Research Collaboration Index
A worked example using real, public data for Aalto University (Finland), a Gold-band university.  See a world-leading example (Oxford) →

The enhanced fact file

Your entire collaboration network, read like a strategist would.

Not a scorecard. A dossier that tells a university leader exactly where the strengths, the risks and the fundable opportunities are, every figure sourced from the open research record.

● Gold standing · Research Collaboration Index
🌍 Europe · 417 universities benchmarked
23,319
co-authored works, 5 years
1,101
partner universities
79
partner countries
845
sustained deep ties
3.14
collaboration impact (FWCI)
91%
of partners non-redundant

The one-screen strategic read

Where you stand, at a glance.

The first thing a leader needs is not more data, it is a verdict. Three strengths to lead with, three challenges to manage, three opportunities to act on, each drawn straight from the network below.

Strengths
  • Materials Science is the standout field. Ranked #45 in the world for connected research, with Engineering #79, Computer Science #86 close behind: the anchors to build consortia around.
  • Strong on international and sustained. Aalto University sits in the 96th percentile for international and the 82nd for sustained: genuine, defensible strengths.
  • A genuine bridge, not just a hub. 196 of 216 partners (91%) are non-redundant, so it connects communities that would not otherwise meet.
Challenges
  • Influence is the softest pillar. At the 62nd percentile it sits clearly below the others: the single clearest place to build.
  • Health & Medicine is the at-risk domain. World #1,022 for connected research, far behind the rest of the portfolio: a real gap, not a crown jewel.
  • Network concentration. The top two partner countries (Finland and United States) carry about 53% of collaboration volume: depth, but a thin long tail.
Opportunities
  • Win HKU. World top-1. University of Hong Kong is top-127 globally in Physical Sciences. Route: Horizon Europe (associated-country participation) or bilateral Royal Society / DFG / ANR schemes.
  • Win NUS. World top-2. National University of Singapore is top-56 globally in Physical Sciences. Route: Horizon Europe (associated-country participation) or bilateral Royal Society / DFG / ANR schemes.
  • Convert your highest-yield tie. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne returns the highest impact of your partners (FWCI 6.8). Formalise it into a funded consortium to compound impact, not just volume.

Scholarly weight

The impact behind the network

Collaboration only counts if the work lands. This is the citation weight of everything produced with partners, the substance under the network.

489
h-index of the joint research base
3.5M
citations to co-authored work
3.14
field-weighted citation impact (FWCI)
23,319
co-authored works, 2021-2025
81
collaboration efficiency, impact per tie

Visualisation 1

Your collaboration profile

Seven pillars, each shown as a global percentile. The dashed ring marks the top-decile benchmark; anything inside it is a genuine, defensible strength.

Influence62nd pctReach82nd pctDiversity80th pctSustained82nd pctImpact80th pctInternational96th pctBrokerage54th pct

Aalto University is strongest on international (96th percentile), sustained (82nd) and reach (82nd). Its brokerage diagnostic shows 196 of 216 partners (91%) are non-redundant, a genuine bridge between communities rather than a wide publisher.

The pillar to watch is Influence (62nd percentile), the softest of the six and the clearest place to build.

Source: the open global research record, co-authored works 2021–2025, fractional counting

The anatomy of your standing

Exactly what your position is built from

Six pillars, each weighted, combine into one standing index. Nothing is hidden: this is the entire calculation, in a single bar.

InflImpaSustReacDiveInteEach block is a pillar’s weighted contribution; together they place the university in the Gold band worldwide.
Influence22% weight62nd pct+13.6
Impact18% weight80th pct+14.4
Sustained18% weight82nd pct+14.8
Reach16% weight82nd pct+13.1
Diversity16% weight80th pct+12.8
International10% weight96th pct+9.6

Brokerage is reported alongside as a diagnostic, not folded into the score, so a university cannot inflate its standing simply by publishing widely. It measures whether you connect communities that would otherwise stay apart.

Visualisation 2

Where you lead the world, by field

Each subject placed on a log scale of world rank (1 to 1,195). The further left, the more globally central. Gold marks a top-50 standout, blue a solid position.

#1#10#100#1000Materials Science45Engineering79Computer Sci.86Physics & Astronomy92
Standout (top 50)Solid (top 150)Ranked

Aalto University's strongest connected fields are Materials Science #45, Engineering #79, Computer Science #86. The portfolio leans on physical sciences & engineering; Health & Medicine, at world #1,022 in the deep-dive below, is the clear at-risk area, exactly the gap this chart surfaces.

