About ScholarMap
Making biomedical research networks transparent and accessible to researchers worldwide
Our Mission
ScholarMap helps biomedical researchers discover global research opportunities by visualizing PubMed data geographically.
We believe that understanding where research happens—by field and location—empowers researchers to make better decisions about collaborations, career moves, and research directions. By making this information freely accessible and easy to explore, we aim to strengthen the global biomedical research community.
Who We Are
ScholarMap is built by researchers who have experienced firsthand the challenges of navigating the global biomedical research landscape. As a neural engineering researcher searching for postdoc positions and collaboration opportunities, I found myself spending countless hours manually searching university websites and relying on incomplete rankings. I realized that the data already existed in PubMed—it just needed to be organized and visualized geographically. ScholarMap was born from this need.
Dr. Xiaolong "Long" Wu
Lead Developer & Researcher
Postdoctoral Scholar, Northwestern University
710 N Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
PhD in Electronic & Electrical Engineering
University of Bath, UK (2020-2024)
MS in Environmental and Engineering Geophysics
China University of Geosciences (2010-2013)
BS in Geophysics
China University of Geosciences (2006-2010)
- • Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) - Motor and Speech BCIs
- • Closed-loop Brain Stimulation (EEG + TMS)
- • Neural Engineering and Intracranial Signal Processing
- • Deep Learning for Biomedical Applications
Why This Background Matters
Having navigated the academic job market across multiple countries and fields, I understand the frustration of not having a clear view of where research is happening globally. My experience in neural engineering research, combined with technical skills in data processing and visualization, enabled me to create a tool that addresses this gap for the entire biomedical research community.
Building for the Community
ScholarMap is more than just a tool—it's a growing platform built by researchers, for researchers. We're continually expanding our coverage, improving our algorithms, and adding new features based on feedback from the research community. If you have ideas or want to contribute, we'd love to hear from you.
Why We Built This
Finding the right research opportunities—whether for postdoc positions, collaborations, or understanding the global landscape of a field—has traditionally been challenging and time-consuming. Researchers often rely on word-of-mouth, rankings that don't reflect specific field strengths, or manual searches through countless university websites.
We realized that PubMed, which indexes over 36 million biomedical publications, contains rich geographic information in author affiliations. By systematically extracting and organizing this data, we could create a powerful tool to answer questions like:
- Which cities have the strongest research activity in CRISPR gene editing?
- Where are the emerging hubs for cancer immunotherapy research?
- Which institutions in Boston are working on brain-computer interfaces?
- How does research density in my field compare across different countries?
ScholarMap makes these insights accessible through interactive visualizations and comprehensive geographic breakdowns.
What We Offer
Geographic Mapping
Visualize research distribution across countries, cities, and institutions based on actual publication data from PubMed.
Field-Specific Views
Explore research landscapes for specific fields like CRISPR, immunotherapy, brain-computer interfaces, and more.
Institution Insights
Discover which institutions are most active in specific research areas and compare their research output.
Career Planning
Make informed decisions about postdoc applications, relocations, and career moves based on research activity data.
How It Works
ScholarMap processes data from PubMed to create geographic visualizations of research networks. Our methodology is fully transparent:
- Data Collection: We query PubMed for publications in specific research fields (2020-2025)
- Geographic Extraction: We parse author affiliations to identify institutions, cities, and countries
- Quality Assurance: We validate and clean the data through automated and manual processes
- Visualization: We create interactive maps and statistics to help you explore the data
Get in Touch
Contact Information
We'd Love to Hear From You
Whether you have feedback, questions, or suggestions for improving ScholarMap, we're always eager to connect with the research community.
Found an error in the data? Have an idea for a new feature? Let us know!
Start Exploring
Discover research opportunities in your field and connect with the global biomedical community.