The Science Impact of Astronomy PhD Granting Departments in the United States

The scientific impact of the research of 36 astronomy PhD granting departments is measured and ranked here. Because of the complex nature of Universities, this study looks at the Universities in two ways; first analyzing the impact of the published work over a 10 year period of the Department which grants the PhD and; second, looking at the impact of the published work as a whole including Laboratories, Centers, and Facilities. The Universities considered in the study are drawn from the 1992 NRC study on Programs of Research, Doctorate in Astrophysics and Astronomy with three Universities added. Johns Hopkins, Michigan State, and Northwestern all host substantial astronomical research within their Departments of Physics and Astronomy and so are included here. The first method of measuring impact concentrates on tenured and tenured track faculty, with the top quartile being 1. Caltech, 2. UC Santa Cruz, 3. Princeton, 4. Harvard, 5. U Colorado, Boulder, 6. SUNY, Stony Brook, 7. Johns Hopkins, 8. Penn State, and 9. U Michigan, Ann Arbor. The second method additionally includes "soft money" scientists in research and adjunct faculty positions, with the top quartile being 1. UC Santa Cruz, 2. Princeton, 3. Johns Hopkins 4. Penn State, 5. SUNY Stony Brook, 6. U Michigan, Ann Arbor, 7. New Mexico State, 8. UMass, Amherst, and 9. U Virginia. Both methods reveal important aspects of Universities, representing both the depth and the breadth of the science available at the University. Finally, a comparison is made of the total articles published in the 10 year period, both from the departments alone and from the larger universities. Three Universities have both impact index in the top quartile, and have more than 1000 publications in a decade; UC at Santa Cruz, Princeton, and Johns Hopkins.