2017 tables: Institutions - physical sciences

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

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# Institution Share 2015 Share 2016 Count 2016 Change in Adjusted Share* 2015–2016
1 Max Planck Society, Germany 320.16 318.30 1087 1.8%
2 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany 206.28 193.46 803 -4.0%
3 Leibniz Association, Germany 81.68 75.30 237 -5.6%
4 Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany 54.12 62.80 200 18.8%
5 Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), Germany 54.31 55.86 228 5.3%
6 TU Dresden, Germany 44.33 50.21 210 15.9%
7 Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), Germany 41.67 47.83 211 17.5%
8 Heidelberg University (Uni Heidelberg), Germany 33.43 39.62 240 21.3%
9 University of Würzburg (JMU), Germany 45.50 38.20 161 -14.1%
10 University of Hamburg (UHH), Germany 44.46 36.31 185 -16.4%
11 University of Regensburg (UR), Germany 29.68 31.82 60 9.7%
12 RWTH Aachen University (RWTH Aachen), Germany 31.93 30.69 207 -1.6%
13 University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Germany 32.72 30.26 92 -5.3%
14 University of Stuttgart, Germany 28.45 27.53 83 -1.0%
15 Free University of Berlin (FU Berlin), Germany 28.15 25.21 116 -8.3%
16 University of Bonn (Uni Bonn), Germany 30.39 24.13 133 -18.7%
17 Humboldt University of Berlin (HU Berlin), Germany 32.03 23.87 179 -23.7%
18 Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), Germany 18.25 22.30 54 25.1%
19 Technical University of Darmstadt (TU Darmstadt), Germany 15.91 22.08 73 42.0%
20 University of Cologne (UoC), Germany 17.61 21.01 68 22.1%
21 Goethe University Frankfurt (GU), Germany 19.49 18.98 70 -0.3%
22 University of Konstanz, Germany 15.86 18.86 35 21.7%
23 University of Göttingen, Germany 23.67 17.91 121 -22.5%
24 Leipzig University, Germany 11.77 16.75 33 45.6%
25 TU Dortmund University, Germany 11.02 16.57 145 53.8%
26 Leibniz University Hannover (LUH), Germany 22.62 16.47 52 -25.5%
27 Ulm University, Germany 14.69 15.97 52 11.3%
28 University of Freiburg (Uni Freiburg), Germany 16.74 15.83 109 -3.2%
29 University of Münster (WWU), Germany 14.71 15.45 78 7.5%
30 Friedrich Schiller University Jena (FSU), Germany 19.78 14.91 58 -22.9%
31 University of Bayreuth (UBT), Germany 11.10 13.85 25 27.8%
32 Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), Germany 17.23 13.57 68 -19.4%
33 University of Siegen, Germany 15.55 13.25 100 -12.8%
34 Philipps University of Marburg (Uni Marburg), Germany 7.77 12.57 26 65.7%
35 Fraunhofer Society, Germany 16.27 12.51 65 -21.3%
36 University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), Germany 10.52 12.21 33 18.8%
37 University of Kiel (CAU), Germany 14.67 11.69 27 -18.4%
38 University of Tübingen (Uni Tübingen), Germany 11.27 10.38 47 -5.7%
39 European Southern Observatory (ESO), Germany 13.27 9.10 91 -29.8%
40 Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU), Germany 7.82 7.67 21 0.3%
41 Saarland University (Saar-Uni), Germany 7.51 7.60 17 3.6%
42 Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), Germany 9.99 6.92 18 -29.2%
43 University of Potsdam, Germany 8.02 6.83 28 -12.9%
44 Ilmenau University of Technology (TU Ilmenau), Germany 8.43 6.79 13 -17.6%
45 Bielefeld University, Germany 10.82 6.60 12 -37.6%
46 University of Bremen (Uni Bremen), Germany 9.87 6.34 26 -34.3%
47 University of Augsburg, Germany 12.09 6.03 22 -49.0%
48 Technical University Braunschweig (TU Braunschweig), Germany 6.58 5.80 24 -9.7%
49 Paderborn University, Germany 5.87 5.51 18 -4.0%
50 Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Germany 9.74 5.28 20 -44.5%
51 University of Kaiserslautern (TU Kaiserslautern), Germany 7.67 5.19 28 -30.7%
52 Chemnitz University of Technology (TU Chemnitz), Germany 4.02 5.08 28 29.4%
53 University of Rostock, Germany 7.36 5.07 47 -29.5%
54 University of Wuppertal, Germany 6.73 4.40 88 -33.0%
55 European Magnetic Field Laboratory (EMFL), Germany 1.44 3.97 29 181.9%
