ES
Spain
Spain ranks between 4th and 35th across the 45 technologies, by share of the 10% most cited papers, 2021–2025.
TechnologyRankIts neighbours in the rankingShare of the top 10%, from 2021 to 2025Its institution with the most credit
Hyperspectral imaging
4thof 54
1stCN71.4%2ndUS4.2%3rdIN2.4%4thES1.9%5thFR1.7%6–7AU1.4%
Universidad de Extremadura1.3% of the top 10%
High-performance computing
4–5tied, of 45
1stUS36.3%3rdDE7.5%4–5IT4.4%4–5ES4.3%6thFR3.3%7–8GB2.8%
Barcelona Supercomputing Center2.0% of the top 10%
Quantum communication
6–8tied, of 57
1stCN28.9%4thGB5.5%5thIT3.6%6–8ES3.3%6–8AT3.2%6–8IN3.1%
Institute of Photonic Sciences0.9% of the top 10%
Synthetic biology
8thof 55
1stCN45.7%6thIN3.5%7thDK2.5%8thES1.5%9–10AU1.2%9–10CH1.1%
Universidad de Valladolid0.3% of the top 10%
Nuclear fusion
8–9tied, of 50
1stUS27.5%7thCH3.2%8–9JP2.2%8–9ES2.2%10thKR1.6%11thRU1.3%
Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas1.0% of the top 10%
Critical minerals processing
7–9tied, of 58
1stCN43.0%7–9DE1.9%7–9KR1.9%7–9ES1.8%10–13FR1.7%10–13IT1.6%
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya0.4% of the top 10%
Advanced composites
9thof 68
1stCN50.8%7–8IT2.3%7–8KR2.3%9thES1.1%10–11DE1.0%10–11MY0.9%
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid0.3% of the top 10%
Post-quantum cryptography
10thof 59
1stCN20.4%7–8DE2.6%9thAU2.5%10thES2.2%11–14IT1.7%11–14TR1.7%
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid0.5% of the top 10%
Genome sequencing
10–12tied, of 59
1stUS33.6%7–9CA1.6%7–9SE1.5%10–12ES1.4%10–12BE1.3%10–12HK1.3%
Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico0.2% of the top 10%
New antibiotics and antivirals
11–12tied, of 82
1stCN30.3%10thCA2.1%11–12SA1.9%11–12ES1.9%13–15MX1.3%13–15PL1.3%
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona0.2% of the top 10%
Large language models
13thof 96
1stCN27.4%11thSG1.6%12thJP1.4%13thES1.2%14thSA1.1%15–16GR1.0%
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid0.1% of the top 10%
Electric batteries
11–13tied, of 89
1stCN68.0%11–13JP0.5%11–13SA0.5%11–13ES0.5%14thFR0.4%15–21MY0.3%
Institut de Recerca en Energia de Catalunya0.1% of the top 10%
Additive manufacturing
13–14tied, of 90
1stCN34.0%11thTR1.9%12thKR1.8%13–14ES1.3%13–14GR1.3%15–16FR1.1%
University of the Basque Country0.2% of the top 10%
AI chips
11–13tied, of 46
1stCN46.2%11–13SA1.3%11–13TW1.2%11–13ES1.2%14–15FR1.2%14–15AU1.2%
Universitat Jaume I0.3% of the top 10%
Satellite navigation
12–13tied, of 45
1stCN56.1%11thGB1.3%12–13KR1.2%12–13ES1.1%14–16IR1.0%14–16BR0.9%
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya0.2% of the top 10%
Inertial navigation
12–15tied, of 402.4 papers of credit
1stCN64.0%11thIR1.3%12–15IN0.8%12–15ES0.8%12–15TR0.7%12–15EG0.6%
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya0.4% of the top 10%
Quantum computing
14thof 71
1stUS34.9%12thAT2.2%13thIN2.1%14thES1.9%15thKR1.1%16thSE0.9%
University of the Basque Country0.2% of the top 10%
Autonomous underwater vehicles
14–20tied, of 442.7 papers of credit
1stCN71.7%8–13GR0.8%8–13VN0.8%14–20ES0.7%14–20FR0.6%14–20NO0.6%
University of the Basque Country0.2% of the top 10%
Small satellites
15–23tied, of 472.3 papers of credit
1stUS13.7%8–14RU2.0%8–14CO2.0%15–23ES1.9%15–23MA1.8%15–23BR1.6%
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid0.9% of the top 10%
Wide-bandgap semiconductors
13–17tied, of 56
1stCN40.8%13–17SA0.9%13–17SE0.9%13–17ES0.8%13–17NO0.8%13–17FR0.8%
Mondragon Unibertsitatea0.3% of the top 10%
Magnets and superconductors
12–16tied, of 584.3 papers of credit
1stCN35.0%12–16RU1.0%12–16KR0.9%12–16ES0.9%12–16TR0.9%17–20AU0.8%
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas0.2% of the top 10%
Distributed ledgers
14–15tied, of 103
1stCN20.6%13thMY2.0%14–15DE1.4%14–15ES1.4%16thSG1.2%17–20JO1.0%
Universitat Politècnica de València0.2% of the top 10%
Advanced robotics
15thof 54
1stCN31.5%13thNL1.6%14thCA1.3%15thES1.1%16–17PT0.8%16–17MO0.7%
