Recently, the official website of Nature Index released its 2026 annual ranking (covering the statistical period from January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025). Our university delivered an outstanding performance, climbing to 118th place globally and ranking 58th among mainland Chinese universities. Compared to its global ranking of 135th in the 2025 Nature Index annual table, our university has moved up a cumulative total of 17 positions.
In recent years, the University has aligned its efforts with national initiatives for basic research breakthroughs, responded to the call for building Guangxi into a regional powerhouse of scientific and technological innovation, and advanced the integrated and synergistic development of education, science and technology, and talent cultivation as a “trinity” system. It has continuously refined the layout of its basic disciplines, steering the trajectory of disciplinary development from isolated points of strength toward a broader mission—serving major national strategies and supporting regional industrial transformation and upgrading.
Guided by the national “Four Orientations” policy for scientific and technological innovation—namely, orienting research toward the world's scientific frontiers, the main economic battlefield, the major needs of the country, and the health and well-being of the people—the University regards basic research as the wellspring of innovation. Through deep engagement in cutting-edge research, it has produced a number of globally visible signature achievements. In physics, the University has focused on deep-space exploration, leading the development and successful launch of four CXPD CubeSats for dark matter detection experiments. It achieved the world's first direct detection of the Migdal effect, with the original findings published in Nature. In crop science, the University has tackled foundational "bottleneck" problems in agriculture, delivering two breakthrough outcomes: the world's first multi-scale super-pangenome graph for sugarcane, published in Science; and, using an innovative polyploid genomics framework, a systematic solution to three major technical challenges in the field—assembly, association analysis, and quantitative assessment—culminating in the first complete, high-precision whole-chromosome genetic map for modern cultivated sugarcane, published in Nature. In civil engineering, the University has focused on concrete as a critical building material, proposing a clear technological roadmap for achieving net-zero emissions, thereby providing a scientific basis for the green and sustainable development of key construction materials, with a commentary published in Nature. Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the University has published a total of 150 high-level papers in Nature, Science, and Cell—including their flagship and series journals—among which 21 appear in the main issues of Nature, Science, or Cell.
Building on a solid foundation of basic research, the University has consistently leveraged high-level research to nurture top-tier talent, establishing a closed-loop system for cultivating exceptionally gifted students in basic disciplines. To date, six experimental classes for outstanding talent in basic disciplines have been set up, and seven undergraduate programs—including Information and Computing Science, Electronic Science and Technology, and Biological Sciences—have been designated as autonomous region-level first-class undergraduate program development sites. Together, these have formed a first-class program cluster centered on basic disciplines, achieving full coverage of core basic disciplines with first-class programs, and continuously supplying a pipeline of future researchers for frontier basic research and critical industrial challenges.
The University has also taken a holistic approach to translating foundational research outcomes into practical applications, channeling the momentum of original innovation into tangible driving forces for regional development and industrial upgrading. In marine science, the University has participated for two consecutive years in the compilation of the Investigation and Assessment Report on the Ecological and Environmental Conditions of the Waters Surrounding Huangyan Island, with the findings highly commended by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. In materials science and engineering, the University has employed technologies such as adsorption separation, directional crystallization, and vacuum melting to achieve domestic leading capabilities in the preparation of 7N high-purity gallium, 6N high-purity zinc, and 5N high-purity scandium, with these technological outcomes having reached the pilot-scale stage. Leveraging platforms such as the Guangxi Advanced Research Institute of the Ministry of Education and the University Science and Technology Park, the University is focused on bridging the entire chain from basic research to outcome commercialization. It is accelerating the deep integration of basic research directions with the major developmental needs of Guangxi's economy and society, stepping up the translation of foundational findings into applied research and industrial applications, and enhancing the effectiveness of basic disciplines in empowering regional industries.
Looking ahead, the University will continue to implement the guiding principles of the 2026 National Symposium on Strengthening Basic Research. It will strengthen overall planning and top-level design, optimize the systemic layout of basic research, reinforce support and safeguards for basic research, deepen the integration of industry and education as well as science and innovation, improve long-term incentive mechanisms for basic research, encourage interdisciplinary and cross-cutting research collaborations, and generate a greater number of high-level scientific outcomes. In doing so, it aims to enhance its comprehensive capacity for science-and-technology-enabled services across all dimensions, and to continue making sustained contributions to both national strategies and high-quality regional development.
It is worth noting that the Nature Index Annual Tables, released by the Nature Index official website, serve as an annual ranking system designed to assess the research contributions and influence of global research institutions and countries across the natural sciences. The tables generally include rankings across various scientific fields—such as physics, chemistry, and life sciences—and are categorized by region, country, or geographic location. They offer valuable insights into global trends in scientific research and the relative strengths of individual institutions, and also serve as a significant indicator of competition and collaboration among research institutions and nations worldwide.
Home
>
News & Events
>
News