Source: subject-level indices, 26 fields, minimum 50-university gate

Discipline deep-dive

How you collaborate, faculty by faculty

The same network split into its four broad domains, each with its world rank for connected research and the five partners it leans on most. This is the view a dean or pro-vice-chancellor acts on.

Health & Medicine
World #1022 for connected research
14/100
Top collaboration partners
🇫🇮 University of Helsinki716
🇫🇮 University of Jyväsky…363
🇫🇮 University of Turku166
🇫🇮 University of Eastern…165
🇫🇮 Tampere University74
Life Sciences
World #919 for connected research
23/100
Top collaboration partners
🇫🇮 University of Helsinki999
🇫🇮 University of Jyväsky…657
🇫🇮 University of Turku95
🇫🇮 University of Eastern…79
🇳🇴 University of Oslo68
Physical Sciences & Engineering
World #274 for connected research
77/100
Top collaboration partners
🇫🇮 University of Helsinki3,915
🇫🇮 University of Jyväsky…3,235
🇫🇷 Université Paris-Sacl…930
🇺🇸 Caltech749
🇫🇷 Université Claude Ber…731
Social Sciences
World #556 for connected research
54/100
Top collaboration partners
🇫🇮 University of Helsinki663
🇫🇮 University of Jyväsky…369
🇫🇮 University of Turku172
🇫🇮 Tampere University131
🇫🇮 University of Eastern…81
Source: domain-level co-authorship, partner institutions 2021–2025

Visualisation 3

Which partnerships actually pay off

Every anchor partner plotted by collaboration volume against the citation impact of the joint work. The prize quadrant is top-right: high volume and high impact. The bottom-right is the trap: a lot of output, little impact.

Joint works (collaboration volume) →Impact (FWCI) →high yieldUniversity of HelsUniversity of JyväUniversity of EastChalmers Universit
High yieldStandardLow yield

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne returns the highest impact of the set (FWCI 6.8): a consortium waiting to happen. University of Eastern Finland, by contrast, is a sizeable partner returning FWCI 2.7: worth asking what that volume is buying.

PartnerJoint worksFWCIYield
🇫🇮 University of Helsinki4,530 3.3Standard
🇫🇮 University of Jyväskylä3,197 3.6Standard
🇫🇮 University of Turku712 3.6Standard
🇫🇮 Tampere University641 3.1Standard
🇫🇮 University of Eastern Finland502 2.7Low yield
🇫🇮 University of Oulu431 3.7Standard
🇫🇷 Université Paris-Saclay286 5.0Standard
🇸🇪 KTH Royal Institute of Technology283 5.2Standard
🇨🇦 University of British Columbia231 4.2Standard
🇸🇪 Chalmers University of Technology230 5.8Standard
Source: institution-to-institution co-authorship ledger + field-weighted citation impact

Visualisation 4

Your global reach, and where it thins out

Top partner countries

🇫🇮 Finland 10,013
🇺🇸 United States 4,316
🇨🇳 China 3,293
🇬🇧 United Kingdom 2,831
🇩🇪 Germany 2,112
🇫🇷 France 1,870
🇸🇪 Sweden 1,361
🇮🇹 Italy 1,327

Anchor partner institutions

🇫🇮 University of Helsinki 4,530
🇫🇮 University of Jyväskylä 3,197
🇫🇮 University of Turku 712
🇫🇮 Tampere University 641
🇫🇮 University of Eastern Finland 502
🇫🇮 University of Oulu 431
🇫🇷 Université Paris-Saclay 286
🇸🇪 KTH Royal Institute of Technology 283

The network spans 79 countries and 1,101 universities, but the top two carry about 53% of the volume. That concentration is where the resilience question lives, and the Africa white-space (0 of the region's 2 leading collaborators) is the clearest gap to close.

In Materials Science, the single strongest partnership is 🇫🇮 University of Helsinki, with 175 joint works: the natural anchor for a flagship consortium.
Source: co-authorship by partner-institution country, 2021–2025

Visualisation 6

The partners to win next

Not a generic wish-list. Globally central universities you are not yet deeply partnered with, each with the reason it matters and the specific programme that would fund the collaboration.

🇭🇰 University of Hong Kong Hong Kong SAR · world top-1

University of Hong Kong is top-127 globally in Physical Sciences. You have no joint publications yet, and it is a natural, fundable bridge in Materials Science.

Funding route: Horizon Europe (associated-country participation) or bilateral Royal Society / DFG / ANR schemes

🇸🇬 National University of Singapore Singapore · world top-2

National University of Singapore is top-56 globally in Physical Sciences. You have no joint publications yet, and it is a natural, fundable bridge in Materials Science.

