The latest update of the Essential Science Indicators (ESI), released recently and covering data from January 2015 to February 2025, shows six universities from Guangdong among the world's top 500 research institutions and ten ranked in China's top 100.
Among the global top 500, Sun Yat-sen University leads the pack from Guangdong, ranking 59th worldwide, followed by South China University of Technology at 141st, Shenzhen University at 255th, Jinan University at 376th, Southern Medical University at 382nd, and the Southern University of Science and Technology at 394th.
Sun Yat-sen University
Notably, all six institutions are also ranked among the top 50 in China. In addition, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou Medical University, South China Agricultural University, and South China Normal University have also secured spots in China's top 100.
The latest ESI results also see six Guangdong universities newly adding a total of nine new disciplines to the global top 1%, top 0.1%, and top 0.01% categories. South China University of Technology, for instance, has its research in chemistry newly listed among the top 0.01% globally, marking the university's second discipline to reach this tier, following its earlier success in engineering.
As of now, universities in Guangdong have a total of 243 disciplines ranked in the global top 1%.
The Essential Science Indicators (ESI), developed by Clarivate, ranks global research performance using ten years of publication and citation data from over 12,000 SCIE and SSCI journals. It identifies leading institutions and disciplines across 22 fields based on their research output and academic influence.
Reporter | Chen Siyuan
Editor | Hu Nan, James, Shen He
Photo | Sun Yat-sen University
