2018 tables: Institutions - Earth & environmental sciences

The 2018 tables are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017.

Table criteria

# Institution Share 2016 Share 2017 Count 2017 Change in Adjusted Share* 2016–2017
1 Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China 200.20 203.60 606 6.4%
2 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany 147.56 125.92 361 -10.7%
3 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States of America (USA) 117.45 105.81 504 -5.7%
4 French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France 108.92 96.81 687 -7.0%
5 California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States of America (USA) 83.06 80.86 342 1.9%
6 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland 84.32 80.74 206 0.2%
7 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United States of America (USA) 77.46 73.25 281 -1.1%
8 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), United States of America (USA) 68.74 68.59 188 4.4%
9 University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder), United States of America (USA) 65.60 66.29 277 5.7%
10 University of Washington (UW), United States of America (USA) 59.75 58.88 151 3.1%
11 Nanjing University (NJU), China 51.14 58.80 169 20.3%
12 University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), United States of America (USA) 51.04 56.10 195 15.0%
13 Stanford University, United States of America (USA) 70.47 52.19 157 -22.5%
14 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), United States of America (USA) 58.66 50.77 130 -9.5%
15 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), United States of America (USA) 52.16 50.24 175 0.8%
16 Columbia University in the City of New York (CU), United States of America (USA) 59.59 46.58 179 -18.2%
17 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States of America (USA) 48.41 46.06 139 -0.5%
18 University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), United States of America (USA) 55.72 45.45 124 -14.7%
19 Peking University (PKU), China 53.64 45.10 179 -12.0%
20 The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Japan 54.87 44.95 112 -14.3%
21 National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), United States of America (USA) 46.15 44.15 130 0.1%
22 University of Minnesota (UMN), United States of America (USA) 30.42 41.98 120 44.4%
23 University of Michigan (U-M), United States of America (USA) 50.12 40.19 119 -16.1%
24 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), China 22.08 38.46 187 82.2%
25 Harvard University, United States of America (USA) 41.56 38.31 122 -3.6%
26 University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), United States of America (USA) 33.63 38.26 112 19.0%
27 Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), United States of America (USA) 28.85 37.85 100 37.3%
28 Utrecht University (UU), Netherlands 35.53 37.79 118 11.3%
29 The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), United States of America (USA) 38.54 35.67 109 -3.2%
30 Tsinghua University, China 32.83 35.64 98 13.6%
31 University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), China 31.78 35.25 78 16.1%
32 Yale University, United States of America (USA) 46.05 34.98 94 -20.5%
33 University of California, Irvine (UCI), United States of America (USA) 28.48 33.66 105 23.7%
34 University of Toronto (U of T), Canada 31.93 33.62 85 10.2%
35 Colorado State University, United States of America (USA) 27.65 32.43 99 22.7%
36 The University of Arizona (Arizona), United States of America (USA) 31.49 32.34 98 7.4%
37 China University of Geosciences (CUG), China 30.49 32.15 79 10.3%
38 Arizona State University (ASU), United States of America (USA) 27.05 31.89 85 23.3%
39 University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia 40.05 31.77 86 -17.0%
40 University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK) 43.91 31.65 116 -24.6%
41 Imperial College London (ICL), United Kingdom (UK) 29.03 31.13 114 12.2%
42 Princeton University, United States of America (USA) 24.52 30.82 124 31.5%
43 Tongji University, China 30.84 30.58 102 3.7%
44 University of Bristol (UoB), United Kingdom (UK) 24.71 30.07 99 27.3%
45 National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), Italy 32.97 30.01 64 -4.8%
46 Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Denmark 21.17 29.09 75 43.7%
47 University of Alberta (U of A), Canada 28.95 28.66 66 3.6%