Funding route: Horizon Europe (associated-country participation) or bilateral Royal Society / DFG / ANR schemes

🇭🇰 Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong SAR · world top-3

Chinese University of Hong Kong is top-150 globally in Physical Sciences. You have no joint publications yet, and it is a natural, fundable bridge in Materials Science.

Funding route: Horizon Europe (associated-country participation) or bilateral Royal Society / DFG / ANR schemes

🇬🇧 University of Oxford United Kingdom · world top-4

University of Oxford is top-84 globally in Physical Sciences. You have no joint publications yet, and it is a natural, fundable bridge in Materials Science.

Funding route: Horizon Europe (associated-country participation) or bilateral Royal Society / DFG / ANR schemes

Source: network white-space analysis + funder-programme mapping

The research base

The ecosystem behind the collaboration

A partnership does not plug into a name, it plugs into a base: the affiliated hospitals, presses, institutes and archives, and the research themes where the joint work concentrates.

Helsinki Institute of PhysicsHelsinki Institute for Information Technology
Materials ScienceEngineeringComputer Science

Context

Your competitive set, and your signature research

Benchmarked against

The named peer group your fact file compares you to, pillar by pillar and subject by subject.

🇬🇧 London School of Hygiene & Tropical MedicineUnited Kingdom
🇺🇸 University of California, Santa CruzUnited States
🇩🇪 University of CologneGermany
🇨🇳 University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina
🇸🇪 KTH Royal Institute of TechnologySweden

Signature joint research

The most-cited work produced with partners, each verifiable.

Advanced Cellulose Research StudiesAdvanced MIMO Systems OptimizationGraphene research and applicationsLignin and Wood ChemistryBuilding Energy and Comfort OptimizationSpeech and Audio Processing

From insight to action

A 90-day plan, written from the data.

The dossier ends where a strategy meeting begins: three moves, sequenced, each pointing back to a specific finding above.

0-30 days
Name the target

Adopt HKU and a Africa hub as formal partnership targets; brief the relevant deans with the joint white-space evidence.

30-60 days
Open the funding route

Scope the specific programme for each target, and turn the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne tie into a consortium concept in Physical Sciences & Engineering.

60-90 days
Interrogate the soft spots

Address the influence gap and the health & medicine weakness; set a diversification target for the long tail; and secure an editorial feature in the reputation-survey window.

Subject Award spotlight

Celebrating your significant contributions

We have identified the partnerships below as candidates for the Subject Awards, for a significant contribution to connected research. Each is anchored to a real, cited joint paper, with the lead author taken from that paper's own authorship record.

Materials Science · candidate
with 🇫🇮 University of Helsinki
Lead author under editorial review

High drug-loaded microspheres enabled by controlled in-droplet precipitation promote functional recovery after spinal cord injury

2022 · 137 citations

Their most-cited joint work, on electrospun nanofibers in biomedical applications, has been cited 137 times and anchors a 175-paper partnership in materials science.

See the Materials Science candidates →
These are candidates, not winners. The full slate is undergoing complete review by our editorial team ahead of the awards, and the Subject Awards are exclusive to partner universities.

Your fact file

Claim the full fact file for Aalto University.

Everything above is the open view. The full partner fact file goes further: every ranked subject and subfield, the complete partner ledger with yield, your named academics and their signature work, the funder-by-funder route map for each target, and this same dossier on up to ten named rivals.

Partner fact file · locked

Unlocked for partners. Confirm before 12:00, 22 July 2026 to be included at the 1 September launch.

Claim your fact file →

Free to claim and verify your data. No obligation. Your ranking is unaffected by partnership, and always will be.

Exclusive to partners

Plus this same dossier on up to 10 of your rivals.

Every partnership includes the full intelligence on your named competitive set, their strengths, their funders, their white-space, so you can see exactly where you lead and where to close the gap. Two rivals with Recognition, five with Partnership, up to ten with Flagship.

Your research, in front of 172,000 academics, with full reporting.

Partnership also places your research as editorial features in the Research Network Report, our newsletter to a verified global academic audience, timed to the reputation-survey season. Every send comes with a full performance report: opens, clicks and geography, benchmarked against the edition.

The Research Network Report

172,000
verified academic subscribers worldwide
Nov–Jan
timed to the reputation-survey season
Full report
opens, clicks and geography on every feature

See your own dossier, built for your university.

Submit your data and we will build and review your enhanced fact file with you, then show exactly how a partnership turns it into advantage, before the index goes public on 1 September 2026.

Request a partnership conversation →
Global Research Partnerships · globalresearchpartnerships.com/rci · Built on the open global research record and the award data of the world's major funders. Methodology.