2019 Research Leaders: Leading institutions in Earth & environmental sciences

The 2019 Research Leaders are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018.

Table criteria

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Position Institution Share 2017 Share 2018 Count 2018 Change in Share 2017–2018
1 Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China 130.23 155.91 478
19.7%
2 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany 87.48 99.34 315
13.6%
3 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland 61.60 68.92 181
11.9%
4 French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France 58.24 67.20 507
15.4%
5 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States of America (USA) 63.16 57.12 263
-9.6%
6 California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States of America (USA) 65.01 50.99 195
-21.6%
7 University of Washington (UW), United States of America (USA) 45.27 48.90 143
8.0%
8 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United States of America (USA) 63.87 46.78 197
-26.7%
9 Columbia University in the City of New York (CU), United States of America (USA) 38.49 44.83 159
16.5%
10 Nanjing University (NJU), China 35.38 44.75 134
26.5%
11 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), United States of America (USA) 47.33 42.09 115
-11.1%
12 University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder), United States of America (USA) 42.61 39.11 173
-8.2%
13 National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), United States of America (USA) 42.62 38.10 114
-10.6%
14 University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), United States of America (USA) 37.72 37.82 110
0.3%
15 The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Japan 33.68 36.37 90
8.0%
16 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), United States of America (USA) 35.35 33.54 104
-5.1%
17 University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK) 23.45 32.76 118
39.7%
18 The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), United States of America (USA) 26.46 31.51 94
19.1%
19 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), China 25.22 30.36 156
20.4%
20 University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), China 17.44 30.32 117
73.8%
21 Peking University (PKU), China 25.37 30.11 145
18.7%
22 University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), United States of America (USA) 29.18 29.98 116
2.7%
23 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States of America (USA) 30.39 28.98 89
-4.6%
24 Yale University, United States of America (USA) 20.92 28.05 100
34.1%
25 University of Toronto (U of T), Canada 22.59 28.04 69
24.2%
26 University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK) 21.70 27.98 105
28.9%
27 Beijing Normal University (BNU), China 15.55 27.85 97
79.1%
28 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), United States of America (USA) 24.57 26.79 98
9.1%
29 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), United States of America (USA) 18.66 26.68 67
42.9%
30 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), United States of America (USA) 24.02 25.55 89
6.3%
31 China Meteorological Administration (CMA), China 20.24 25.18 88
24.4%
32 University of Leeds, United Kingdom (UK) 18.22 24.71 107
35.7%
33 The University of Arizona (Arizona), United States of America (USA) 25.90 24.58 74
-5.1%
34 Stanford University, United States of America (USA) 27.38 23.81 84
-13.0%
35 Utrecht University (UU), Netherlands 28.43 23.78 75
-16.4%
36 University of Bristol (UoB), United Kingdom (UK) 23.69 23.56 84
-0.5%
37 Max Planck Society, Germany 20.07 22.97 94
14.4%
38 University of California, Irvine (UCI), United States of America (USA) 23.72 22.90 71
-3.5%
39 Leibniz Association, Germany 13.12 22.86 92
74.3%
40 Australian National University (ANU), Australia 24.33 22.70 87
-6.7%
41 China University of Geosciences (CUG), China 14.48 22.64 102
56.3%
42 Colorado State University, United States of America (USA) 28.11 22.24 73
-20.9%
43 Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), China 9.14 21.77 107
138.2%
44 University of Bremen (Uni Bremen), Germany 16.60 21.09 66
27.1%
45 National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), Italy 28.59 21.05 50
-26.4%
46 China University of Geosciences, Beijing (CUGB), China 14.76 20.30 79
