Research Collaboration Index
A worked example using real, public data for Queen's University Belfast (United Kingdom), 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.

โ— Gold standing · Research Collaboration Index
๐ŸŒ Europe · 417 universities benchmarked
27,820
co-authored works, 5 years
1,134
partner universities
81
partner countries
929
sustained deep ties
3.21
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
  • Veterinary is the standout field. Ranked #23 in the world for connected research, with Pharmacology, Toxicology & Pharmaceutics #29 close behind: the anchors to build consortia around.
  • Strong on diversity and international. Queen's University Belfast sits in the 98th percentile for diversity and the 94th for international: genuine, defensible strengths.
  • A genuine bridge, not just a hub. 140 of 154 partners (91%) are non-redundant, so it connects communities that would not otherwise meet.
Challenges
  • Influence is the softest pillar. At the 70th percentile it sits clearly below the others: the single clearest place to build.
  • Physical Sciences & Engineering is the at-risk domain. World #607 for connected research, far behind the rest of the portfolio: a real gap, not a crown jewel.
  • Network concentration. The top two partner countries (United Kingdom and United States) carry about 63% of collaboration volume: depth, but a thin long tail.
Opportunities
  • Win NTU Singapore. World top-14. Nanyang Technological University is top-280 globally in Social Sciences. Route: an NSFC / JSPS / A*STAR bilateral programme, or the Human Frontier Science Program.
  • Win Yale University. World top-17. Yale University is top-71 globally in Social Sciences. Route: NSF / NIH international collaboration supplements, or a Human Frontier Science Program grant.
  • Convert your highest-yield tie. University of Cambridge returns the highest impact of your partners (FWCI 5.9). 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.

661
h-index of the joint research base
6.7M
citations to co-authored work
3.21
field-weighted citation impact (FWCI)
27,820
co-authored works, 2021-2025
89
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.

Influence70th pctReach90th pctDiversity98th pctSustained88th pctImpact83rd pctInternational94th pctBrokerage78th pct

Queen's University Belfast is strongest on diversity (98th percentile), international (94th) and reach (90th). Its brokerage diagnostic shows 140 of 154 partners (91%) are non-redundant, a genuine bridge between communities rather than a wide publisher.

The pillar to watch is Influence (70th 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 pillarโ€™s weighted contribution; together they place the university in the Gold band worldwide.
Influence22% weight70th pct+15.4
Impact18% weight83rd pct+14.9
Sustained18% weight88th pct+15.8
Reach16% weight90th pct+14.4
Diversity16% weight98th pct+15.7
International10% weight94th pct+9.4

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#1000Veterinary23Pharmacology, Toxicoloโ€ฆ29
Standout (top 50)Solid (top 150)Ranked

Queen's University Belfast's strongest connected fields are Veterinary #23, Pharmacology, Toxicology & Pharmaceutics #29. The portfolio leans on social sciences; Physical Sciences & Engineering, at world #607 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 #410 for connected research
66/100
Top collaboration partners
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Ulster752
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง UCL626
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง King's College London489
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Oxford467
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Edinburโ€ฆ415
Life Sciences
World #551 for connected research
54/100
Top collaboration partners
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Oxford178
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Cambridโ€ฆ157
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง UCL149
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง King's College London128
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Manchesโ€ฆ124
Physical Sciences & Engineering
World #607 for connected research
49/100
Top collaboration partners
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช Trinity College Dublin233
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Oxford223
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช University College Duโ€ฆ221
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Ulster186
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง UCL180
Social Sciences
World #403 for connected research
66/100
Top collaboration partners
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Ulster223
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Edinburโ€ฆ134
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง UCL132
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช University College Duโ€ฆ122
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Oxford109
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 UlstUCLUniversity of Camb
High yieldStandardLow yield

University of Cambridge returns the highest impact of the set (FWCI 5.9): a consortium waiting to happen. University of Ulster, by contrast, is a sizeable partner returning FWCI 2.9: worth asking what that volume is buying.

