--- title: "Top research funders: who funds the most papers, 2023–2025" description: "From 2023 to 2025, National Natural Science Foundation of China was named as a funder of the most papers in the 400 tracked journals (33,534), followed by Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (4,645) and National Key Research and Development Program of China (3,899). In 2025 alone, National Natural Science Foundation of China funded 14,403 of these papers." url: https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders markdown_url: https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders.md license: CC BY-NC 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) share_text: "From 2023 to 2025, National Natural Science Foundation of China was named as a funder of the most papers in the 400 tracked journals (33,534), followed by Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (4,645)… (as of 2026-10-31)" data_url: https://scholar4ai.com/data/rankings.json updated: 2026-10-31T19:11:11+09:00 window: 2026-10-02 to 2026-10-31 source: OpenAlex (CC0) --- # Top research funders, 2023–2025 Research funders ranked by the papers in the 400 tracked journals that name them, in each year from 2023 to 2025. Funders are the organisations OpenAlex links to a paper from its funding information (Crossref metadata and the paper's acknowledgements); a paper counts once for each funder it names. Grant numbers are not shown. By category: [Finance](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/finance.md) · [Accounting](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/accounting.md) · [Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/economics.md) · [Health Economics and Policy](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/health-economics-and-policy.md) · [Management](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/management.md) · [Marketing](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/marketing.md) · [Information Systems](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/information-systems.md) · [Tourism and Hospitality](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/tourism-and-hospitality.md) · [Higher Education and Research](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/higher-education-and-research.md) · [Operations Research](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/operations-research.md) · [Statistics](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/statistics.md) · [AI](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/ai.md) ## Key findings - From 2023 to 2025, National Natural Science Foundation of China was named as a funder of the most papers in the 400 tracked journals (33,534), followed by Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (4,645) and National Key Research and Development Program of China (3,899). - In 2025 alone, National Natural Science Foundation of China funded 14,403 of these papers. *Funders named on the most papers, 2023–2025* | # | Funder | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2023–2025 | |---:|---|---:|---:|---:|---:| | 1 | [National Natural Science Foundation of China](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/national-natural-science-foundation-of-china.md) | 8,518 | 10,613 | 14,403 | 33,534 | | 2 | [Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/fundamental-research-funds-for-the-central-universities.md) | 1,256 | 1,376 | 2,013 | 4,645 | | 3 | [National Key Research and Development Program of China](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/national-key-research-and-development-program-of-china.md) | 1,112 | 1,143 | 1,644 | 3,899 | | 4 | [National Social Science Fund of China](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/national-social-science-fund-of-china.md) | 660 | 917 | 1,791 | 3,368 | | 5 | [European Commission](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/european-commission.md) | 808 | 960 | 1,162 | 2,930 | | 6 | [National Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/national-office-for-philosophy-and-social-sciences.md) | 923 | 1,038 | 706 | 2,667 | | 7 | [National Science Foundation](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/national-science-foundation.md) | 736 | 742 | 760 | 2,238 | | 8 | [Japan Society for the Promotion of Science](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/japan-society-for-the-promotion-of-science.md) | 667 | 684 | 589 | 1,940 | | 9 | [China Postdoctoral Science Foundation](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/china-postdoctoral-science-foundation.md) | 431 | 601 | 842 | 1,874 | | 10 | [Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/ministry-of-education-of-the-people-s-republic-of-china.md) | 420 | 487 | 832 | 1,739 | | 11 | [National Research Foundation of Korea](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/national-research-foundation-of-korea.md) | 408 | 487 | 535 | 1,430 | | 12 | [Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/deutsche-forschungsgemeinschaft.md) | 400 | 457 | 431 | 1,288 | | 13 | [Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/ministerio-de-ciencia-e-innovacion.md) | 399 | 447 | 414 | 1,260 | | 14 | [Humanities and Social Science Fund of Ministry of Education of China](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/humanities-and-social-science-fund-of-ministry-of-education-of-china.md) | 192 | 368 | 684 | 1,244 | | 15 | [Agencia Estatal de Investigación](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/agencia-estatal-de-investigacion.md) | 368 | 411 | 396 | 1,175 | | 16 | [Agence Nationale de la Recherche](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/agence-nationale-de-la-recherche.md) | 381 | 367 | 362 | 1,110 | | 17 | [National University's Basic Research Foundation