2019 tables: Institutions - physical sciences

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

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# Institution Share 2017 Share 2018 Count 2018 Change in Adjusted Share* 2017–2018
1 Max Planck Society, Germany 311.66 323.65 1135 -1.8%
2 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany 186.99 185.07 914 -6.4%
3 Leibniz Association, Germany 66.32 67.80 248 -3.3%
4 Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), Germany 47.36 66.58 267 32.9%
5 Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany 54.24 58.72 228 2.4%
6 Heidelberg University (Uni Heidelberg), Germany 35.67 44.71 275 18.5%
7 Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), Germany 49.96 44.33 223 -16.1%
8 University of Hamburg (UHH), Germany 45.87 41.24 253 -15.0%
9 University of Würzburg (JMU), Germany 47.59 40.55 152 -19.4%
10 TU Dresden, Germany 43.05 38.26 204 -16.0%
11 University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Germany 25.28 34.77 100 30.1%
12 RWTH Aachen University (RWTH Aachen), Germany 32.01 30.43 261 -10.1%
13 Goethe University Frankfurt (GU), Germany 15.29 28.89 94 78.6%
14 University of Regensburg (UR), Germany 28.44 27.81 70 -7.6%
15 University of Stuttgart, Germany 20.15 27.25 103 27.9%
16 University of Bonn (Uni Bonn), Germany 29.46 26.46 152 -15.1%
17 Free University of Berlin (FU Berlin), Germany 27.77 25.62 124 -12.7%
18 University of Cologne (UoC), Germany 19.70 22.93 87 10.1%
19 University of Freiburg (Uni Freiburg), Germany 20.78 20.52 107 -6.6%
20 Humboldt University of Berlin (HU Berlin), Germany 20.46 20.49 182 -5.3%
21 Technical University of Darmstadt (TU Darmstadt), Germany 20.16 17.20 78 -19.3%
22 University of Göttingen, Germany 26.32 16.33 129 -41.3%
23 Ulm University, Germany 17.32 15.47 68 -15.5%
24 Leibniz University Hannover (LUH), Germany 17.31 15.42 59 -15.8%
25 University of Münster (WWU), Germany 19.39 15.38 84 -25.0%
26 Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), Germany 21.18 14.96 55 -33.2%
27 University of Siegen, Germany 10.61 13.97 104 24.5%
28 European Southern Observatory (ESO), Germany 9.98 13.84 101 31.1%
29 University of Tübingen (Uni Tübingen), Germany 15.09 13.61 69 -14.7%
30 TU Dortmund University, Germany 17.31 13.32 146 -27.2%
31 University of Konstanz, Germany 15.07 12.66 34 -20.6%
32 Fraunhofer Society, Germany 9.14 12.47 59 29.0%
33 Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), Germany 17.94 12.30 63 -35.2%
34 Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU), Germany 8.60 12.29 33 35.2%
35 Friedrich Schiller University Jena (FSU), Germany 15.16 11.36 50 -29.2%
36 University of Bayreuth (UBT), Germany 8.46 10.86 27 21.4%
37 University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), Germany 14.54 10.75 35 -30.1%
38 Leipzig University, Germany 11.62 10.58 31 -13.9%
39 Philipps University of Marburg (Uni Marburg), Germany 7.54 8.67 28 8.7%
40 University of Augsburg, Germany 7.04 8.66 34 16.3%
41 University of Kiel (CAU), Germany 10.81 8.41 20 -26.4%
42 Paderborn University, Germany 6.43 8.16 18 20.0%
43 University of Bremen (Uni Bremen), Germany 9.00 7.90 26 -17.0%
44 Bielefeld University, Germany 7.51 7.36 16 -7.3%
45 Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Germany 6.98 6.76 16 -8.5%
46 Saarland University (Saar-Uni), Germany 4.64 6.60 22 34.5%
47 University of Rostock, Germany 4.77 6.52 60 29.2%
48 University of Potsdam, Germany 6.77 5.81 37 -18.9%
49 European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Germany 2.14 5.72 25 152.6%
50 Giessen University (JLU), Germany 7.93 5.55 102 -33.8%
51 University of Oldenburg, Germany 3.36 5.28 16 48.6%
52 Ilmenau University of Technology (TU Ilmenau), Germany 5.58 5.15 12 -12.8%
53 Chemnitz University of Technology (TU Chemnitz), Germany 2.78 4.87 23 65.9%
54 Technical University Braunschweig (TU Braunschweig), Germany 4.14 4.74 16 8.2%