37.5%
47 Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Japan 16.04 19.92 74
24.2%
48 University of Maryland (UMD), United States of America (USA) 14.69 19.78 99
34.7%
49 University of California, Davis (UC Davis), United States of America (USA) 18.26 19.02 57
4.2%
50 Princeton University, United States of America (USA) 21.16 18.99 79
-10.3%
51 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), United States of America (USA) 18.08 18.49 52
2.3%
52 Harvard University, United States of America (USA) 27.07 18.43 73
-31.9%
53 Tsinghua University, China 15.12 18.43 82
21.9%
54 University of Minnesota (UMN), United States of America (USA) 24.40 18.00 68
-26.2%
55 Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Canada 17.69 17.91 49
1.2%
56 China Earthquake Administration (CEA), China 15.59 17.85 51
14.5%
57 Imperial College London (ICL), United Kingdom (UK) 20.22 17.67 65
-12.6%
58 McGill University, Canada 12.69 17.19 58
35.5%
59 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), United States of America (USA) 12.04 16.98 51
41.1%
60 University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), United States of America (USA) 25.59 16.87 73
-34.1%
61 Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST), China 13.71 16.72 72
22.0%
62 University of Oslo (UiO), Norway 18.47 16.56 64
-10.3%
63 University of Michigan (U-M), United States of America (USA) 24.82 16.19 55
-34.8%
64 Texas A&M University (TAMU), United States of America (USA) 18.44 16.14 56
-12.4%
65 Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain 11.28 16.00 73
41.9%
66 Arizona State University (ASU), United States of America (USA) 13.30 15.81 56
18.9%
67 University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UH Mānoa), United States of America (USA) 17.42 15.79 80
-9.4%
68 University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), United States of America (USA) 12.59 15.74 57
25.0%
69 Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore 12.46 15.70 36
26.1%
70 Cornell University, United States of America (USA) 13.89 15.59 48
12.2%
71 Tongji University, China 10.14 15.32 57
51.1%
72 Oregon State University, United States of America (USA) 16.20 14.74 59
-9.0%
73 Monash University, Australia 8.53 14.49 54
70.0%
74 Lanzhou University (LZU), China 11.72 14.45 25
23.3%
75 Earth Sciences New Zealand, New Zealand 16.11 14.45 57
-10.3%
76 The University of Melbourne (UniMelb), Australia 9.60 14.33 58
49.3%
77 University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia 19.80 14.28 65
-27.9%
78 The University of Utah (Utah), United States of America (USA) 19.87 14.16 48
-28.8%
79 Wuhan University (WHU), China 9.89 14.15 33
43.1%
80 Curtin University, Australia 6.85 14.08 52
105.7%
81 Purdue University, United States of America (USA) 14.83 13.90 53
-6.3%
82 Zhejiang University (ZJU), China 10.16 13.83 27
36.1%
83 University of Southern California (USC), United States of America (USA) 7.47 13.68 39
83.0%
84 Tohoku University, Japan 13.39 13.51 34
0.9%
85 French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), France 14.74 13.48 221
-8.5%
86 Rice University, United States of America (USA) 16.32 13.22 49
-19.0%
87 Stockholm University, Sweden 10.93 13.19 50
20.6%
88 University of Southampton (Soton), United Kingdom (UK) 11.59 12.97 66
11.9%
89 Met Office, United Kingdom (UK) 10.11 12.80 51
26.7%
90 Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), China 5.77 12.66 50
119.5%
91 Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), United States of America (USA) 23.15 12.64 52
-45.4%
92 University of Alberta (U of A), Canada 13.82 12.64 36
-8.5%
93 The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia 8.54 12.42 38
45.5%
94 UCL, United Kingdom (UK) 10.67 12.40 56
16.3%
95 Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI), Israel 13.30 12.20 38
-8.2%
96 University of Oregon (UO), United States of America (USA) 9.75 12.07 33
23.8%
97 Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), United States of America (USA) 5.23 12.03 44
130.0%
98 The University of Oklahoma (OU), United States of America (USA) 10.56 11.99 57
13.6%
99 Durham University, United Kingdom (UK) 11.09 11.71 60
5.6%
100 University of Miami (UM), United States of America (USA) 10.53 11.69 45
11.0%
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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.