2021 tables: Institutions - Earth & environmental sciences

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 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany 119.55 144.27 471 15.3%
2 French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France 101.32 99.59 759 -6.1%
3 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland 90.38 86.30 261 -8.7%
4 University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK) 43.17 43.12 168 -4.5%
5 University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK) 37.84 39.87 149 0.7%
6 Max Planck Society, Germany 34.32 32.89 157 -8.4%
7 Utrecht University (UU), Netherlands 37.17 31.55 123 -18.9%
8 Imperial College London (ICL), United Kingdom (UK) 32.24 31.30 124 -7.2%
9 Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain 28.71 30.44 147 1.3%
10 University of Leeds, United Kingdom (UK) 32.80 27.92 119 -18.7%
11 University of Oslo (UiO), Norway 26.45 27.30 93 -1.4%
12 UCL, United Kingdom (UK) 20.49 26.56 129 23.9%
13 Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Netherlands 17.87 26.04 78 39.3%
14 University of Bristol (UoB), United Kingdom (UK) 27.13 24.04 101 -15.3%
15 Leibniz Association, Germany 26.58 23.84 135 -14.3%
16 Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Denmark 14.97 23.68 70 51.1%
17 Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), Switzerland 24.20 23.67 80 -6.5%
18 The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (UK) 16.84 22.46 85 27.5%
19 Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Russia 18.72 22.27 94 13.7%
20 Institute of Research for Development (IRD), France 21.87 21.54 342 -5.9%
21 National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), Italy 17.88 20.54 66 9.8%
22 Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Netherlands 18.83 19.93 68 1.2%
23 University of Copenhagen (UCPH), Denmark 22.81 19.53 88 -18.2%
24 Ghent University (UGent), Belgium 13.39 19.03 49 35.8%
25 University of Bern (UniBE), Switzerland 17.20 18.91 76 5.1%
26 University of Tübingen (Uni Tübingen), Germany 10.71 17.62 47 57.3%
27 Stockholm University, Sweden 16.77 16.72 77 -4.7%
28 Paris Cité University, France 16.49 16.72 115 -3.1%
29 University of Bayreuth (UBT), Germany 16.52 16.17 43 -6.5%
30 University of Exeter, United Kingdom (UK) 19.16 16.09 90 -19.8%
31 Aarhus University (AU), Denmark 19.92 15.73 60 -24.5%
32 University of Lausanne (UNIL), Switzerland 12.11 15.37 45 21.4%
33 Met Office, United Kingdom (UK) 9.82 15.06 64 46.5%
34 University of Münster (WWU), Germany 14.12 15.04 43 1.8%
35 University of Bergen (UIB), Norway 20.01 14.89 85 -28.9%
36 University of Bremen (Uni Bremen), Germany 14.30 14.62 68 -2.3%
37 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland 24.72 14.54 54 -43.8%
38 Durham University, United Kingdom (UK) 14.62 14.48 67 -5.4%
39 University of Southampton (Soton), United Kingdom (UK) 18.72 14.08 82 -28.1%
40 University of Helsinki, Finland 12.18 13.27 60 4.2%
41 Université PSL, France 16.55 13.25 145 -23.5%
42 National Research Council (CNR), Italy 10.64 12.98 72 16.6%
43 University of Reading, United Kingdom (UK) 17.49 12.49 69 -31.8%
44 The University of Manchester (UoM), United Kingdom (UK) 14.02 12.14 43 -17.2%
45 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Sweden 11.54 11.86 46 -1.8%
46 NERC British Antarctic Survey (BAS), United Kingdom (UK) 13.63 11.33 53 -20.5%
47 University of Liverpool, United Kingdom (UK) 17.82 10.53 54 -43.5%
48 Newcastle University, United Kingdom (UK) 10.86 10.43 48 -8.2%
49 Sorbonne University, France 11.13 10.29 158 -11.7%
50 Lancaster University, United Kingdom (UK) 9.86 10.25 45 -0.6%
51 University of Padova (UNIPD), Italy 7.22 9.85 39 30.3%
