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🎓 Top Research Universities in France

Universities and colleges in France ranked by the total citations their research has received (OpenAlex).

📅 2026📏 citations50 entries🇫🇷 See all of this country’s rankings →
Every dot is one entry, placed by its value (citations); the vertical bar marks each row’s median.
1
Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie155,908 papers
20,413,789
2
Université Paris-Sud119,016 papers
18,915,266
3
Aix-Marseille Université189,123 papers
13,973,260
4
Université Paris Diderot106,317 papers
13,635,337
5
Université Paris-Saclay161,712 papers
13,258,615
6
Lyon 1 Université125,256 papers
12,987,803
7
Université Paris Descartes77,888 papers
11,341,852
8
Sorbonne Université172,365 papers
10,232,121
9
Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier99,615 papers
9,101,357
10
Université de Strasbourg109,265 papers
8,347,982
11
Université de Toulouse103,662 papers
7,964,856
12
Université de Bordeaux114,018 papers
7,547,138
13
Université Paris Cité118,721 papers
7,528,880
14
Université de Lyon53,566 papers
7,232,171
15
École Polytechnique61,516 papers
6,917,916
16
Université Joseph Fourier44,178 papers
6,794,212
17
Université Grenoble Alpes126,294 papers
6,708,707
18
Université de Montpellier108,127 papers
6,504,164
19
Université de Lille124,075 papers
6,215,526
20
Université Paris Sciences et Lettres62,639 papers
5,421,926
21
Nantes Université96,310 papers
4,771,514
22
Université de Rennes87,843 papers
4,409,802
23
Université Savoie Mont Blanc31,633 papers
3,929,159
24
Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines45,681 papers
3,686,776
25
Université de Lorraine155,282 papers
3,647,444
26
Collège de France32,372 papers
3,375,071
27
Université Côte d'Azur42,080 papers
3,373,330
28
Université de Nantes49,118 papers
3,240,671
29
Université Blaise Pascal23,282 papers
3,193,302
30
Université de Bourgogne63,772 papers
3,027,958
31
École Normale Supérieure de Lyon44,124 papers
2,800,188
32
Université Rennes 144,048 papers
2,787,745
33
Université Nice Sophia Antipolis27,089 papers
2,474,090
34
Université Clermont Auvergne39,178 papers
2,384,387
35
Université Paris-Est Créteil47,770 papers
2,325,253
36
Université Bordeaux Segalen15,693 papers
2,125,771
37
Université de Haute-Alsace17,533 papers
2,108,672
38
Université de Tours40,165 papers
2,094,826
39
AgroParisTech34,060 papers
2,088,154
40
Institut polytechnique de Grenoble43,132 papers
2,016,326
41
Université de Rouen Normandie40,990 papers
1,996,565
42
Université de Poitiers55,864 papers
1,979,923
43
Université de Caen Normandie45,874 papers
1,961,719
44
Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon39,929 papers
1,826,112
45
Université d'Angers33,585 papers
1,640,069
46
Université de Picardie Jules Verne39,166 papers
1,592,621
47
Université Sorbonne Paris Nord38,042 papers
1,550,196
48
ESPCI Paris14,858 papers
1,431,566
49
Université d'Orléans31,857 papers
1,392,680
50
Université de Bretagne Occidentale34,885 papers
1,362,301

Highlights

Within France, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie ranks first in 2026 with 20,413,789, followed by Université Paris-Sud (18,915,266) and Aix-Marseille Université (13,973,260).

Across 50 entries, values run from 20,413,789 (Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie) to 1,362,301 (Université de Bretagne Occidentale), with a median of 3,511,258.

Source: OpenAlex, citations received by each institution's papers, 2026. Unit: citations.

Source: OpenAlex, citations received by each institution's papers · CC0 1.0 (OpenAlex) · fetched Oct 13, 2026 — Counts every citation to papers by authors affiliated with the institution, so large and old universities score high. It measures research impact, not teaching quality.