2021 tables: Institutions - biological 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 Max Planck Society, Germany 291.42 310.08 1167 -1.6%
2 University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK) 212.68 220.22 753 -4.2%
3 University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK) 168.84 186.28 688 2.0%
4 French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France 184.27 182.59 1428 -8.4%
5 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany 102.49 147.39 884 33.0%
6 UCL, United Kingdom (UK) 125.96 126.28 496 -7.3%
7 University of Zurich (UZH), Switzerland 80.54 94.40 377 8.4%
8 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland 87.95 89.12 295 -6.3%
9 Imperial College London (ICL), United Kingdom (UK) 70.39 88.55 380 16.3%
10 Karolinska Institute (KI), Sweden 74.92 88.44 381 9.2%
11 National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM), France 79.34 80.32 872 -6.4%
12 University of Copenhagen (UCPH), Denmark 76.40 78.95 352 -4.4%
13 The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (UK) 80.24 78.86 328 -9.1%
14 Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), Germany 73.20 69.08 312 -12.7%
15 Heidelberg University (Uni Heidelberg), Germany 47.28 68.11 327 33.2%
16 The Francis Crick Institute, United Kingdom (UK) 48.51 57.50 172 9.6%
17 UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), United Kingdom (UK) 57.61 56.50 308 -9.3%
18 Leibniz Association, Germany 54.29 56.09 405 -4.4%
19 Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain 63.79 55.31 352 -19.8%
20 University of Lausanne (UNIL), Switzerland 51.79 55.08 194 -1.6%
21 Utrecht University (UU), Netherlands 44.94 52.18 252 7.4%
22 University of Bristol (UoB), United Kingdom (UK) 41.07 52.17 172 17.5%
23 European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Germany 43.62 49.73 322 5.4%
24 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland 50.67 49.39 153 -9.8%
25 King's College London (KCL), United Kingdom (UK) 42.37 48.08 239 5.0%
26 Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany 32.24 46.93 246 34.6%
27 University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland 44.75 46.22 148 -4.5%
28 Pasteur Institute, France 32.73 45.92 258 29.8%
29 University of Basel (UB), Switzerland 46.92 45.74 191 -9.8%
30 University of Tübingen (Uni Tübingen), Germany 36.43 42.90 214 8.9%
31 F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Switzerland 36.19 42.88 115 9.6%
32 Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare (IRCCS), Italy 41.59 42.45 228 -5.6%
33 University of Würzburg (JMU), Germany 27.69 40.13 132 34.1%
34 University of Freiburg (Uni Freiburg), Germany 42.62 38.67 151 -16.1%
35 Uppsala University (UU), Sweden 30.55 38.56 222 16.8%
36 Goethe University Frankfurt (GU), Germany 28.04 37.13 148 22.5%
37 Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium 47.89 37.00 196 -28.5%
38 Leiden University, Netherlands 30.52 36.84 199 11.6%
39 University of Helsinki, Finland 34.07 36.13 204 -1.9%
40 Free University of Berlin (FU Berlin), Germany 33.71 35.97 340 -1.3%
41 University of Cologne (UoC), Germany 32.72 35.94 158 1.6%
42 University of Groningen (RUG), Netherlands 34.44 35.79 169 -3.9%
43 University of Münster (WWU), Germany 17.55 35.50 121 87.1%
44 The University of Manchester (UoM), United Kingdom (UK) 33.37 35.44 177 -1.8%
45 Radboud University Nijmegen (RU), Netherlands 33.55 35.39 218 -2.5%
46 Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), United Kingdom (UK) 17.63 34.90 145 83.1%
47 Lund University (LU), Sweden 26.51 34.49 154 20.3%
48 Aarhus University (AU), Denmark 27.53 33.41 152 12.2%
49 University of Göttingen, Germany 29.63 30.51 154 -4.8%
