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Industry Collaboration Index

Industry Collaboration Index 2026 · University profile

Kyoto University

Japan · Asia-Pacific · Platinum

#4World rank of 1,038
89.8ICI scoreout of 100
#2National rank, of 52 in Japan
#2Regional rank, of 343 in Asia-Pacific
2,926Verified industry works, 2021 to 2025
969Company groups worked with (429 on two or more works)

Kyoto University is ranked #4 of 1,038, with Platinum standing. Its strongest pillar is scale (98): a network of 429 company groups on two or more joint works. All four pillars are above the middle of the ranked universities; the lowest is breadth (73).

Research Collaboration Index 2026: #281 of 1,195, Gold standing · View the RCI profile →

Why this position

Four pillars, as percentiles

Co-creation30% of the score
93

How often it co-authors with companies, compared with what its own mix of research fields would predict; size makes no difference. 2,926 verified works against about 1,763 expected for its fields (1.66 times the expected rate).

Durability20% of the score
89

How much of its industry work sits in sustained partnerships with the same company group. 149 sustained partnerships: five or more joint works in three or more of the five years.

Scale30% of the score
98

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. 429 company groups on two or more joint works; 149 sustained partnerships.

Breadth20% of the score
73

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 (89.8) is the weighted average of the four percentiles. Rank 4 of 1,038 overall; 2 of 52 in Japan; 2 of 343 in Asia-Pacific. 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

6.7%of its 43,911 research works in 2021 to 2025 were co-authored with a verified company
1.66Industry co-authorship rate: 1.66 times what its mix of research fields would predict (2,926 verified works; about 1,763 expected)
149sustained partnerships: the same company group on five or more joint works in three or more of the five years

In Japan

2 of 52 ranked universities in Japan

  1. #1 The University of Tokyo world #3, score 89.8
  2. #2 Kyoto University world #4, score 89.8
  3. #3 The University of Osaka world #5, score 89.2
  4. #4 Hokkaido University world #15, score 85.7
  5. #5 Kyushu University world #20, score 84.5

All ranked universities →   Asia-Pacific: 2 of 343 →

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

#16 of 481Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology259 verified works in the sector
#5 of 109Semiconductors and Microelectronics56 verified works in the sector
#16 of 220Biotechnology and Advanced Therapies104 verified works in the sector
Pharmaceuticals and Therapeutics
262.5#85 of 638
Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
259#16 of 481
Built Environment and Infrastructure
113#24 of 215
Biotechnology and Advanced Therapies
104#16 of 220
Clean Energy Transition
96.5#30 of 295
Climate, Environment and Sustainability
77.5#51 of 373
Medical Technology and Digital Health
64.5#77 of 323
Advanced Manufacturing and Industry 4.0
63.5#40 of 201
Artificial Intelligence
57#80 of 292
Semiconductors and Microelectronics
56#5 of 109
Chemicals, Process and Resources
54#89 of 237
Agriculture and Food Technology
49#87 of 194
Batteries and Energy Storage
36.5#36 of 126
Next-Generation Communications
35#96 of 188
Software, Cloud and Data
34.5#85 of 167
Automotive and Mobility
13.5under 20 works
Cybersecurity and Digital Trust
10.5under 20 works
Quantum Technologies
10under 20 works
Robotics and Autonomous Systems
10ranking withheld (under 10 eligible)
Aerospace and Aviation
3.5under 20 works
Space and Satellite Technology
1under 20 works
Not in any of the 21 sectors
1,512.5counted in the overall index

1,413.5 of its 2,926 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

Kyoto University co-authored verified work with 969 company groups, consortium papers aside: 429 of them on two or more works, and 149 as sustained partners.

The largest 12 of its 969 company groups, by joint works

Company groupBased inCompany's main research fieldJoint worksYears with a joint work
TakedaJapanChemistry805 of 5
Toyota Central Research and Development LaboratoriesJapanMedicine78.55 of 5
NTTJapanEngineering78.55 of 5
Mitsubishi ElectricJapanEngineering63.55 of 5
HitachiJapanEngineering565 of 5
ShimadzuJapanChemistry44.55 of 5
JEOLJapanMaterials Science405 of 5
PanasonicJapanEngineering39.55 of 5
Nippon SteelJapanEngineering395 of 5
RigakuJapanMaterials Science364 of 5
Kansai Electric PowerJapanEngineering34.55 of 5
Eli LillyUnited StatesMedicine325 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

5922021
6072022
5832023
5852024
5592025

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.

Clinical trials (reported, not scored)

1 industry-partnered clinical trial

Trials starting 2021 to 2025 in ClinicalTrials.gov in which a company and this university are the sponsor and a collaborator. Names are matched exactly, so a trial registered only under an affiliated hospital's own name is not counted here, and the count can be well below the university's real trial activity. Trials do not enter the score.

The trial:

  • NCT05879653 Pembrolizumab and EV With Radiation Therapy for MIBC Patients (PEVRAD) with Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, 2023

Funded partnerships (reported, not scored)

Publicly funded research projects with companies

European Union: 5 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 (35 distinct companies). Company partners include: Bundes-gesellschaft Fur Endlagerungmbh (bge), Amentum Clean Energy Limited., Centrale Organisatie Voor Radioactief Afval NV, Clay Technology AB, Costruzioni Apparecchiature Elettroniche Nucleari Caen SpA, DMT GmbH & Co. KG.

  • EURAD-2 European Partnership on Radioactive Waste Management - 2 2024, 29 companies
  • NEWPATHWAYS NEW PATHWAYS FOR EQUITABLE CLIMATE ACTION IN LINE WITH THE PARIS AGREEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2025, 1 company
  • ELEVATE ENABLING AND LEVERAGING CLIMATE ACTION TOWARDS NET-ZERO EMISSIONS 2022, 1 company

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, 1 also appear in this university's verified co-authorship record (Électricité de France) and 15 are funded partners not yet visible in it. About 46% 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

3,929 verified company links

Each counted link (one work, this university and one company) was confirmed against the affiliation text its author wrote; 1,953 of 5,882 candidate links were set aside.

Why links were set aside
  • 905 company name not written in the author's affiliation
  • 286 a place or common word that failed its stricter rule
  • 282 ordinary-word name without a company suffix
  • 262 part of a university or public institute's own unit
  • 36 part of a street or district address
  • 27 only inside the university's own affiliation text
  • 155 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.

For your communications

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GRP Partnership Intelligence Platform

Where Kyoto University'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 →

The platform cannot move any university's position, band or score.

The other GRP index

Research Collaboration Index

In the Research Collaboration Index 2026, Kyoto University ranks #281 of 1,195, with Gold 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.