56 Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg (OVGU), Germany 3.06 3.96 10 32.4%
57 University of Kassel, Germany 5.72 3.30 13 -40.9%
58 University of Oldenburg, Germany 4.64 2.99 12 -34.0%
59 BASF SE, Germany 2.90 2.93 27 3.5%
60 Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, Germany 2.61 2.86 13 12.3%
61 Constructor University, Germany 1.89 2.77 9 50.2%
62 Institute for Composite Materials (IVW), Germany 2.09 2.72 23 33.3%
62 Photonik-Zentrum Kaiserslautern e.V. (PZKL), Germany 2.09 2.72 23 33.3%
63 Giessen University (JLU), Germany 6.86 2.59 98 -61.3%
64 Center for Nanotechnology GmbH (CeNTech GmbH), Germany 0.62 2.56 12 323.3%
65 Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), Germany 1.84 2.51 8 39.4%
66 Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Germany 1.46 2.45 9 72.1%
67 Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg (TUBAF), Germany 2.64 2.31 7 -10.2%
68 University of Greifswald, Germany 4.42 1.95 9 -54.8%
69 University of Osnabrück (Uni Osnabrück), Germany 5.05 1.54 7 -68.8%
70 Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS), Germany 0.75 1.50 30 105.0%
71 Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Germany 0.80 1.41 4 80.7%
72 European X-ray Free-Electron Laser Facility GmbH (XFEL), Germany 1.80 1.36 12 -22.4%
73 Robert Bosch GmbH, Germany 0.47 1.25 15 173.6%
74 Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW), Germany 0.12 1.17 5 941.1%
75 Merck KGaA, Germany 2.54 1.01 4 -59.2%
76 Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences (UAS), Germany 0.40 1.00 1 155.9%
77 Clausthal University of Technology (TU Clausthal), Germany 0.42 0.76 2 83.7%
78 Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB), Germany 1.13 0.75 1 -32.1%
78 Becker & Hickl GmbH, Germany – 0.75 2 N/A
79 European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Germany 4.44 0.73 6 -83.2%
80 Aixtron SE, Germany – 0.73 2 N/A
81 Singulus Technologies AG, Germany 0.57 0.66 5 18.5%
82 Nanoplus Nanosystems and Technologies GmbH, Germany 1.20 0.63 1 -46.5%
83 Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, Germany – 0.62 2 N/A
84 Raith GmbH, Germany – 0.59 2 N/A
85 Karl Schwarzschild Observatory (TLS), Germany 1.73 0.58 7 -65.4%
86 Nanion Technologies GmbH, Germany 0.33 0.50 1 53.5%
87 Corrected Electron Optical Systems GmbH (CEOS), Germany 0.18 0.47 1 162.7%
88 Lanxess AG, Germany – 0.44 1 N/A
88 Trumpf Laser GmbH, Germany – 0.44 1 N/A
89 EWE AG, Germany – 0.44 2 N/A
90 University of Lübeck, Germany 0.33 0.40 1 25.1%
91 Plansee Composite Materials GmbH, Germany 0.33 0.40 1 22.8%
91 Jena University of Applied Sciences (EAH Jena), Germany – 0.40 1 N/A
92 Siemens AG, Germany 1.11 0.40 14 -63.2%
93 Medizinisches Laserzentrum Lübeck GmbH, Germany – 0.39 1 N/A
94 Institute for Solar Energy Research GmbH Hameln / Emmerthal (ISFH), Germany 0.17 0.37 2 125.2%
95 Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH), Germany 0.09 0.35 2 291.5%
96 Laser Quantum GmbH, Germany – 0.35 2 N/A
97 MenloSystems, Germany – 0.34 2 N/A
98 Daimler AG, Germany – 0.33 1 N/A
99 Cynora GmbH, Germany 0.40 0.30 1 -23.2%
100 University of Applied Sciences, Kaiserslautern, Germany – 0.29 1 N/A

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’s publication output in 82 natural-science journals through 2022, in 2023 64 health-science journals were added to the Index. The 146 journals in the Nature Index were selected on reputation by an independent panel of leading scientists in their fields.
  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/.

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 annual tables.

*The change in adjusted Share accounts for the small annual variation in the total number of articles in Nature Index journals. Share values have been adjusted to 2022 levels to calculate the percentage change. For more information on the adjustment, please see the Adjusted metric explainer.


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