50 University of Amsterdam (UvA), Netherlands 31.51 30.36 252 -10.9%
51 University of Glasgow, United Kingdom (UK) 40.82 30.31 149 -31.3%
52 University of Exeter, United Kingdom (UK) 31.81 30.29 132 -11.9%
53 University of Bern (UniBE), Switzerland 24.42 30.27 126 14.6%
54 Humboldt University of Berlin (HU Berlin), Germany 26.48 30.05 342 5.0%
55 VU Amsterdam, Netherlands 24.40 30.05 211 13.9%
56 Paris Cité University, France 29.62 29.68 341 -7.3%
57 Université PSL, France 37.19 29.67 333 -26.2%
58 University of Hamburg (UHH), Germany 37.64 29.12 164 -28.4%
59 University of Oslo (UiO), Norway 34.80 29.03 139 -22.8%
60 Wellcome Sanger Institute, United Kingdom (UK) 36.36 28.20 207 -28.3%
61 Sorbonne University, France 33.19 27.98 347 -22.0%
62 Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS), Czech Republic 23.89 27.84 127 7.8%
63 The University of Sheffield, United Kingdom (UK) 31.25 27.77 89 -17.8%
64 University of Birmingham (UB), United Kingdom (UK) 23.59 27.74 136 8.8%
65 Ghent University (UGent), Belgium 23.33 27.61 139 9.4%
66 Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), Austria 14.35 27.60 57 77.9%
67 National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), France 28.27 27.43 315 -10.2%
68 Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), Spain 23.36 27.22 238 7.7%
69 University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Germany 19.95 27.09 85 25.5%
70 Stockholm University, Sweden 26.34 26.54 191 -6.8%
71 University of Gothenburg (GU), Sweden 23.75 26.52 141 3.3%
72 University of Bonn (Uni Bonn), Germany 27.78 25.84 145 -14.0%
73 Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Spain 27.35 24.82 128 -16.0%
74 Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), Netherlands 22.77 24.39 153 -0.9%
75 Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), Belgium 23.05 23.94 149 -4.0%
76 Newcastle University, United Kingdom (UK) 30.47 23.83 108 -27.7%
77 Vienna Biocenter (VBC), Austria 18.39 23.45 86 17.9%
78 University of Leeds, United Kingdom (UK) 20.41 22.83 89 3.5%
79 TU Dresden, Germany 18.35 22.45 154 13.2%
80 Aix-Marseille University (AMU), France 23.14 22.25 148 -11.1%
81 University of Vienna, Austria 21.53 21.56 129 -7.4%
82 Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU), Germany 14.59 21.21 103 34.4%
83 University of Montpellier, France 22.34 20.85 221 -13.7%
84 University of Barcelona (UB), Spain 18.33 20.60 168 3.9%
85 Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Russia 19.63 20.41 127 -3.8%
86 University of Dundee, United Kingdom (UK) 20.17 20.13 85 -7.7%
87 John Innes Centre (JIC), United Kingdom (UK) 17.59 19.43 56 2.2%
88 Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Netherlands 19.90 19.11 114 -11.2%
89 Cardiff University, United Kingdom (UK) 19.55 18.69 103 -11.6%
90 Novartis International AG, Switzerland 30.84 18.42 77 -44.7%
91 Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS), Hungary 13.07 18.27 76 29.3%
92 University of Lyon, France 18.44 18.26 144 -8.4%
93 Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), France 14.89 18.13 209 12.6%
94 Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Denmark 16.34 17.54 85 -0.7%
95 Medical University of Vienna (MUW), Austria 20.03 17.22 132 -20.4%
96 University of Bordeaux, France 13.02 17.05 127 21.1%
97 The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), United Kingdom (UK) 9.98 16.64 85 54.3%
98 Philipps University of Marburg (Uni Marburg), Germany 14.47 16.60 85 6.1%
99 AstraZeneca plc, United Kingdom (UK) 14.68 16.42 84 3.5%
100 The University of Nottingham (UoN), United Kingdom (UK) 8.96 16.39 100 69.2%

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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