# Lab Search

Find universities, hospitals, institutes, companies, and research organizations through OpenAlex records.

Lab Search helps turn “where is this work happening?” into a list you can investigate. Search by institution name, acronym, or location, then compare records and continue to the organization's own site.

## Use it when

- you are exploring graduate programs, collaborators, facilities, or research employers;
- an acronym is ambiguous and you need the full institution record;
- you want a starting view of publication and citation activity.

It is an institution directory, not a ranking of laboratories, supervisors, or job openings. Publication counts can favor large and long-established organizations.

## Search institutions

1. Open **Lab Search**, or run `/lab-search`.
2. Enter a name, acronym, or location.
3. Optionally narrow the search by country.
4. Compare the institution type, location, work count, and citation count.
5. Open the official website, ROR record, or OpenAlex profile for context.

For example, a search for `Broad Institute` with **United States** selected removes similarly named organizations elsewhere and gives you stable directory links to verify the match.

## Interpret the record

OpenAlex supplies the institution metadata and bibliometric counts. These values can lag, merge organizations imperfectly, or miss work. They do not measure mentorship quality, lab culture, funding stability, fit, or current vacancies.

Lab Search needs a network connection and is unavailable in Offline mode. Search results are limited to a focused first set, so try the parent university, city, or a shorter institutional name when a lab does not appear.

:::tip[Move from institution to people]
Once you find the right organization, use its official department and group pages to identify current researchers and openings. Verify dates; directory profiles often outlive the role they describe.
:::