New York University is recognized as one of the 70 top research institutions consistently home to the world’s most-cited researchers over the past five years. The analysis of “research powerhouses,” led by the analytics company Clarivate, demonstrates where research impact is most concentrated.
Since 2001, Clarivate has identified “ highly cited researchers ”—a group of scientists and social scientists whose research published over the last decade has demonstrated global impact, as measured by published papers that are frequently cited by others. The researchers represent roughly 1 in 1,000 of the world’s investigators in biomedical, physical, and social sciences research. Last year, 28 NYU researchers were named highly cited researchers while 25 were cited in 2024. They were recognized for advances in biology, engineering, mathematics, medicine, neural science, political science, and public health, among other disciplines.
The Clarivate ranking comes as NYU seeks to bolster research in the areas of science and technology. Over the past year it has unveiled a supercomputer —the most powerful in New York State—that will vastly increase computational capacity; established the Courant Institute School of Mathematics, Computing, and Data Science ; created the Quantum Institute , which will unlock discoveries and applications of quantum information sciences; launched the Institute for Engineering Health , which integrates engineering, medicine, and the biological sciences to advance healthcare discovery, prevention, and treatment; and established the Center for Robotics and Embodied Intelligence , which will develop machines that can sense, navigate, and act autonomously in complex real-world environments, from operating rooms to disaster zones.
Clarivate’s new analysis identifies the 70 institutions worldwide that averaged a 0.3 percent share or more of the highly cited researcher population between 2021 and 2025. Although the top 70 institutions account for only 3.3 percent of all institutions represented in Clarivate’s highly cited researcher data, they account for 43.3 percent of all awards.
According to the analysis, NYU is home to a 0.4 percent share of the world’s most-cited researchers, tying with other institutions, including the University of Chicago, the University of Michigan, and Duke University.