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Industry Collaboration Index

Industry Collaboration Index 2026 · University profile

Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

Germany · Europe · Silver

#337World rank of 1,038
60.6ICI scoreout of 100
#27National rank, of 57 in Germany
#144Regional rank, of 388 in Europe
997.5Verified industry works, 2021 to 2025
400Company groups worked with (143 on two or more works)

Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf is ranked #337 of 1,038, with Silver standing. Its strongest pillar is durability (83): 48 of its company groups are sustained partners (five or more joint works in three or more of the five years). It is held back most by breadth (16): partners concentrated in a few research fields.

Research Collaboration Index 2026: #312 of 1,195, Silver standing · View the RCI profile →

Why this position

Four pillars, as percentiles

Co-creation30% of the score
62

How often it co-authors with companies, compared with what its own mix of research fields would predict; size makes no difference. 997.5 verified works against about 879 expected for its fields (1.14 times the expected rate).

Durability20% of the score
83

How much of its industry work sits in sustained partnerships with the same company group. 48 sustained partnerships: five or more joint works in three or more of the five years.

Scale30% of the score
74

The size of its industry network: company groups on two or more works, sustained partnerships, and its place in the worldwide network of universities and companies. 143 company groups on two or more joint works; 48 sustained partnerships.

Breadth20% of the score
16

How varied its partners are, judged by each company's main research field. Measured across the main research fields of all the company groups it worked with.

Each pillar is a percentile among the 1,038 ranked universities: a value of 80 means a higher value than about 80 in every 100 of them. The ICI score (60.6) is the weighted average of the four percentiles. Rank 337 of 1,038 overall; 27 of 57 in Germany; 144 of 388 in Europe. Standing bands: Platinum for ranks 1 to 100, Gold 101 to 300, Silver 301 to 600. How the index is built →

In numbers

The evidence behind the position

4.7%of its 21,176 research works in 2021 to 2025 were co-authored with a verified company
1.14Industry co-authorship rate: 1.14 times what its mix of research fields would predict (997.5 verified works; about 879 expected)
48sustained partnerships: the same company group on five or more joint works in three or more of the five years

In Germany

27 of 57 ranked universities in Germany

  1. #25 University of Lübeck world #297, score 62.8
  2. #26 Saarland University world #314, score 61.7
  3. #27 Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf world #337, score 60.6
  4. #28 TU Dortmund University world #354, score 59.5
  5. #29 University of Hohenheim world #355, score 59.5

All ranked universities →   Europe: 144 of 388 →

Where it works with industry

Sector strengths

Verified industry works by sector, with its position in each sector ranking. A university is ranked in a sector once it has at least 20 verified works there; sectors with fewer than 50 eligible universities are provisional.

Strongest sector positions

#139 of 638Pharmaceuticals and Therapeutics229.5 verified works in the sector
Pharmaceuticals and Therapeutics
229.5#139 of 638
Medical Technology and Digital Health
39.5#185 of 323
Biotechnology and Advanced Therapies
27.5#158 of 220
Climate, Environment and Sustainability
17.5under 20 works
Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
17under 20 works
Agriculture and Food Technology
11under 20 works
Artificial Intelligence
8under 20 works
Advanced Manufacturing and Industry 4.0
6.5under 20 works
Software, Cloud and Data
5.5under 20 works
Quantum Technologies
3.5under 20 works
Chemicals, Process and Resources
2under 20 works
Clean Energy Transition
2under 20 works
Built Environment and Infrastructure
1under 20 works
Not in any of the 21 sectors
625counted in the overall index

372.5 of its 997.5 verified industry works fall within the 21 sectors. The rest have research topics that belong to no industry sector (basic science, for example) or are consortium papers with 100 or more authors, which the sector indices leave out; all of them count fully in the overall index.

Who it works with

Company partners, 2021 to 2025

Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf co-authored verified work with 400 company groups, consortium papers aside: 143 of them on two or more works, and 48 as sustained partners.

The largest 12 of its 400 company groups, by joint works

Company groupBased inCompany's main research fieldJoint worksYears with a joint work
NovartisSwitzerlandMedicine64.55 of 5
RocheSwitzerlandMedicine52.55 of 5
Bristol-Myers SquibbUnited StatesMedicine325 of 5
BayerGermanyMedicine305 of 5
SanofiFranceMedicine285 of 5
Merck KGaAGermanyMedicine255 of 5
AstraZenecaUnited KingdomMedicine23.55 of 5
Boehringer IngelheimGermanyMedicine21.55 of 5
Boston ScientificUnited StatesMedicine205 of 5
Miltenyi BiotecGermanyMedicine185 of 5
Munich Leukemia LaboratoryGermanyMedicine165 of 5
Johnson & JohnsonUnited StatesMedicine14.55 of 5

A company group brings together a company's subsidiaries and research labs under one name. A work counts half when its only company author also holds a post at this university. Consortium papers with 100 or more authors are left out of this table.

