Researchers at ETH Zurich, the Max Planck Society, the Scimago Group, and data visualisation experts have just launched the 4th edition of the international bibliometric ranking Mapping Scientific Excellence.

Mapping Scientific Excellence is a web application that visualizes scientific excellence worldwide in 24 subject areas. For each university or research-focused institution, the estimated probabilities of publishing highly cited papers (Best Paper Rate) or publishing in the most influential journals (Best Journal Rate) are shown. In this edition, the application analises publications from 2011-2015 in Scopus.

The Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) is ranked #5 worldwide when looking at the best journal rate, which corresponds to the ratio of papers that an institution publishes in the most influential scholarly journals (those ranked in the first quartile (25%) of their subject categories). This indicator shows the ability of an institution to publish its research results in reputable journals.

The CRG appears as the second European institution in this ranking and is only preceded by the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

Leadership in our field

The CRG moves up to rank #4 worldwide and #1 in Europe when selecting the ‘Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology' subject area with the same indicator.

The web application also provides covariate-adjusted rankings. In the models, the effect of single covariates (such as the gross domestic product of the country in which an institution is located) on institutional performance is examined and visualized.

The CRG stands out when the Best Journal indicator is adjusted using the two of the available covariate analysis, ranking #1 worldwide for “Number of Academic Institutions per country” and “Gross Domestic Product per capita of a country”, within the Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology subject area.

This web application offers a look at where excellent research is being produced worldwide and puts the CRG and other institutes at the Barcelona Institute for Science and Technology (BIST) on the map for high quality research. “The high position in this ranking clearly shows that some of the research institutes here in Spain are leaders in their field, hopefully this will contribute to boosting our ability to attract international talent and increase the quality and competitiveness of our science” says CRG director Luis Serrano.