2021 tables: Institutions

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

Table criteria

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# Institution Share 2019 Share 2020 Count 2020 Change in Adjusted Share* 2019–2020
1 Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium 108.96 112.35 401 -0.6%
2 Ghent University (UGent), Belgium 75.76 80.63 320 2.6%
3 Catholic University of Louvain (UCLouvain), Belgium 34.84 42.63 193 18.0%
4 Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium 32.39 35.98 213 7.1%
5 University of Antwerp (UA), Belgium 31.88 31.08 182 -6.0%
6 Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), Belgium 24.12 25.87 159 3.4%
7 University of Liège (ULg), Belgium 23.22 23.03 104 -4.4%
8 Free University of Brussels (VUB), Belgium 21.18 17.12 154 -22.0%
9 European Commission (EC), Belgium 4.75 11.34 47 130.1%
10 Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC), Belgium 7.03 10.66 39 46.3%
11 University of Mons (UMONS), Belgium 10.85 8.76 33 -22.1%
12 International Solvay Institutes, Belgium 9.04 7.81 37 -16.7%
13 University of Namur (UNamur), Belgium 5.19 4.96 19 -7.9%
14 UCB S.A., Belgium 3.72 3.43 21 -11.0%
15 Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), Belgium 2.30 3.19 16 33.8%
16 Hasselt University (UHasselt), Belgium 5.11 3.00 18 -43.3%
17 Solvay S.A., Belgium 1.50 2.33 10 49.9%
18 Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB), Belgium 0.84 2.06 15 135.7%
19 Walloon Excellence in Lifesciences and Biotechnology (WELBIO), Belgium 1.59 1.69 24 2.1%
20 Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO) - Remote Sensing and Earth Observation Processes (TAP), Belgium 0.89 1.48 9 61.3%
21 European Theoretical Spectroscopy Facility (ETSF), Belgium 1.51 1.29 21 -17.3%
22 Argenx SE, Belgium 0.20 0.84 4 305.8%
23 Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK•CEN), Belgium 0.41 0.80 3 85.3%
24 Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (RMI), Belgium 0.97 0.77 8 -23.7%
25 Haute-Ecole Robert Schuman (HERS), Belgium – 0.75 2 N/A
25 Laboratory of Dynamics in Biological Systems, KU Leuven, Belgium – 0.75 1 N/A
26 Umicore N.V., Belgium 0.51 0.67 3 27.1%
27 Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM), Belgium 1.10 0.65 4 -42.6%
28 Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), Belgium – 0.47 4 N/A
29 National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology (INCC), Belgium 0.43 0.46 2 1.7%
30 Flanders Make, Belgium 0.53 0.42 2 -24.1%
31 Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Belgium – 0.40 2 N/A
31 CER Groupe, Belgium – 0.40 1 N/A
32 Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO), Belgium 0.25 0.37 3 42.2%
33 Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Belgium 0.66 0.35 7 -49.3%
34 Botanic Garden Meise, Belgium 0.25 0.26 3 0.4%
35 Water-link Ov, Belgium – 0.25 1 N/A
36 CHU Dinant Godinne, Belgium 0.30 0.22 2 -29.2%
37 Belgian Interregional Environment Agency (IRCEL - CELINE), Belgium – 0.20 1 N/A
37 Royal Military Academy (RMA), Belgium – 0.20 1 N/A
38 SCR-Sibelco N.V., Belgium – 0.17 1 N/A
39 Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Belgium 0.02 0.14 4 508.8%
40 BOSAQ, Belgium – 0.13 1 N/A
41 Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA), Belgium 0.83 0.12 5 -85.8%
42 Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO), Belgium 0.01 0.12 3 677.2%
43 VIVES University College, Belgium – 0.10 1 N/A
44 Chemtrix B.V., Belgium 0.11 0.10 5 -14.2%
45 The Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp (RZSA), Belgium 0.28 0.09 2 -68.4%
46 FOx Biosystems NV, Belgium – 0.09 1 N/A
47 Centre Hospitalier Interrégional Edith Cavell (CHIREC), Belgium – 0.09 1 N/A
48 Applied Maths NV, Belgium – 0.06 1 N/A
49 Secoya Technologies SRL, Belgium – 0.06 1 N/A
50 Materialise NV, Belgium 0.02 0.06 3 223.8%
51 Natuurpunt Cvn, Belgium – 0.06 1 N/A
52 Oxurion NV, Belgium – 0.05 1 N/A
53 Sciensano, Belgium 0.89 0.05 1 -94.6%
53 Service Public de Wallonie, Belgium – 0.05 1 N/A
53 AZ Delta, Belgium – 0.05 1 N/A
54 Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos, Belgium – 0.05 1 N/A
55 EUMETNET, Belgium – 0.04 1 N/A
56 GasthuisZusters Antwerpen (GZA), Belgium 0.12 0.03 7 -75.3%
57 Agence Wallonne du Patrimoine, Belgium – 0.03 1 N/A
58 Jessa Ziekenhuis, Belgium – 0.03 1 N/A
59 BRIXIIS Astronomical Observatory, Belgium – 0.02 1 N/A
60 CHU UCL Namur - Sainte-Elisabeth Hospital, Belgium 0.03 0.01 1 -55.4%
61 Brussels Environment (IBGE-BIM), Belgium – 0.01 1 N/A
62 Belgian Red Cross, Belgium – 0.01 1 N/A
63 CHU Brugmann, Belgium – 0.01 1 N/A
63 Cliniques de l’Europe, Belgium – 0.01 1 N/A
64 Christian Hospital Centre (CHC), Belgium – 0.01 1 N/A
65 Antwerp Hospital Network (ZNA), Belgium 0.02 0.01 2 -72.0%
66 Breast International Group (BIG), Belgium – 0.00 1 N/A
67 Galapagos N.V., Belgium 0.00 0.00 1 -94.2%

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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