24 colleges ranked by the research strength of their Physical Sciences faculty — a 0–100 blend of bibliometric quality, top-decile stars, federal R&D funding, and academic notability. Research output, not teaching quality. Reference corpus: 579 faculty. Data as of 2026-07-02.
| # | College | Research Strength | Coverage | Median h | FY24 R&D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ivy+ · #2 106 matched faculty; median h-index 55; $238m FY24 R&D; led by Timothy Manning Swager (h-index 215). | 84 | A | 55 | $238m |
| 2 | California Institute of Technology Ivy+ · #6 40 matched faculty; median h-index 52; $256m FY24 R&D; led by Maria Spiropulu (h-index 121). | 81 | A | 52.5 | $256m |
| 3 | Princeton University Ivy League · #1 45 matched faculty; median h-index 50; $166m FY24 R&D; led by Robert J. Cava (h-index 150). | 78 | A | 50 | $166m |
| 4 | University of Chicago Ivy+ · #12 53 matched faculty; median h-index 45; $102m FY24 R&D; led by Mark Oreglia (h-index 148). | 74 | B | 45 | $102m |
| 5 | Georgia Institute of Technology Public Ivy · #33 33 matched faculty; median h-index 42; $60m FY24 R&D; led by Laura Cadonati (h-index 108). | 68 | A | 42 | $60m |
| 6 | Emory University Elite Private · #24 28 matched faculty; median h-index 36; $32m FY24 R&D; led by Huw M.L. Davies (h-index 97). | 57 | A | 36.5 | $32m |
| 7 | Colorado School of Mines State Flagship · #76 27 matched faculty; median h-index 27; $30m FY24 R&D; led by Ryan Richards (h-index 66). | 47 | A | 27 | $30m |
| 8 | Haverford College Top LAC · #16 16 matched faculty; median h-index 19; $1m FY24 R&D; led by Karen Masters (h-index 69). | 28 | B | 19.5 | $1m |
| 9 | Carleton College Top LAC · #6 22 matched faculty; median h-index 13; $2m FY24 R&D; led by Nelson Christensen (h-index 118). | 27 | B | 13 | $2m |
| 10 | Colgate University Selective Private · #46 7 matched faculty; median h-index 16; $2m FY24 R&D; led by Paul Harnik (h-index 16). | 25 | B | 16 | $2m |
| 11 | Pomona College Elite Private · #15 19 matched faculty; median h-index 19; $2m FY24 R&D; led by Charles J. Taylor (h-index 43). | 24 | A | 19 | $2m |
| 12 | Furman University Top LAC · #50 14 matched faculty; median h-index 14; $1m FY24 R&D; led by George Shields (h-index 43). | 23 | A | 14.5 | $1m |
| 13 | Thomas Jefferson University Regional · #134 5 matched faculty; median h-index 14; led by Stephen Podowitz-Thomas (h-index 28). | 23 | C | 14 | — |
| 14 | Creighton University Regional · #119 27 matched faculty; median h-index 13; $2m FY24 R&D; led by Janet E. Seger (h-index 35). | 22 | A | 13 | $2m |
| 15 | Grinnell College Top LAC · #14 25 matched faculty; median h-index 10; $1m FY24 R&D; led by Shanshan Rodriguez (h-index 31). | 20 | A | 10 | $1m |
| 16 | College of the Holy Cross Top LAC · #30 8 matched faculty; median h-index 12; led by Bianca Sculimbrene (h-index 14). | 20 | B | 12.5 | — |
| 17 | Harvey Mudd College Top LAC · #10 24 matched faculty; median h-index 13; $1m FY24 R&D; led by Jason Gallicchio (h-index 29). | 20 | A | 13.5 | $1m |
| 18 | Wellesley College Elite Private · #28 16 matched faculty; median h-index 12; $2m FY24 R&D; led by Rachel Stanley (h-index 23). | 19 | B | 12 | $2m |
| 19 | Bowdoin College Elite Private · #23 14 matched faculty; median h-index 12; $1m FY24 R&D; led by Thomas W. Baumgarte (h-index 41). | 19 | A | 12.5 | $1m |
| 20 | Bates College Top LAC · #20 4 matched faculty; median h-index 12; $0m FY24 R&D; led by Aleksandar M. Diamond-Stanic (h-index 35). | 19 | C | 12 | $0m |
| 21 | Whitman College Top LAC · #48 7 matched faculty; median h-index 8; $1m FY24 R&D; led by Jessica Sutter (h-index 14). | 16 | B | 8 | $1m |
| 22 | Davidson College Elite Private · #40 14 matched faculty; median h-index 10; $1m FY24 R&D; led by Nicole Snyder (h-index 19). | 15 | A | 10 | $1m |
| 23 | Centre College Top LAC · #53 8 matched faculty; median h-index 7; led by Jennifer L. Muzyka (h-index 12). | 14 | B | 7.5 | — |
| 24 | St. Olaf College Top LAC · #55 14 matched faculty; median h-index 8; $0m FY24 R&D; led by Laura Listenberger (h-index 20). | 13 | B | 8.5 | $0m |
Research Strength (0–100) blends four components, re-normalized over whichever are available for each college: Quality 45%, Stars 25%, Funding 20%, Notability 10%. Each college's faculty in Physical Sciences are matched to OpenAlex research records; scores use field-relative percentiles across these 192 colleges, not all US institutions. A college needs at least four matched faculty to be ranked.
Research Strength Rankings v1.0 · as of 2026-07-02.