Mapping the scientific and technological landscape: an analysis of Nobel Prize-producing institutions

Abstract

As a prestigious international accolade in science and technology, the Nobel Prize laureates gain significant attention from researchers. Scholars strive to distill patterns and insights from various aspects of this award. This article specifically examined the institutions generating Nobel Prize-winning work, discussed the distribution and mobility patterns of laureates among different types of institutions to roughly map the scientific and technological landscape. Our research findings indicate that universities are the primary generators of Nobel Prize-winning work, accounting for approximately 70% of the institutions, and demonstrate particular adeptness in “attracting” and “retaining” laureates in mobility analysis. The remaining 30% of institutions include governmental research institutions, enterprises, and non-profit organizations. Notably, North America and Europe lead the count with over 300 counts of prize-producing institutions each, establishing themselves as major centers for Nobel Prize production. However, over the past decade, there has been a slight decline in the aggregation effect of the distribution of these institutions.