52 University of Kiel (CAU), Germany 8.19 9.61 45 12.1%
53 NERC National Oceanography Centre (NOC), United Kingdom (UK) 6.75 9.57 62 35.5%
54 University of Lyon, France 10.79 9.38 76 -16.9%
55 University of Vienna, Austria 10.78 8.82 39 -21.8%
56 Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium 6.65 8.72 31 25.4%
57 National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), France 10.47 8.64 113 -21.1%
58 Free University of Berlin (FU Berlin), Germany 10.72 8.60 47 -23.3%
59 University of Gothenburg (GU), Sweden 5.05 8.57 35 62.1%
60 Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland 4.26 8.48 24 90.4%
61 VU Amsterdam, Netherlands 7.28 8.37 46 9.9%
62 The Open University (OU), United Kingdom (UK) 8.20 8.34 36 -2.9%
63 French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer), France 4.84 8.19 61 61.8%
64 University of Lorraine (UL), France 5.16 8.01 51 48.3%
65 University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland 8.98 7.98 23 -15.0%
66 University of Toulouse, France 9.17 7.97 93 -16.9%
67 The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), France 8.89 7.71 100 -17.1%
68 University of Zurich (UZH), Switzerland 5.70 7.70 39 29.0%
69 Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), Germany 13.16 7.68 31 -44.2%
70 Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS), Czech Republic 11.49 7.44 36 -38.1%
71 University of St Andrews, United Kingdom (UK) 7.82 7.34 36 -10.3%
72 Charles University (CU), Czech Republic 7.75 7.28 36 -10.2%
73 University of Hamburg (UHH), Germany 7.60 7.18 40 -9.8%
74 University of Potsdam, Germany 12.53 7.15 54 -45.5%
75 University of Leicester, United Kingdom (UK) 5.36 7.11 25 26.8%
76 Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany 8.92 7.04 25 -24.5%
77 University of Barcelona (UB), Spain 7.27 6.99 41 -8.1%
78 Cardiff University, United Kingdom (UK) 9.72 6.90 30 -32.2%
79 University of Glasgow, United Kingdom (UK) 6.66 6.88 47 -1.2%
80 The University of Sheffield, United Kingdom (UK) 4.32 6.86 30 51.9%
81 Heidelberg University (Uni Heidelberg), Germany 6.49 6.77 22 -0.3%
82 European Commission (EC), Belgium 2.20 6.66 23 189.2%
83 Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France 5.41 6.65 95 17.4%
84 University of Göttingen, Germany 4.23 6.63 37 49.8%
85 Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), Spain 2.15 6.48 19 187.6%
86 University of Birmingham (UB), United Kingdom (UK) 10.74 6.34 27 -43.6%
87 University of East Anglia (UEA), United Kingdom (UK) 3.54 6.26 34 69.0%
88 German Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG), Germany 6.77 6.02 11 -14.9%
89 University of Antwerp (UA), Belgium 6.36 5.96 24 -10.4%
90 Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway 10.48 5.79 25 -47.3%
91 Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), Finland 7.92 5.77 32 -30.3%
92 University of Iceland, Iceland 5.54 5.69 21 -1.8%
93 University Clermont Auvergne, France 3.25 5.69 43 67.5%
94 NERC National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), United Kingdom (UK) 4.19 5.61 45 28.0%
95 Lund University (LU), Sweden 6.43 5.56 29 -17.3%
96 France Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, France 5.89 5.51 89 -10.6%
97 University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Germany 5.53 5.51 20 -4.9%
98 International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria 4.89 5.45 34 6.4%
99 Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS), Poland 2.25 5.43 22 130.6%
100 Natural History Museum, United Kingdom (UK) 4.07 5.43 34 27.2%

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/.

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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