As of 2026-10-12, Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres tops the list with 42,178 employees.
- #1 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres — 42,178 employees
research organization in Germany
The Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres is the largest scientific organisation in Germany. It is a union of 19 scientific-technical and biological-medical research centers. The official mission of the Association is "solving the grand challenges of science, society and industry". Scientists at Helmholtz therefore focus research on complex systems which affect human life and the environment. The namesake of the association is the German physiologist and physicist Hermann von... Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #2 National Center for Scientific Research — 31,970 employees
French research organisation
The French National Centre for Scientific Research is the French state research organisation and is the largest public research body in Europe and the second largest research organisation in the world. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #3 Johns Hopkins University — 19,469 employees
private university in Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Johns Hopkins University (JHU), often abbreviated as Hopkins, is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Incorporated in 1867 and opened in 1876 based on the European research institution model, Johns Hopkins is considered to be the first research university in the U.S. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #4 Sandia National Laboratories — 16,988 employees
United States national laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, it has a second principal facility next to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, and a test facility in Waimea, Kauaʻi, Hawaii. Sandia is owned by the U.S. federal government but privately managed... Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #5 French National Institute of Health and Medical Research — 14,292 employees
French biomedical research institute
The Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale is the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #6 Air Force Research Laboratory — 12,500 employees
scientific research organization operated by the United States Air Force
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is a scientific research and development detachment of the United States Air Force Materiel Command dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of direct-energy based aerospace warfighting technologies, planning and executing the Air Force science and technology program, and providing warfighting capabilities to United States air, space, and cyberspace forces. It controls the entire Air Force science and technology research budget... Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #7 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory — 9,563 employees
federal research institute in Livermore, California, United States
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a federally funded research and development center in Livermore, California, United States. Established in 1952, the laboratory is sponsored by the United States Department of Energy and administered privately by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #8 Nomura Research Institute — 9,000 employees
Research Institute
Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. is the largest economic research and consulting firm in Japan, and a member of the Nomura Group. Established in 1965, the firm now employs over 13,000 people. It owns ten subsidiaries in Japan and multiple subsidiaries overseas, in India, New York City, Dallas, London, Seoul, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Moscow, Taipei, the Philippines, Singapore, Bangkok, and Jakarta. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #9 German Aerospace Center — 8,000 employees
research center of the Federal Republic of Germany for aerospace and power engineering, transport and security
The German Aerospace Center is Germany's research and technology organization for aeronautics and space. It conducts research for these fields, as well as in energy, transport, security and defense. The German Space Agency at the DLR is Germany's space agency. DLR also serves as a project management agency (Projektträger) both nationally and internationally. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #10 French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development — 7,000 employees
French science and technology research institute
The French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development, or Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), is a French science and technology establishment under the joint supervision of the French Ministries of Higher Education and Research and Foreign Affairs. It operates internationally from its headquarters in Marseille, and two metropolitan centres of Montpellier and Bondy. It was created as the Office de la recherche scientifique et technique outre-mer or ORSTOM in 1943. Read more on Wikipedia.
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