2018 tables: Institutions - physical sciences

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

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# Institution Share 2016 Share 2017 Count 2017 Change in Adjusted Share* 2016–2017
1 Max Planck Society, Germany 318.30 311.66 1087 -3.2%
2 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany 193.46 186.99 844 -4.5%
3 Leibniz Association, Germany 75.30 66.32 222 -13.0%
4 Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany 62.80 54.24 201 -14.6%
5 Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), Germany 47.83 49.96 228 3.2%
6 University of Würzburg (JMU), Germany 38.20 47.59 172 23.1%
7 Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), Germany 55.86 47.36 230 -16.2%
8 University of Hamburg (UHH), Germany 36.31 45.87 222 24.8%
9 TU Dresden, Germany 50.21 43.05 202 -15.3%
10 Heidelberg University (Uni Heidelberg), Germany 39.62 35.67 246 -11.0%
11 RWTH Aachen University (RWTH Aachen), Germany 30.69 32.01 251 3.1%
12 University of Bonn (Uni Bonn), Germany 24.13 29.46 171 20.6%
13 University of Regensburg (UR), Germany 31.82 28.44 56 -11.7%
14 Free University of Berlin (FU Berlin), Germany 25.21 27.77 124 8.8%
15 University of Göttingen, Germany 17.91 26.32 129 45.2%
16 University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Germany 30.26 25.28 94 -17.5%
17 Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), Germany 22.30 21.18 59 -6.2%
18 University of Freiburg (Uni Freiburg), Germany 15.83 20.78 121 29.8%
19 Humboldt University of Berlin (HU Berlin), Germany 23.87 20.46 175 -15.3%
20 Technical University of Darmstadt (TU Darmstadt), Germany 22.08 20.16 87 -9.8%
21 University of Stuttgart, Germany 27.53 20.15 73 -27.7%
22 University of Cologne (UoC), Germany 21.01 19.70 67 -7.3%
23 University of Münster (WWU), Germany 15.45 19.39 89 24.1%
24 Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), Germany 13.57 17.94 80 30.7%
25 Ulm University, Germany 15.97 17.32 63 7.2%
26 Leibniz University Hannover (LUH), Germany 16.47 17.31 65 3.9%
27 TU Dortmund University, Germany 16.57 17.31 168 3.2%
28 Goethe University Frankfurt (GU), Germany 18.98 15.29 77 -20.4%
29 Friedrich Schiller University Jena (FSU), Germany 14.91 15.16 62 0.5%
30 University of Tübingen (Uni Tübingen), Germany 10.38 15.09 54 43.6%
31 University of Konstanz, Germany 18.86 15.07 32 -21.1%
32 University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), Germany 12.21 14.54 40 17.7%
33 Leipzig University, Germany 16.75 11.62 27 -31.4%
34 University of Kiel (CAU), Germany 11.69 10.81 25 -8.6%
35 University of Siegen, Germany 13.25 10.61 90 -20.9%
36 European Southern Observatory (ESO), Germany 9.10 9.98 83 8.4%
37 Fraunhofer Society, Germany 12.51 9.14 55 -27.8%
38 University of Bremen (Uni Bremen), Germany 6.34 9.00 29 40.4%
39 Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU), Germany 7.67 8.60 17 10.8%
40 University of Bayreuth (UBT), Germany 13.85 8.46 22 -39.7%
41 Giessen University (JLU), Germany 2.59 7.93 110 202.2%
42 Philipps University of Marburg (Uni Marburg), Germany 12.57 7.54 21 -40.7%
43 Bielefeld University, Germany 6.60 7.51 19 12.5%
44 Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), Germany 6.92 7.51 22 7.3%
45 University of Kaiserslautern (TU Kaiserslautern), Germany 5.19 7.10 25 35.1%
46 University of Augsburg, Germany 6.03 7.04 26 15.4%
47 Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Germany 5.28 6.98 23 30.6%
48 University of Potsdam, Germany 6.83 6.77 29 -2.0%
49 Paderborn University, Germany 5.51 6.43 19 15.3%
50 Ilmenau University of Technology (TU Ilmenau), Germany 6.79 5.58 10 -18.7%
51 University of Rostock, Germany 5.07 4.77 65 -7.0%
52 Saarland University (Saar-Uni), Germany 7.60 4.64 14 -39.6%
53 Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, Germany 2.86 4.58 15 58.2%
54 University of Wuppertal, Germany 4.40 4.17 83 -6.3%
55 Technical University Braunschweig (TU Braunschweig), Germany 5.80 4.14 15 -29.4%