55 Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), Germany 7.51 4.42 13 -44.3%
56 University of Greifswald, Germany 3.15 3.75 14 12.7%
57 European X-ray Free-Electron Laser Facility GmbH (XFEL), Germany 1.25 3.47 31 163.2%
58 University of Kaiserslautern (TU Kaiserslautern), Germany 7.10 3.45 16 -54.1%
59 University of Kassel, Germany 3.62 3.37 10 -11.9%
60 University of Wuppertal, Germany 4.17 3.27 80 -26.0%
61 University of Osnabrück (Uni Osnabrück), Germany 2.90 2.60 8 -15.3%
62 Clausthal University of Technology (TU Clausthal), Germany – 2.40 3 N/A
63 Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg (OVGU), Germany 3.54 2.35 6 -37.3%
64 European Magnetic Field Laboratory (EMFL), Germany 3.85 2.30 18 -43.5%
65 Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, Germany 4.58 2.19 6 -54.9%
66 Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS), Germany 1.84 1.96 41 0.8%
67 Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Germany 2.77 1.69 5 -42.5%
68 BASF SE, Germany 0.73 1.64 16 112.6%
69 Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg (TUBAF), Germany 0.27 1.61 5 473.7%
70 Center for Nanotechnology GmbH (CeNTech GmbH), Germany 1.30 1.46 9 6.1%
71 Surflay Nanotec GmbH, Germany – 1.43 2 N/A
72 Photonik-Zentrum Kaiserslautern e.V. (PZKL), Germany 1.79 1.38 15 -26.9%
72 Institute for Composite Materials (IVW), Germany 1.79 1.38 15 -26.9%
73 Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), Germany 2.09 1.31 6 -40.7%
74 Center of Advanced European Studies and Research (CAESAR), Germany 0.52 1.29 4 134.1%
75 Bundeswehr, Germany 0.22 0.99 7 327.4%
76 Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW), Germany 0.56 0.92 5 55.1%
77 Institute for Solar Energy Research GmbH Hameln / Emmerthal (ISFH), Germany 0.50 0.92 1 73.3%
78 Nanoplus Nanosystems and Technologies GmbH, Germany 0.17 0.90 2 410.6%
79 Carl Zeiss AG, Germany 0.31 0.89 3 171.0%
80 AMO GmbH, Germany – 0.89 5 N/A
81 Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Germany 0.31 0.87 2 163.4%
82 University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer, Germany 0.03 0.75 2 2346.5%
83 Trumpf Laser GmbH, Germany 0.50 0.63 1 18.2%
84 Munich University of Applied Sciences, Germany 1.97 0.56 1 -73.0%
85 Hannover Medical School (MHH), Germany 0.18 0.53 5 179.8%
86 Sonneberg Observatory, Germany – 0.50 1 N/A
86 International Amateur Observatory (IAS), Germany – 0.50 1 N/A
86 University of Applied Sciences Bremerhaven, Germany – 0.50 2 N/A
87 Merck KGaA, Germany 1.86 0.49 2 -75.1%
88 Heidelberg Instruments Mikrotechnik GmbH, Germany 0.25 0.39 3 48.1%
89 Singulus Technologies AG, Germany 0.25 0.34 3 25.5%
90 nextnano GmbH, Germany – 0.33 1 N/A
90 PNDetector GmbH, Germany – 0.33 1 N/A
91 Abberior Instruments GmbH, Germany 0.64 0.30 1 -55.9%
91 Aachen University of Applied Sciences (FH Aachen), Germany – 0.30 1 N/A
92 Accurion GmbH, Germany – 0.29 1 N/A
92 University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hildesheim/Holzminden/Goettingen (HAWK HHG), Germany – 0.29 1 N/A
92 Forschungsinstitut für Anorganische Werkstoffe - Glas/Keramik - GmbH (FGK), Germany – 0.29 1 N/A
93 Siemens AG, Germany 0.45 0.28 8 -40.7%
94 Constructor University, Germany 2.71 0.26 2 -91.0%
95 Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen University of Applied Sciences (THM), Germany 0.01 0.25 1 2012.4%
96 Robert Bosch GmbH, Germany 0.02 0.25 7 933.3%
97 Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH), Germany 1.24 0.20 1 -84.7%
98 PNSensor GmbH, Germany – 0.19 2 N/A
99 Infineon Technologies AG, Germany 2.13 0.19 2 -91.5%
100 Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), Germany 0.03 0.19 1 556.0%
100 Institute Kurz GmbH, Germany – 0.19 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/.
  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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