University of Castilla-La Mancha0.1% of the top 10%
Perovskite solar cells
17thof 76
1stCN53.9%15–16CA0.8%15–16SG0.8%17thES0.7%18thTW0.6%19–20NL0.5%
Universitat Jaume I0.2% of the top 10%
Gene editing
16–18tied, of 77
1stUS32.2%15thDK0.9%16–18FR0.8%16–18ES0.8%16–18SA0.7%19–21TR0.6%
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas0.1% of the top 10%
mRNA vaccines and therapeutics
18–19tied, of 70
1stUS38.7%16–17BE0.8%16–17IR0.8%18–19ES0.7%18–19TW0.6%20thCH0.6%
Navarre Institute of Health Research0.1% of the top 10%
Cybersecurity
18thof 104
1stCN14.8%16thIR1.5%17thMA1.3%18thES1.2%19thBD1.1%20–23TW0.8%
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya0.2% of the top 10%
Supercapacitors
19–21tied, of 86
1stCN46.3%17–18CA0.6%17–18DE0.6%19–21ES0.5%19–21SG0.5%19–21ZA0.5%
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid0.1% of the top 10%
Hydrogen by electrolysis
21–23tied, of 83
1stCN53.0%17–20TR0.7%17–20IR0.7%21–23ES0.6%21–23DK0.6%21–23MY0.6%
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos0.1% of the top 10%
Optical communication
20–21tied, of 54
1stCN38.8%16–19TR0.9%20–21AU0.8%20–21ES0.8%22–25PT0.7%22–25PL0.6%
Universitat Politècnica de València0.4% of the top 10%
Metamaterials
21–24tied, of 73
1stCN55.5%16–20DK0.5%21–24EG0.4%21–24ES0.4%21–24MY0.4%21–24TW0.4%
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid0.1% of the top 10%
Drones and swarming
23–26tied, of 81
1stCN52.2%20–22CH0.7%20–22DE0.7%23–26ES0.6%23–26ET0.6%23–26JP0.6%
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid0.1% of the top 10%
Sonar and underwater acoustics
15–23tied, of 371.0 papers of credit
1stCN71.6%15–23TR0.3%15–23MY0.3%15–23ES0.3%24–31IL0.2%24–31TW0.2%
Universidad de Málaga0.1% of the top 10%
6G and advanced wireless
22–25tied, of 80
1stCN39.9%21stMY0.8%22–25LU0.7%22–25ES0.7%22–25BD0.6%22–25EG0.6%
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid0.1% of the top 10%
Hypersonic flight
18–24tied, of 280.5 papers of credit
1stCN65.9%18–24SE0.1%18–24NA0.1%18–24ES0.1%25–26MY0.1%25–26IE0.1%
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid0.1% of the top 10%
Quantum sensors
22–25tied, of 481.7 papers of credit
1stCN22.5%22–25CZ0.5%22–25FI0.4%22–25ES0.4%22–25RU0.3%26–36SE0.3%
Universidad Complutense de Madrid0.1% of the top 10%
Advanced chip manufacturing
21–33tied, of 390.8 papers of credit
1stCN31.8%21–33BD0.3%21–33SE0.3%21–33ES0.2%21–33SA0.2%21–33TN0.2%
Universidade de Santiago de Compostela0.2% of the top 10%
Nuclear fission power
26–31tied, of 642.0 papers of credit
1stCN43.3%26–31NO0.3%26–31KZ0.3%26–31ES0.3%26–31AU0.2%26–31BR0.2%
Universidad de Granada0.1% of the top 10%
Radar
33–35tied, of 410.3 papers of credit
1stCN77.0%16–32RU0.1%16–32CO0.1%33–35IL0.1%33–35CH0.1%33–35ES0.1%
Outside the top 30
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid0.0% of the top 10%
Atomic clocks
Not ranked
No credit in the top 10%.
Advanced aircraft engines
Not ranked
No credit in the top 10%.
Space launch
Not ranked
No credit in the top 10%.
Directed energy
Not ranked
No credit in the top 10%.
Electronic warfare
Not ranked
No credit in the top 10%.
Hydrogen storage and ammonia fuel
Not ranked
No credit in the top 10%.
Neighbours are the countries ranked just above and below. Ranks are shown as a range where shares are equal to one decimal place. Source: OpenAlex, pulled 18 October 2026. Method
Where Spain is in the top three
PilotEach paper sorted into one sub-area by an AI model reading its title and abstract, then credited as usual. On 200 hand-labelled papers it chose the same sub-area, or a defensible second, 92% of the time. Shown where the sub-area has at least 30 papers in the top 10% and the country at least five papers of credit.
- 3rdStellaratorsNuclear fusion, 65 papers; behind United States 39.3% and Germany 34.8%10.6%
- 3rdHyperspectral image classificationHyperspectral imaging, 279 papers; behind China 71.3% and India 3.7%2.6%