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

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Position Institution Share 2019 Share 2020 Count 2020 Change in Share 2019–2020
1 Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China 177.29 192.86 640
8.8%
2 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany 87.84 101.86 333
16.0%
3 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland 57.84 60.39 180
4.4%
4 California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States of America (USA) 47.87 58.82 209
22.9%
5 French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France 61.58 57.90 500
-6.0%
6 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United States of America (USA) 55.78 57.18 248
2.5%
7 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States of America (USA) 60.90 54.92 274
-9.8%
8 Columbia University in the City of New York (CU), United States of America (USA) 56.87 54.36 178
-4.4%
9 Nanjing University (NJU), China 44.94 49.32 165
9.7%
10 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), United States of America (USA) 52.50 46.76 130
-10.9%
11 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), China 41.38 44.98 245
8.7%
12 University of Washington (UW), United States of America (USA) 42.94 44.43 143
3.5%
13 Peking University (PKU), China 25.64 43.46 164
69.5%
14 China Meteorological Administration (CMA), China 37.65 41.91 130
11.3%
15 National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), United States of America (USA) 38.18 37.73 143
-1.2%
16 University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), United States of America (USA) 32.16 36.61 133
13.9%
17 The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Japan 37.03 35.85 108
-3.2%
18 University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder), United States of America (USA) 35.94 35.15 169
-2.2%
19 University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK) 33.98 34.20 115
0.6%
20 Stanford University, United States of America (USA) 42.38 34.06 101
-19.6%
21 China University of Geosciences (CUG), China 31.20 32.80 132
5.1%
22 The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), United States of America (USA) 32.17 32.09 101
-0.2%
23 Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST), China 23.57 32.01 119
35.8%
24 University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK) 31.30 30.91 118
-1.2%
25 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), United States of America (USA) 31.67 30.75 114
-2.9%
26 The University of Arizona (Arizona), United States of America (USA) 20.20 29.32 97
45.2%
27 Harvard University, United States of America (USA) 33.32 28.96 104
-13.1%
28 Colorado State University, United States of America (USA) 29.38 28.15 95
-4.2%
29 Yale University, United States of America (USA) 17.22 27.92 116
62.1%
30 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States of America (USA) 26.24 27.67 98
5.5%
31 Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), China 21.06 27.04 172
28.4%
32 China University of Geosciences, Beijing (CUGB), China 26.70 26.90 105
0.8%
33 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), United States of America (USA) 19.80 25.20 96
27.3%
34 University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), United States of America (USA) 32.32 25.07 107
-22.4%
35 Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), China 15.49 24.78 89
60.0%
36 University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), China 31.12 24.69 150
-20.7%
37 Max Planck Society, Germany 26.77 24.50 103
-8.5%
38 Australian National University (ANU), Australia 18.66 24.21 88
29.7%
39 University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia 17.33 23.69 87
36.6%
40 Utrecht University (UU), Netherlands 26.14 23.26 88
-11.0%
41 University of Michigan (U-M), United States of America (USA) 25.12 23.25 83
-7.5%
42 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), United States of America (USA) 26.34 23.14 94
-12.2%
43 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), United States of America (USA) 19.45 23.11 64
18.8%
44 University of California, Irvine (UCI), United States of America (USA) 20.08 22.99 72
14.5%
45 University of Leeds, United Kingdom (UK) 23.75 22.86 98
-3.8%
46 University of Oslo (UiO), Norway 19.99 21.95 65
9.8%
47 University of Toronto (U of T), Canada 15.40 21.11 77
37.0%
48 Arizona State University (ASU), United States of America (USA) 7.82 20.86 74
166.7%
49 Beijing Normal University (BNU), China 19.69 20.86 90
5.9%
50 Tsinghua University, China 19.78 20.15 73
1.9%
51 University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UH Mānoa), United States of America (USA) 15.21 19.79 109
30.1%
52 Imperial College London (ICL), United Kingdom (UK) 21.19 19.67 71
-7.2%
53 Fudan University, China 11.03 19.64 59
78.0%
54 Lanzhou University (LZU), China 14.61 19.50 43
33.4%
55 Zhejiang University (ZJU), China 15.28 19.40 56
27.0%
56 Tongji University, China 14.07 19.15 82
36.2%
57 Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain 18.26 19.01 84
4.1%
58 Princeton University, United States of America (USA) 17.53 18.91 80
7.9%
59 Texas A&M University (TAMU), United States of America (USA) 18.96 18.86 79
-0.5%
60 Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Japan 17.70 18.60 65
5.1%
61 University of Alberta (U of A), Canada 18.50 17.85 54
-3.5%
62 University of Bristol (UoB), United Kingdom (UK) 22.04 17.85 75
-19.0%
63 Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), United States of America (USA) 11.80 17.82 49
51.0%
64 China Earthquake Administration (CEA), China 18.80 17.69 57
-5.9%
65 National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), Italy 16.37 17.60 59
7.5%
66 University of Minnesota (UMN), United States of America (USA) 20.74 17.56 79
-15.3%
67 The University of Oklahoma (OU), United States of America (USA) 15.18 17.39 88
14.6%
68 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), United States of America (USA) 20.21 17.30 77
-14.4%
69 The University of Utah (Utah), United States of America (USA) 14.03 17.27 56
23.1%
70 Cornell University, United States of America (USA) 17.60 16.96 76
-3.6%
71 Curtin University, Australia 16.16 16.88 60
4.4%
72 Monash University, Australia 17.14 16.75 56
-2.2%
73 University of Southern California (USC), United States of America (USA) 15.33 16.45 52
7.3%
74 The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (UK) 15.47 16.43 62
6.2%
75 Durham University, United Kingdom (UK) 11.58 15.29 62
32.1%
76 University of California, Davis (UC Davis), United States of America (USA) 8.11 15.18 65
87.2%
77 University of Oregon (UO), United States of America (USA) 13.51 15.17 32
12.3%
78 Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), China 6.40 15.09 49
135.7%
79 The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia 9.17 15.01 87
63.6%
80 Brown University, United States of America (USA) 12.26 14.89 54
21.5%
81 University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), United States of America (USA) 20.96 14.77 63
-29.5%
82 McGill University, Canada 16.70 14.70 71
-12.0%
83 Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Canada 18.45 14.57 55
-21.0%
84 Leibniz Association, Germany 18.18 14.51 84
-20.2%
85 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), United States of America (USA) 11.38 14.43 53
26.8%
86 UCL, United Kingdom (UK) 14.05 14.38 82
2.3%
87 Earth Sciences New Zealand, New Zealand 15.26 14.09 62
-7.6%
88 Met Office, United Kingdom (UK) 8.96 14.05 58
56.8%
89 The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia 13.37 13.95 52
4.3%
90 Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI), Israel 10.12 13.76 42
36.0%
91 University of Copenhagen (UCPH), Denmark 14.39 13.70 56
-4.8%
92 Rice University, United States of America (USA) 19.93 13.45 58
-32.5%
93 Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), Switzerland 10.79 13.26 40
22.9%
94 Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Russia 13.03 13.20 59
1.3%
95 University of Tübingen (Uni Tübingen), Germany 7.80 13.03 37
67.0%
96 University of Maryland (UMD), United States of America (USA) 16.88 12.89 87
-23.7%
97 University of Bayreuth (UBT), Germany 10.62 12.76 32
20.1%
98 Tohoku University, Japan 15.74 12.73 39
-19.1%
99 University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), United States of America (USA) 13.20 12.73 50
-3.5%
100 University of Lausanne (UNIL), Switzerland 11.73 12.66 29
7.9%
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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.