Scripps Research ranked top nonprofit scientific institute in United States

Scripps Research is the top stand-alone scientific institute in the United States for producing high-quality research, according to a recently released Nature Index ranking based on discoveries published in leading scientific journals.

June 05, 2018


In addition to receiving the top overall US ranking, Scripps Research was ranked first in its class in the United States in both life sciences and chemistry research. Globally, Scripps Research ranked third in life sciences research and fourth in chemistry.

The new ranking, published June 7, follows a separate Nature Index ranking of Scripps Research last August as the most influential research institution overall in the world for its influence on innovation.

“These rankings speak to the culture of scientific excellence at Scripps Research and the commitment of our talented scientists to making seminal discoveries that simultaneously advance human knowledge and human health,” says Jamie Williamson, PhD, Scripps Research’s executive vice president of research and academic affairs. “We at Scripps know what a special place this is for discovery, but it’s nice to have external validation.”

The Nature Index Annual Tables show calendar year output in 68 high-quality journals for the last three years, and reveal the countries, institutions and companies that are leading the way in publishing high-quality global science. The Nature Index is compiled by Nature Research, part of Springer Nature. 

This is the first year Nature Index has released tables ranking nonprofit organizations/non-governmental organizations (NPO/NGO), which include nonprofit scientific organizations, such as Scripps, that are not connected to a university or government agency.

Globally, Scripps Research was ranked fifth overall in the NPO/NGO category, behind several larger organizations in Germany and Russia, but the smallest of these is nearly ten times the size of Scripps Research. The rankings are not adjusted to account for the size of different institutions.

“Scripps Research swings well above its weight in terms of the quality and volume of its scientific output, which is made evident year after year by these rankings,” says Williamson.

Scripps Research was the only organization in the NPO/NGO category to make the top 40 among institutions of all sizes and types in the United States. In the field of chemistry, among all institutions, Scripps ranked 13th in the United States, ahead of major research universities such as Yale, Columbia, Princeton and the University of California, Los Angeles.

Last August, Scripps Research was ranked the overall most influential research institution in the world by the Nature Index 2017 Innovation supplement. The ranking was based on the Normalized Lens Influence Metric, which measures the influence an institution’s research has had on innovation by calculating the citations of its research articles in patents owned by third parties, rather than those owned by institutions themselves.


For more information, contact press@scripps.edu See More News