NYU Named Nature Index “Rising Star” as Research Output Climbs

New York University has been named a Nature Index 2023 Rising Star and is ranked #8 in North America for its growth in research published in the world’s leading science journals.

The Nature Index 2023 Rising Stars list highlights universities, health systems, nonprofits, and other research organizations that have posted the greatest increases—from 2015 to 2022—in authored or co-authored papers appearing in a list of leading journals chosen by an independent group of scientists. NYU was previously named a Nature Index 2016 Rising Star, ranking 25th among institutions in North America at the time.

“Our designation as a Rising Star and top-10 ranking is yet another proof-point  of the growth and momentum of NYU’s research enterprise; the high-caliber and impactful work our researchers undertake each day in their labs; and the University’s increased commitment to science, technology, and the generation of knowledge,” says Stacie Grossman Bloom, NYU’s vice provost for research and chief research officer.  

Examples of research by NYU scientists and NYU Grossman School of Medicine researchers appearing in Nature Index journals in the most recent year measured include:

• A study published in Science revealing the fountain of youth for ants: an insulin-suppressing protein called Imp-L2. The protein blocks the part of the insulin pathway that is responsible for aging in queen ants, providing clues about aging in other species.
• A Nature study demonstrating a new way to self-assemble particles—an advance that offers new promise for building complex and innovative materials at the microscopic level.
• The first-ever rigorous biophysical model of lizard tail autotomy, revealing the mechanism behind how lizards can lose—and later regenerate—their tails to escape predators. The findings are also published in Science.
• A study in Nature Neuroscience showing alternate origins of Alzheimer’s plaques, with neuronal damage taking root inside of cells well before plaques develop, which could explain why drugs to remove amyloid deposits have failed. 
• A discovery published in Nature Communications of the role that specific cells in the nervous system play in migraine pain, providing potential targets for new treatments.
• A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on bias in search engines that finds gender-neutral internet searches yield results that produce male-dominated output, which may promote gender bias and potentially influence hiring decisions.
• Research published in Macromolecules on gel-forming protein molecules, which can inform developing new gel materials for biomedical applications such as tissue engineering and drug delivery.

In addition to strong growth in the volume of articles published in top journals, NYU recently announced record rankings in annual R&D spending—another key measure of a university’s research performance. NYU reached #15 nationally and #7 among private universities, according to the National Science Foundation’s annual HERD rankings, with $1.29 billion in research expenditures for fiscal year 2022. In moving up eight spots in the ranking, NYU had the greatest climb among the top 50 U.S. research universities.

Founded in 1831, NYU is one of the world’s foremost research universities (with more than $1 billion per year in research expenditures, it is ranked seventh among private research universities) and is a member of the selective Association of American Universities. NYU has degree-granting university campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai and has 13 other global academic sites, including London, Paris, Florence, Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires, and Accra, and US sites in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, CA, and Tulsa, OK. Through its numerous schools and colleges, NYU is a leader in conducting research and providing education in the arts and sciences, law, medicine, business, dentistry, engineering, education, nursing, the cinematic and performing arts, music and studio arts, public service, social work, public health, and professional studies, among other areas.