Materials Science

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Editorial Catherine Armitage, ope is not a strategy, as the aphorism for our times goes, but it Contents Bec Crew, Rebecca Dargie, David can be a powerful motivator when searching for solutions to Payne Analysis Bo Wu, Catherine intractable problems. Many of the 79,000 papers in the Nature S2 Where it matters Cheung Art & design Tanner Index database that prompted this supplement offer it: in the Tracking the performance of Maxwell, Madeline Hutchinson, four heavyweights and a rising Sou Nakamura, Wojtek Urbanek idea, now reality, that new molecules with desired character- star in materials science. Production Jason Rayment, Ian Pope, Histics such as low toxicity can be designed at speed to replace harmful Nick Bruni, Bob Edenbach, Joern molecules used in existing products (see page S25), and in immunolog- S4 Striking a balance with Ishikawa Marketing & PR Kimberly ically active nanomaterials that can ‘re-educate’ the immune system to high-entropy alloys Petit, Fiona Kyprianou, Katie Baker, tackle cancer and other diseases (see page S18), for example. Metal mixes create more Sam Sule Sales and Partner content efficient catalysts and better Yuki Fujiwara, Soon Kim, Yosuke Sato, Our tables (see pages S39–S42), based on papers published from jet engines. Eri Shimoyama, Simon Pleasants, 2015 to 2020 in the 82 natural-sciences journals tracked by the Nature Sara Phillips, Chika Takeda, Takeaki Index, suggest a strong focus in some institutions and countries. For S17 Light as a super-black feather Ishihama, Lisa Truong, Shoko 5 of the leading 50 institutions in the field, materials-science-related A paper inspired by the Hasegawa, Yoshiko Sugita, Nicole Yu, research comprises more than half their output in the Nature Index, colouration of bird species has Jennie Hsu, Miki Zhang, Stella Shen, wide appeal. Amanda Rider, Natsumi Penberthy, as measured by our key metric, Share (see note below). Three are in Alex Yu, Sou Nakamura, Rebecca China, one is in South Korea, and the other is in Japan. S18 How nanotechnology can flick Pan, Grace Sun, Samantha Lubey, There’s evidence, too, of growing competition in the field. In Nature the immunity switch Marcos Valiente, Michaela Taylor Index 2019 Materials Science, 19 of the 20 institutions with the greatest A new approach to treat Publishing Rebecca Jones, Richard increase in materials-science Share for the period 2015–18 were from autoimmune conditions, Hughes, David Swinbanks. cancer and allergies. China. For the period 2019–20, only 6 of them were Chinese, and 9 other Nature Index 2021 Materials countries also made the list. China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore S23 Carving a path to a better science, a supplement to Nature, all performed better in materials science between 2015 and 2020 than future is produced by Nature Portfolio, the Across the world, researchers flagship science portfolio of Springer they did overall (across all subject areas) in our 2021 Annual Tables, are inventing and adapting Nature. This publication is based especially South Korea (5th in the field, 8th across all subject areas) materials for new systems and on data from the Nature Index, a and Singapore (9th in the field, 17th overall). solutions. Nature Portfolio database, with a We remind readers that the Nature Index provides only one indicator website maintained and made freely of research performance, and many other factors need to be taken into S34 Tiny steps to big energy savings available at natureindex.com. Researchers are rethinking Nature editorial offices account when assessing the quality of research or institutions. the nature and potential of The Campus, 4 Crinan Street, matter after layering ultra-thin London N1 9XW, UK Catherine Armitage ferroelectric materials. Tel: +44 (0)20 7833 4000 Chief editor, Nature Index Fax: +44 (0)20 7843 4596/7 S36 Speed-sifting data for next big Customer services *Nature Index’s metric, Share, is a fractional count for an article allocated thing To advertise with the Nature Index, to an institution, city or country/region, that takes into account the pro- Systems to make data standardized and accessible please visit natureindex.com or email portion of authors on the article whose institutional affiliation is with are key for screening new [email protected]. that institution or location. Bilateral collaboration score, another metric Copyright © 2021 Springer Nature possibilities. used, is the sum of the Share from articles with authors, countries/ regions Limited, part of Springer Nature. or institutions. For further explanation, see natureindex.com/glossary. S39 The tables All rights reserved. Leading institutions in materials science

index Materials science

MATTERS OF THE MOMENT Making better materials

New metal mixes Hot fields The tables High-flying Research topics 50 leaders entropy alloys in focus 50 fast movers

S0_Cover.indd 2 2021/06/15 15:55 On the cover Nickel oxide formed on a single-crystal nickel- based superalloy. Credit: Radosław Swadźba