of China](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/national-university-s-basic-research-foundation-of-china.md) | 370 | 341 | 371 | 1,082 | | 18 | [Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/basic-and-applied-basic-research-foundation-of-guangdong-province.md) | 213 | 306 | 561 | 1,080 | | 19 | [Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/natural-science-foundation-of-shandong-province.md) | 238 | 292 | 536 | 1,066 | | 20 | [Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/fundacao-para-a-ciencia-e-a-tecnologia.md) | 349 | 331 | 359 | 1,039 | | 21 | [China Scholarship Council](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/china-scholarship-council.md) | 260 | 330 | 366 | 956 | | 22 | [Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/natural-sciences-and-engineering-research-council-of-canada.md) | 290 | 321 | 345 | 956 | | 23 | [Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/ministerio-de-ciencia-innovacion-y-universidades.md) | 279 | 321 | 323 | 923 | | 24 | [European Regional Development Fund](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/european-regional-development-fund.md) | 287 | 290 | 335 | 912 | | 25 | [Australian Research Council](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/australian-research-council.md) | 289 | 299 | 296 | 884 | | 26 | [Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/conselho-nacional-de-desenvolvimento-cientifico-e-tecnologico.md) | 241 | 295 | 338 | 874 | | 27 | [National Science and Technology Council](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/national-science-and-technology-council.md) | 198 | 249 | 331 | 778 | | 28 | [Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/natural-science-foundation-of-hunan-province.md) | 181 | 221 | 341 | 743 | | 29 | [Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipality](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/natural-science-foundation-of-beijing-municipality.md) | 145 | 219 | 321 | 685 | | 30 | [Horizon 2020 Framework Programme](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/horizon-2020-framework-programme.md) | 239 | 189 | 243 | 671 | | 31 | [Ministry of Education](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/ministry-of-education.md) | 160 | 189 | 322 | 671 | | 32 | [Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/natural-science-foundation-of-guangdong-province.md) | 192 | 199 | 269 | 660 | | 33 | [Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/natural-science-foundation-of-zhejiang-province.md) | 177 | 210 | 273 | 660 | | 34 | [Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/natural-science-foundation-of-jiangsu-province.md) | 169 | 178 | 312 | 659 | | 35 | [Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/engineering-and-physical-sciences-research-council.md) | 221 | 224 | 208 | 653 | | 36 | [Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/coordenacao-de-aperfeicoamento-de-pessoal-de-nivel-superior.md) | 189 | 205 | 234 | 628 | | 37 | [Economic and Social Research Council](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/economic-and-social-research-council.md) | 229 | 222 | 152 | 603 | | 38 | [Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/research-grants-council-university-grants-committee.md) | 149 | 144 | 291 | 584 | | 39 | [Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/bundesministerium-fur-bildung-und-forschung.md) | 173 | 192 | 209 | 574 | | 40 | [Major Program of National Fund of Philosophy and Social Science of China](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/major-program-of-national-fund-of-philosophy-and-social-science-of-china.md) | 73 | 175 | 318 | 566 | | 41 | [Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/social-sciences-and-humanities-research-council-of-canada.md) | 183 | 185 | 192 | 560 | | 42 | [HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/horizon-europe-framework-programme.md) | 129 | 180 | 243 | 552 | | 43 | [Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/ministry-of-science-and-technology-of-the-people-s-republic-of-china.md) | 148 | 161 | 197 | 506 | | 44 | [Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/ministry-of-science-and-ict-south-korea.md) | 106 | 109 | 289 | 504 | | 45 | [Horizon 2020](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/horizon-2020.md) | 228 | 164 | 109 | 501 | | 46 | [National Institutes of Health](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/national-institutes-of-health.md) | 153 | 178 | 167 | 498 | | 47 | [Humanities and Social Sciences Youth Foundation, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/humanities-and-social-sciences-youth-foundation-ministry-of-education-of-the-peo.md) | 145 | 144 | 187 | 476 | | 48 | [Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/ministero-dellistruzione-delluniversita-e-della-ricerca.md) | 138 | 149 | 188 | 475 | | 49 | [Hong Kong Polytechnic University](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/hong-kong-polytechnic-university.md) | 104 | 120 | 235 | 459 | | 50 | [European Research Council](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/european-research-council.md) | 126 | 132 | 176 | 434 | ## Cite this page Scholar4AI. (2026). Top research funders, 2023–2025. Journal Research Rankings. Retrieved October 31, 2026, from https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders ```bibtex @misc{scholar4ai-rankings-funders, author = {{Scholar4AI}}, title = {Top research funders, 2023–2025}, year = {2026}, howpublished = {\url{https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders}}, urldate = {2026-10-31}, note = {Journal Research Rankings; data from OpenAlex (CC0); licensed CC BY-NC 4.0} } ``` License: CC BY-NC 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).