Examples of its work with industry

Most-cited verified joint works

Its most-cited verified works with 30 or fewer authors, leaving out guidelines and consensus statements. Citation counts are those of the open scholarly record at harvest. Each title links to the work.

Over time

Verified industry works by year

2072021
2032022
2172023
1982024
172.52025

2025 is not yet complete: papers published late in the year are still being added to the open record, and coverage may not be equally complete for every university, so compare years with care. A work counts half when its only company author also holds a post at the university, so some totals end in .5.

Funded partnerships (reported, not scored)

Publicly funded research projects with companies

European Union: 26 Horizon projects with company partners

Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects starting 2021-2025 in which this university and at least one company take part (112 distinct companies). Most frequent: Bioatlantis Limited, Thales Las France SAS, Qiagen GmbH, Unilever Innovation Centre Wageningen BV, Philips Medical Systems Nederland BV, Abac Therapeutics, SL.

  • EBRAINS 2.0 EBRAINS 2.0: A Research Infrastructure to Advance Neuroscience and Brain Health 2024, 3 companies
  • GLIOMATCH The malignant Glioma immuno-oncology matchmaker: towards data-driven precision medicine using spatially resolved radio-multiomics 2024, 3 companies
  • IMPROVE Framework to IMPROVE the Integration of Patient Generated Health Data to Facilitate Value Based Healthcare 2023, 8 companies

Shown for context from the public grant registries; they do not enter the score in Edition 1. Comparable open registries of company partners exist for the European Union and the United Kingdom but not yet for most other research systems, and in some countries national research organisations take part on behalf of university laboratories, so these counts are not comparable between countries.

Funded and co-publishing. Of the funded company partners that match an ICI company group, 11 also appear in this university's verified co-authorship record (Henkel, Pfizer, Philips, Medtronic, KWS Saat, Evonik) and 17 are funded partners not yet visible in it. About 25% of funded company names could be matched to a company group; the rest are counted, not guessed. Sources: UKRI Gateway to Research harvested 4 Oct 2026; CORDIS bulk files of 2026-10-12 (latest record update 2026-06-10). Funded partnerships cover UK (UKRI Gateway to Research) and EU (Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe, CORDIS) projects starting 2021 to 2025 only. They are reported, never scored, and a funder record outside these two sources is not visible here.

Evidence checked

1,450 verified company links

Each counted link (one work, this university and one company) was confirmed against the affiliation text its author wrote; 2,243 of 3,693 candidate links were set aside.

Why links were set aside
  • 1,074 company name not written in the author's affiliation
  • 487 ordinary-word name without a company suffix
  • 330 refresh_university_not_on_work
  • 166 part of a university or public institute's own unit
  • 57 a place or common word that failed its stricter rule
  • 17 not an industry organisation
  • 112 for other reasons: smaller hand-audit findings, and links the current open record no longer supports

If a partner is missing or should not be here, send the evidence; corrections are free and reviewed against the public record.

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GRP Partnership Intelligence Platform

Where Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf's collaboration could go next

This profile is free and public, and it stays that way. Beyond it, the GRP Partnership Intelligence Platform, a partner service arranged with each university, sets your record in both GRP indices beside the peers you choose: the universities and companies your peers work with that you do not, live funding calls matched to your strengths, the EU projects your peers have won, and a brief ready for your executive. It opens to partner universities on Monday 19 October 2026: enquire, and the GRP team will confirm availability and pricing for your university.

Request first access →  See what is inside →

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The other GRP index

Research Collaboration Index

In the Research Collaboration Index 2026, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf ranks #312 of 1,195, with Silver standing. It measures the whole research network, not only industry.

View the RCI profile →

Something wrong? Every figure comes from the public record and can be checked. If a partner is missing or should not be there, tell us and we will review it with the evidence. The 2027 edition will be calculated with the same published methodology. The window for universities to submit data for it is open now: submit data for the 2027 edition. The index is free, public and independent. No commercial relationship with any university or company changes any position, and no one can pay to be included, excluded or moved.