48 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), United States of America (USA) 19.35 28.09 82 51.9%
49 Australian National University (ANU), Australia 31.30 28.06 86 -6.2%
50 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), United States of America (USA) 33.38 27.66 90 -13.3%
51 Texas A&M University (TAMU), United States of America (USA) 21.09 26.97 91 33.8%
52 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), United States of America (USA) 29.27 26.82 78 -4.2%
53 University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK) 32.11 25.95 93 -15.5%
54 Max Planck Society, Germany 37.55 25.88 120 -27.9%
55 University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), United States of America (USA) 34.17 25.77 139 -21.1%
56 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), United States of America (USA) 16.14 25.59 65 65.8%
57 Beijing Normal University (BNU), China 27.32 25.53 105 -2.2%
58 University of Leeds, United Kingdom (UK) 31.15 25.30 101 -15.0%
59 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), United States of America (USA) 34.30 25.03 68 -23.7%
60 Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore 25.91 24.83 60 0.3%
61 University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UH Mānoa), United States of America (USA) 35.36 24.52 87 -27.5%
62 The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia 27.43 24.26 85 -7.5%
63 University of Florida (UF), United States of America (USA) 25.00 23.86 66 -0.1%
64 University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), United States of America (USA) 21.20 23.67 62 16.8%
65 University of California, Davis (UC Davis), United States of America (USA) 22.97 23.64 78 7.7%
66 Oregon State University, United States of America (USA) 22.52 23.22 91 7.9%
67 Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), China 16.84 23.17 46 43.9%
68 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), United States of America (USA) 26.14 23.09 56 -7.6%
69 The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia 27.89 23.03 97 -13.6%
70 China Meteorological Administration (CMA), China 19.23 23.01 80 25.2%
71 The University of Chicago (UChicago), United States of America (USA) 16.53 22.73 75 43.8%
72 University of Oslo (UiO), Norway 20.82 22.63 92 13.7%
73 Zhejiang University (ZJU), China 22.37 22.03 48 3.0%
74 Hokkaido University, Japan 15.76 22.02 54 46.2%
75 Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Canada 20.82 21.99 58 10.5%
76 Rice University, United States of America (USA) 13.67 21.93 57 67.9%
77 Purdue University, United States of America (USA) 15.21 21.93 57 50.9%
78 Institute of Research for Development (IRD), France 23.42 21.69 304 -3.1%
79 Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), Switzerland 27.51 21.52 70 -18.2%
80 University of California, Riverside (UCR), United States of America (USA) 21.81 21.29 51 2.1%
81 Duke University, United States of America (USA) 26.02 20.98 67 -15.7%
82 Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS), United States of America (USA) 19.04 20.48 73 12.6%
83 The University of Utah (Utah), United States of America (USA) 16.25 20.33 61 30.9%
84 Brown University, United States of America (USA) 23.65 20.30 53 -10.2%
85 Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Netherlands 13.98 20.18 57 50.9%
86 Johns Hopkins University (JHU), United States of America (USA) 28.08 20.14 97 -24.9%
87 Leibniz Association, Germany 29.05 19.43 93 -30.0%
88 Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain 26.99 19.26 85 -25.3%
89 Tohoku University, Japan 23.03 19.19 53 -12.8%
90 Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL), United States of America (USA) 20.94 19.17 47 -4.2%
91 McGill University, Canada 28.04 18.47 64 -31.1%
92 University of Bremen (Uni Bremen), Germany 15.66 18.46 59 23.3%
93 Fudan University, China 13.32 18.46 33 44.9%
94 The University of Iowa (UI), United States of America (USA) 15.41 18.44 78 25.2%
95 Wuhan University (WHU), China 10.52 18.35 41 82.4%
96 Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Japan 26.38 18.20 73 -27.8%
97 Cornell University, United States of America (USA) 16.89 17.87 64 10.7%
98 University of Copenhagen (UCPH), Denmark 23.10 17.81 70 -19.3%
99 University of Exeter, United Kingdom (UK) 16.26 17.48 64 12.5%
100 Paris Cité University, France 16.20 17.40 115 12.4%

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/.
  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 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.