PartnerJoint worksFWCIYield
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Ulster1,236 2.9Low yield
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University College London1,010 4.7Standard
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Oxford851 5.0Standard
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Edinburgh694 5.8Standard
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง King's College London688 5.4Standard
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Manchester680 4.4Standard
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช University College Dublin658 3.0Low yield
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช Trinity College Dublin615 3.4Standard
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Birmingham596 4.5Standard
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Cambridge574 5.9Standard
Source: institution-to-institution co-authorship ledger + field-weighted citation impact

Visualisation 4

Your global reach, and where it thins out

Top partner countries

๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง United Kingdom 15,529
๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ United States 5,951
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China 2,959
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช Ireland 2,275
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia 2,171
๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท France 1,858
๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Germany 1,768
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada 1,689

Anchor partner institutions

๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Ulster 1,236
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University College London 1,010
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Oxford 851
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Edinburgh 694
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง King's College London 688
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Manchester 680
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช University College Dublin 658
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช Trinity College Dublin 615

The network spans 81 countries and 1,134 universities, but the top two carry about 63% of the volume. That concentration is where the resilience question lives.

In Veterinary, the single strongest partnership is ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Liverpool, with 18 joint works: the natural anchor for a flagship consortium.
Source: co-authorship by partner-institution country, 2021–2025

Visualisation 5

The research funding behind the network

โ‚ฌ69M189 projects
Horizon EuropeHorizon 2020

€69M across 189 funded projects from the European Commission, split €17M Horizon Europe and €53M Horizon 2020, every project traceable to the funder's own record (CORDIS). The fact file adds the ERC and the major national funders, each named and linked, never a single black-box platform.

Funding is shown next to the network because the two move together: the fundable opportunities below are chosen where a real programme already exists to pay for the bridge.

Source: funders' own award systems + CORDIS, awards active 2021–2025 · verified

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.

๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Nanyang Technological University Singapore · world top-14

Nanyang Technological University is top-280 globally in Social Sciences. You have no joint publications yet, and it is a natural, fundable bridge in Veterinary.

Funding route: an NSFC / JSPS / A*STAR bilateral programme, or the Human Frontier Science Program

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Yale University United States · world top-17

Yale University is top-71 globally in Social Sciences. You have no joint publications yet, and it is a natural, fundable bridge in Veterinary.

Funding route: NSF / NIH international collaboration supplements, or a Human Frontier Science Program grant

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ University of California, Berkeley United States · world top-35

University of California, Berkeley is top-102 globally in Social Sciences. You have no joint publications yet, and it is a natural, fundable bridge in Veterinary.

Funding route: NSF / NIH international collaboration supplements, or a Human Frontier Science Program grant

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Massachusetts Institute of Technology United States · world top-36

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is top-364 globally in Social Sciences. You have no joint publications yet, and it is a natural, fundable bridge in Veterinary.

Funding route: NSF / NIH international collaboration supplements, or a Human Frontier Science Program grant

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.

Stranmillis University CollegeMusgrave Park HospitalAltnagelvin Area HospitalBelfast City HospitalIrish Baptist CollegeRoyal Victoria HospitalThe Bryden CentreSt Mary's University College
Physics and AstronomySocial SciencesMedicine

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.

๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ฐ City University of Hong KongHong Kong SAR
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น University of PaduaItaly
๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Rutgers, The State University of New JerseyUnited States
๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ University of ArizonaUnited States
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of LeicesterUnited Kingdom

Signature joint research

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

Atomic and Molecular PhysicsIrish and British StudiesStellar, planetary, and galactic studiesAdvanced Chemical Physics StudiesRetinal Diseases and TreatmentsAstro and Planetary Science

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 NTU Singapore 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 University of Cambridge tie into a consortium concept in Social Sciences.

60-90 days
Interrogate the soft spots

Address the influence gap and the physical sciences & engineering 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.

Pharmacology, Toxicology & Pharmaceutics · candidate
with Hasanuddin University
★ Lalitkumar K. Vora

Microneedle-based biosensing

2023 · 174 citations

Their most-cited joint work, on advancements in transdermal drug delivery, has been cited 174 times and anchors a 33-paper partnership in pharmacology, toxicology & pharmaceutics.

See the Pharmacology, Toxicology & Pharmaceutics candidates →
Veterinary · candidate
with ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง University of Liverpool
★ Eric R. Morgan

Investigating parasite dynamics of migratory ungulates for sustaining healthy populations: Application to critically-endangered saiga antelopes Saiga tatarica

2022 · 29 citations

Their most-cited joint work, on helminth infection and control, has been cited 29 times and anchors a 18-paper partnership in veterinary.

See the Veterinary 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 Queen's University Belfast.

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.