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), Germany 8.27 15.82 35
91.4%
65 The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (UK) 14.11 15.62 56
10.6%
66 Beijing Normal University (BNU), China 14.38 15.47 64
7.6%
67 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (RU), United States of America (USA) 11.62 15.44 48
32.9%
68 China Meteorological Administration (CMA), China 13.11 15.43 55
17.7%
69 China Earthquake Administration (CEA), China 13.76 14.83 45
7.7%
70 Monash University, Australia 13.16 14.77 47
12.2%
71 Tsinghua University, China 12.58 14.74 66
17.2%
72 Met Office, United Kingdom (UK) 13.74 14.72 34
7.1%
73 University of Florida (UF), United States of America (USA) 18.54 14.66 50
-20.9%
74 The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia 20.10 14.32 58
-28.8%
75 University of Copenhagen (UCPH), Denmark 13.31 14.28 59
7.3%
76 Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST), China 13.56 14.08 46
3.8%
77 University of Southern California (USC), United States of America (USA) 12.23 14.07 31
15.0%
78 China University of Geosciences (CUG), China 6.70 13.88 53
107.3%
79 National Research Council (CNR), Italy 10.83 13.81 41
27.5%
80 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), China 8.23 13.61 73
65.3%
81 Duke University, United States of America (USA) 7.25 13.55 38
86.8%
82 University of California, Riverside (UCR), United States of America (USA) 12.51 13.54 33
8.2%
83 University of Oslo (UiO), Norway 9.34 13.40 50
43.6%
84 The University of Utah (Utah), United States of America (USA) 17.69 13.08 36
-26.1%
85 Academia Sinica, Taiwan 11.01 12.98 30
17.9%
86 Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), China 12.02 12.87 49
7.1%
87 NERC British Antarctic Survey (BAS), United Kingdom (UK) 6.00 12.74 33
112.4%
88 Arizona State University (ASU), United States of America (USA) 15.90 12.63 32
-20.6%
89 China University of Geosciences, Beijing (CUGB), China 5.71 12.58 50
120.3%
90 Cornell University, United States of America (USA) 9.29 12.49 34
34.4%
91 University of Reading, United Kingdom (UK) 11.03 12.45 55
12.9%
92 Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS), United States of America (USA) 8.99 12.37 41
37.5%
93 Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI), Israel 14.03 12.27 25
-12.5%
94 Durham University, United Kingdom (UK) 12.43 12.11 57
-2.6%
95 Florida State University (FSU), United States of America (USA) 5.02 11.93 48
137.7%
96 Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore 12.15 11.75 29
-3.2%
97 Nagoya University, Japan 5.76 11.71 24
103.4%
98 Earth Sciences New Zealand, New Zealand 13.28 11.68 53
-12.0%
99 Indiana University (IU), United States of America (USA) 5.50 11.58 27
110.5%
100 Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Russia 9.91 11.52 51
16.2%
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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 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/territory’s publication output in 82 high-quality natural science publications. The publications were chosen by an independent group of researchers. The list is reviewed periodically and journals may be removed or added.
  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 the data in the above table is published 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 research leaders tables.

Research Leaders tables from previous years are also updated annually to reflect any changes to the database. This means rankings and metrics may differ from the table when first released.


Numerical information only (in the tables above) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International.