2021 tables: Institutions - physical sciences - academic

The 2021 tables are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020.

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# Institution Share 2019 Share 2020 Count 2020 Change in Adjusted Share 2019-2020*
1 The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Japan 200.20 216.51 664 0.7%
2 University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), China 167.83 183.49 614 1.8%
3 Peking University (PKU), China 151.03 166.78 668 2.8%
4 Tsinghua University, China 184.46 164.93 696 -16.8%
5 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), China 130.93 143.33 907 1.9%
6 National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore 125.36 138.84 346 3.1%
7 Nanjing University (NJU), China 129.22 134.51 410 -3.1%
8 Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), China 83.98 116.40 373 29.0%
9 Zhejiang University (ZJU), China 90.89 114.35 352 17.1%
10 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), South Korea 89.20 109.19 219 14.0%
11 Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore 93.04 106.75 267 6.8%
12 Fudan University, China 95.09 90.25 300 -11.7%
13 Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), China 44.60 83.50 247 74.3%
14 Kyoto University, Japan 64.98 81.37 236 16.6%
15 Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China 86.92 79.81 215 -14.5%
16 Seoul National University (SNU), South Korea 74.53 78.08 265 -2.5%
17 Soochow University, China 94.38 77.76 204 -23.3%
18 Tohoku University, Japan 57.68 64.94 232 4.8%
19 Nankai University (NKU), China 47.83 61.10 182 18.9%
20 Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), China 64.27 60.86 216 -11.9%
21 Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU), China 60.10 58.93 157 -8.7%
22 Tianjin University (TJU), China 57.77 56.04 175 -9.7%
23 Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), South Korea 53.38 55.98 137 -2.4%
24 Beihang University (BUAA), China 54.28 54.25 278 -7.0%
25 Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), China 44.20 54.18 138 14.1%
26 Wuhan University (WHU), China 61.18 53.70 186 -18.3%
27 Jilin University (JLU), China 49.39 52.37 145 -1.3%
28 Xiamen University (XMU), China 33.96 50.93 114 39.6%
29 Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), South Korea 41.72 50.70 145 13.1%
30 Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), South Korea 51.78 50.43 190 -9.3%
31 The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), China 47.06 48.97 175 -3.1%
32 Sichuan University (SCU), China 40.45 47.46 102 9.2%
33 Yonsei University, South Korea 45.01 44.32 170 -8.3%
34 Osaka University, Japan 44.89 43.35 191 -10.1%
35 Shandong University (SDU), China 32.64 43.32 164 23.6%
36 University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia 32.09 43.05 146 24.9%
37 Nagoya University, Japan 29.38 42.77 164 35.5%
38 City University of Hong Kong (CityU), China 35.87 42.64 138 10.7%
39 Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), Japan 39.38 42.09 185 -0.5%
40 South China University of Technology (SCUT), China 43.19 41.65 116 -10.2%
41 Korea University, South Korea 28.95 41.15 194 32.3%
42 National Taiwan University (NTU), Taiwan 26.86 40.44 192 40.2%
43 Hunan University (HNU), China 31.41 40.00 118 18.5%
44 Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), China 33.86 38.84 118 6.8%
45 University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), China 24.85 37.52 99 40.6%
46 Beijing Normal University (BNU), China 23.53 36.30 116 43.6%
47 Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), India 43.04 35.13 166 -24.0%
48 East China Normal University (ECNU), China 23.06 32.95 96 33.0%
49 Lanzhou University (LZU), China 18.73 32.75 100 62.8%
50 Southeast University (SEU), China 33.02 32.70 104 -7.8%
51 Shenzhen University (SZU), China 34.34 32.49 110 -11.9%
52 University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB), China 29.40 32.03 86 1.4%
53 Indian Institute of Science (IISc), India 26.58 30.99 121 8.5%
54 The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), China 16.57 30.80 100 73.0%
55 Monash University, Australia 31.39 29.57 172 -12.3%
56 Central South University (CSU), China 20.33 29.50 86 35.1%
57 The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), China 33.65 28.37 144 -21.5%
58 ShanghaiTech University, China 16.42 27.48 103 55.8%
59 Australian National University (ANU), Australia 41.12 27.44 124 -37.9%
60 Zhengzhou University (ZZU), China 21.47 26.20 139 13.6%
61 Tongji University, China 24.52 26.06 84 -1.0%
62 Kyushu University, Japan 27.91 25.94 128 -13.5%
63 The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia 18.50 25.80 74 29.8%
64 The University of Melbourne (UniMelb), Australia 23.45 25.69 165 2.0%
65 Donghua University (DHU), China 23.23 25.53 59 2.3%
66 Chongqing University (CQU), China 16.78 25.52 61 41.6%
67 Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT), China 23.99 25.49 70 -1.1%
68 National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), Taiwan 24.34 25.46 139 -2.6%
69 Hokkaido University, Japan 20.79 25.25 72 13.1%
70 Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU), China 15.53 22.68 94 35.9%
71 Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), Japan 9.31 21.60 52 115.8%
72 Hanyang University (HYU), South Korea 23.27 21.51 128 -13.9%
73 The University of Sydney (USYD), Australia 17.63 21.42 145 13.1%
74 Dalian University of Technology (DUT), China 20.66 20.84 56 -6.1%
75 Wuhan University of Technology (WUT), China 14.85 20.44 55 28.1%
76 The University of Hong Kong (HKU), China 27.22 19.20 132 -34.4%
77 Nanjing University of Science and Technology (NUST), China 17.20 19.14 48 3.6%
78 Jinan University (JNU), China 16.94 19.06 47 4.7%
79 Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), China 20.96 18.63 50 -17.3%
80 Shanghai University (SHU), China 20.39 17.80 52 -18.8%
81 Kyung Hee University (KHU), South Korea 16.11 17.76 99 2.6%
82 Hunan Normal University (HUNNU), China 7.02 17.70 48 134.8%
83 National Chiao Tung University (NCTU), Taiwan 12.60 17.56 72 29.7%
84 University of Wollongong (UOW), Australia 17.87 17.12 61 -10.8%
85 Shanxi University (SXU), China 8.24 16.79 100 89.7%
86 Keio University, Japan 12.34 16.52 48 24.6%
87 South China Normal University (SCNU), China 23.86 16.28 95 -36.5%
88 Central China Normal University (CCNU), China 13.96 16.16 106 7.7%
89 University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia 8.86 16.00 39 68.2%
90 University of Tsukuba, Japan 21.29 15.98 131 -30.1%
91 Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur), India 13.09 15.45 32 9.9%
92 Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay), India 11.83 15.08 67 18.6%
93 Swinburne University of Technology, Australia 11.89 14.82 76 16.1%
94 Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), South Korea 10.93 14.27 37 21.5%
95 Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University), Australia 13.63 14.23 50 -2.8%
96 Guangdong University of Technology (GDUT), China 7.02 13.30 39 76.5%
97 Hebei University (HBU), China 7.56 13.28 27 63.5%
98 Yangzhou University (YZU), China 10.16 13.20 38 20.9%
99 Anhui University (AHU), China 3.44 12.64 47 241.7%
100 Xidian University, China 10.19 12.36 35 12.8%

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, 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 natureindex.com.

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 2020 levels to calculate the percentage change. For more information on the adjustment, please see the Adjusted metric explainer.


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