Global Research PartnershipsCreate free account
Industry Collaboration Index

Industry Collaboration Index 2026 · University profile

University of Tübingen

Germany · Europe · Platinum

★ Sector Awards 2026. Finalist: the Medical Technology and Digital Health Award (with Siemens Healthineers; Saif Afat and Elisabeth Weiland).

#91World rank of 1,038
75.8ICI scoreout of 100
#4National rank, of 57 in Germany
#39Regional rank, of 388 in Europe
1,351Verified industry works, 2021 to 2025
538Company groups worked with (190 on two or more works)

University of Tübingen is ranked #91 of 1,038, with Platinum standing. Its strongest pillar is co-creation (88): 1,351 verified industry works against about 874 expected for its mix of fields. It is held back most by breadth (43): partners concentrated in a few research fields.

Research Collaboration Index 2026: #118 of 1,195, Gold standing · View the RCI profile →

Why this position

Four pillars, as percentiles

Co-creation30% of the score
88

How often it co-authors with companies, compared with what its own mix of research fields would predict; size makes no difference. 1,351 verified works against about 874 expected for its fields (1.55 times the expected rate).

Durability20% of the score
82

How much of its industry work sits in sustained partnerships with the same company group. 51 sustained partnerships: five or more joint works in three or more of the five years.

Scale30% of the score
81

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. 190 company groups on two or more joint works; 51 sustained partnerships.

Breadth20% of the score
43

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 (75.8) is the weighted average of the four percentiles. Rank 91 of 1,038 overall; 4 of 57 in Germany; 39 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

5.5%of its 24,704 research works in 2021 to 2025 were co-authored with a verified company
1.55Industry co-authorship rate: 1.55 times what its mix of research fields would predict (1,351 verified works; about 874 expected)
51sustained partnerships: the same company group on five or more joint works in three or more of the five years

In Germany

4 of 57 ranked universities in Germany

  1. #2 Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg world #61, score 78.6
  2. #3 RWTH Aachen University world #75, score 77.3
  3. #4 University of Tübingen world #91, score 75.8
  4. #5 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München world #92, score 75.6
  5. #6 Technische Universität Dresden world #104, score 74.9

All ranked universities →   Europe: 39 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

#103 of 638Pharmaceuticals and Therapeutics275.5 verified works in the sector
#65 of 220Biotechnology and Advanced Therapies53.5 verified works in the sector
#114 of 323Medical Technology and Digital Health81.5 verified works in the sector
Pharmaceuticals and Therapeutics
275.5#103 of 638
Medical Technology and Digital Health
81.5#114 of 323
Biotechnology and Advanced Therapies
53.5#65 of 220
Artificial Intelligence
26#210 of 292
Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
15.5under 20 works
Agriculture and Food Technology
14under 20 works
Climate, Environment and Sustainability
14under 20 works
Software, Cloud and Data
14under 20 works
Chemicals, Process and Resources
9under 20 works
Clean Energy Transition
5under 20 works
Next-Generation Communications
3under 20 works
Aerospace and Aviation
1under 20 works
Built Environment and Infrastructure
1under 20 works
Cybersecurity and Digital Trust
1under 20 works
Automotive and Mobility
1under 20 works
Quantum Technologies
1under 20 works
Robotics and Autonomous Systems
1ranking withheld (under 10 eligible)
Not in any of the 21 sectors
832.5counted in the overall index

518.5 of its 1,351 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

University of Tübingen co-authored verified work with 538 company groups, consortium papers aside: 190 of them on two or more works, and 51 as sustained partners.

The largest 12 of its 538 company groups, by joint works

Company groupBased inCompany's main research fieldJoint worksYears with a joint work
Siemens HealthineersGermanyMedicine685 of 5
NovartisSwitzerlandMedicine60.55 of 5
RocheSwitzerlandMedicine525 of 5
Carl ZeissGermanyEngineering49.55 of 5
Boehringer IngelheimGermanyMedicine42.55 of 5
Johnson & JohnsonUnited StatesMedicine39.55 of 5
BayerGermanyMedicine375 of 5
Merck & Co. (MSD)United StatesMedicine285 of 5
SiemensGermanyEngineering285 of 5
SanofiFranceMedicine265 of 5
PfizerUnited StatesMedicine255 of 5
CeGaTGermanyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology254 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

279.52021
286.52022
264.52023
233.52024
2872025

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: 60 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 (286 distinct companies). Most frequent: Miltenyi Biotec BV & Co KG, Naicons Srl, Pfizer Inc, Astrazeneca AB, Glaxosmithkline Biologicals SA, Bioeclosion SL.

  • ERDERA EUROPEAN RARE DISEASES RESEARCH ALLIANCE 2024, 20 companies
  • ELLIOT European Large Open Multi-Modal Foundation Models For Robust Generalization On Arbitrary Data Streams 2025, 11 companies
  • IMAGIO IMAGING AND ADVANCED GUIDANCE FOR WORKFLOW OPTIMIZATION IN INTERVENTIONAL ONCOLOGY 2023, 17 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, 33 also appear in this university's verified co-authorship record (Pfizer, Miltenyi Biotec, AstraZeneca, Robert Bosch, Mimetas, Carl Zeiss Vision International) and 73 are funded partners not yet visible in it. About 40% 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

1,941 verified company links

Each counted link (one work, this university and one company) was confirmed against the affiliation text its author wrote; 1,489 of 3,430 candidate links were set aside.

Why links were set aside
  • 689 company name not written in the author's affiliation
  • 303 part of a university or public institute's own unit
  • 204 ordinary-word name without a company suffix
  • 128 a place or common word that failed its stricter rule
  • 24 part of a street or district address
  • 15 not an industry organisation
  • 126 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

Badges you can use

Platinum standing badgeSector Awards finalist badge

Use the badge with a link to this page.

GRP Partnership Intelligence Platform

Where University of Tübingen'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, University of Tübingen ranks #118 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.