56 European Magnetic Field Laboratory (EMFL), Germany 3.97 3.85 31 -4.3%
57 University of Kassel, Germany 3.30 3.62 11 8.3%
58 Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg (OVGU), Germany 3.96 3.54 12 -11.6%
59 University of Oldenburg, Germany 2.99 3.36 8 11.1%
60 University of Greifswald, Germany 1.95 3.15 7 59.2%
61 University of Osnabrück (Uni Osnabrück), Germany 1.54 2.90 6 86.3%
62 Chemnitz University of Technology (TU Chemnitz), Germany 5.08 2.78 12 -46.0%
63 Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Germany 2.45 2.77 6 11.7%
64 Constructor University, Germany 2.77 2.71 8 -3.2%
65 European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Germany 0.73 2.14 10 190.4%
66 Infineon Technologies AG, Germany 0.06 2.13 4 3690.0%
67 Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), Germany 2.51 2.09 10 -17.7%
68 Munich University of Applied Sciences, Germany – 1.97 4 N/A
69 Merck KGaA, Germany 1.01 1.86 3 80.9%
70 Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS), Germany 1.50 1.84 42 21.0%
71 Institute for Composite Materials (IVW), Germany 2.72 1.79 19 -34.9%
71 Photonik-Zentrum Kaiserslautern e.V. (PZKL), Germany 2.72 1.79 19 -34.9%
72 Center for Nanotechnology GmbH (CeNTech GmbH), Germany 2.56 1.30 6 -49.9%
73 European X-ray Free-Electron Laser Facility GmbH (XFEL), Germany 1.36 1.25 16 -9.5%
74 Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH), Germany 0.35 1.24 5 245.4%
75 BASF SE, Germany 2.93 0.73 11 -75.4%
76 Abberior Instruments GmbH, Germany – 0.64 2 N/A
77 University of Lübeck, Germany 0.40 0.58 4 42.7%
78 Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus - Senftenberg (BTU), Germany 0.27 0.58 46 112.3%
79 Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW), Germany 1.17 0.56 5 -52.8%
80 Center of Advanced European Studies and Research (CAESAR), Germany – 0.52 2 N/A
81 Trumpf Laser GmbH, Germany 0.44 0.50 1 11.2%
81 Institute for Solar Energy Research GmbH Hameln / Emmerthal (ISFH), Germany 0.37 0.50 1 34.8%
81 Bruker BioSpin GmbH, Germany – 0.50 1 N/A
81 Protemics GmbH, Germany – 0.50 1 N/A
82 Siemens AG, Germany 0.40 0.45 7 10.4%
83 Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB), Germany 0.75 0.40 2 -47.7%
84 Bavarian Centre for Applied Energy Research (ZAE Bayern), Germany 0.26 0.40 7 48.8%
85 ez SQUID, Germany – 0.33 1 N/A
85 University of Erfurt, Germany – 0.33 1 N/A
86 Carl Zeiss AG, Germany 0.14 0.31 2 115.2%
86 Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Germany 1.41 0.31 2 -78.2%
87 Vacuumschmelze GmbH & Co. KG, Germany – 0.28 1 N/A
88 Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg (TUBAF), Germany 2.31 0.27 3 -88.6%
89 Singulus Technologies AG, Germany 0.66 0.25 2 -61.7%
90 Kurt-Schwabe-Institut (KSI), Germany 0.10 0.25 1 147.1%
90 INNOVENT e.V. Technologieentwicklung Jena, Germany 0.22 0.25 1 12.4%
90 Heidelberg Instruments Mikrotechnik GmbH, Germany – 0.25 1 N/A
90 Bauhaus University, Germany – 0.25 1 N/A
91 Energie Campus Nürnberg (EnCN), Germany 0.14 0.24 2 67.2%
92 Evonik Industries AG, Germany – 0.23 2 N/A
93 Helmut Schmidt University, Germany – 0.22 1 N/A
94 Bundeswehr, Germany 0.18 0.22 4 21.5%
95 VITCON Projectconsult GmbH, Germany – 0.20 2 N/A
96 Attocube Systems AG, Germany 0.15 0.20 1 34.9%
96 Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences, Germany – 0.20 1 N/A
97 Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience (BCCN), Germany 0.03 0.18 4 613.4%
98 Hannover Medical School (MHH), Germany – 0.18 5 N/A
99 iThera Medical GmbH, Germany 0.09 0.17 1 81.2%
99 Nanoplus Nanosystems and Technologies GmbH, Germany 0.63 0.17 1 -73.6%
99 Global Climate Forum e.V. (GCF), Germany – 0.17 1 N/A
100 University of Applied Sciences for Engineering and Economics (HTW Berlin), Germany – 0.16 2 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/.
  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.


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