Australia's Top 2% Scientists 2026: Career-Long List

Australia has 8,551 scientists on the 2026 career-long Top 2% list, up 6.6% from 8,025 in 2025. That places Australia 7th in the world by number of listed scientists. The University of Queensland has the most listed scientists (567), followed by Monash University (564).

Single Year

8,971

+416 (+4.9%) vs 2025

Career Data

8,551

+526 (+6.6%) vs 2025

World rank by count

No change vs 2025

Institutes

837

+57 (+7.3%) vs 2025

Scientists in Australia on the list, by year

The career-long count has grown 57% since 2020.

Career-long list, change on the previous year

2021+17.1%

2022+4.0%

2023+5.7%

2024+6.4%

2025+7.8%

2026+6.6%

Show the numbers

Year	Single Year	Change	Career Data	Change
2020	6,100		5,441
2021	7,138	+17.0%	6,369	+17.1%
2022	7,349	+3.0%	6,623	+4.0%
2023	7,600	+3.4%	7,002	+5.7%
2024	8,032	+5.7%	7,447	+6.4%
2025	8,555	+6.5%	8,025	+7.8%
2026	8,971	+4.9%	8,551	+6.6%

Top 10 institutes in Australia

By number of listed scientists

Career-long list2026

Show the list

1The University of Queensland567
2Monash University564
3The University of Sydney440
4UNSW Sydney435
5University of Melbourne416
6Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation314
7The Australian National University290
8The University of Western Australia284
9The University of Adelaide236
10University of Technology Sydney180

All 8,551 scientists

Career-long list2026

Showing the 2026 career-long list. Looking for single-year rankings? See the single-year list

The first 100 are free to browse.

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Rank in Australia	World rank	Scientist	Institute	Sub-field	Rank in sub-field
1	58	Ryan, Richard M.	Australian Catholic University	Social Psychology	Rank 3
2	88	MS Mirjalili, Seyedali	Torrens University Australia	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 5
3	92	BR Baumeister, Roy F.	The University of Queensland	Social Psychology	Rank 5
4	140	MH Marsh, Herbert W.	Australian Catholic University	Education	Rank 1
5	147	GM Green, Martin A.	UNSW Sydney	Applied Physics	Rank 9
6	323	TN Talley, Nicholas J.	The University of Newcastle, Australia	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 5
7	335	KJ Kanis, John A.	Australian Catholic University	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 14
8	355	SJ Sallis, James F.	Australian Catholic University	Public Health	Rank 2
9	364	WS Wang, Shaobin	The University of Adelaide	Chemical Engineering	Rank 1
10	379	Jorm, Anthony F.	Melbourne School of Population and Global Health	Psychiatry	Rank 11
11	457	CF Caruso, Frank	University of Melbourne	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 18
12	470	DL Dai, Liming	UNSW Sydney	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 19
13	508	SJ Sweller, John	UNSW Sydney	Education	Rank 4
14	550	SG Smyth, Gordon K.	University of Melboure	Developmental Biology	Rank 33
15	561	MS Maier, Stefan A.	Monash University	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 23
16	577	ZP Zimmet, Paul Z.	Monash University	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 23
17	583	SR Shine, Richard D.	Macquarie University	Ecology	Rank 11
18	633	BR Bellomo, Rinaldo	Monash University	Emergency & Critical Care Medicine	Rank 2
19	656	AR Aitken, Robert John	The University of Newcastle, Australia	Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine	Rank 3
20	665	HG Hankey, Graeme J.	The University of Western Australia	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 62
21	723	LW Laurance, William F.	James Cook University	Ecology	Rank 16
22	867	HD Hutmacher, Dietmar W.	Queensland University of Technology	Biomedical Engineering	Rank 2
23	900	MJ Mattick, John S.	UNSW Sydney	Developmental Biology	Rank 53
24	1,083	HE Holmes, Edward C.	The University of Sydney	Virology	Rank 3
25	1,099	BR Bryant, Richard A.	UNSW Sydney	Psychiatry	Rank 41
26	1,196	SP Sachdev, Perminder S.	Spatial Ventures - Geospatial Services	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 115
27	1,204	Buyya, Rajkumar	University of Melbourne	Distributed Computing	Rank 2
28	1,218	MP McGorry, Patrick D.	University of Melbourne	Psychiatry	Rank 45
29	1,238	GK Govindan, Kannan	The University of Adelaide	Operations Research	Rank 4
30	1,295	WM Westoby, Mark	Macquarie University	Ecology	Rank 28
31	1,302	MT Marwick, Thomas H.	Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 69
32	1,308	PB Pradhan, Biswajeet K.	University of Technology Sydney	Geological & Geomatics Engineering	Rank 2
33	1,319	HO Hoegh-Guldberg, Ove I.	The University of Queensland	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 4
34	1,325	HJ Hodges, John R.	The University of Sydney	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 122
35	1,346	BN Bogduk, Nikolai	School of Medicine and Public Health	Anesthesiology	Rank 3
36	1,413	SM Santamouris, Matthaios J.	Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences	Building & Construction	Rank 3
37	1,423	FM Fenech, Michael Felix	University of South Australia	Toxicology	Rank 6
38	1,462	VP Visscher, Peter M.	The University of Queensland, Institute for Molecular Bioscience	Developmental Biology	Rank 87
39	1,472	HA Huete, Alfredo Ramon	University of Technology Sydney	Geological & Geomatics Engineering	Rank 4
40	1,484	HA Hoffmann, Ary A.	School of Biosciences	Entomology	Rank 1
41	1,510	NJ Nicholson, Jeremy K.	Murdoch University	Analytical Chemistry	Rank 4
42	1,531	BA Bush, Ashley Ian	University of Melbourne	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 143
43	1,600	JR Johnson, Richard Joseph	Alice Springs Hospital	Urology & Nephrology	Rank 11
44	1,643	BA Bauman, Adrian Ernest	Faculty of Medicine and Health	Public Health	Rank 14
45	1,677	HD Hensher, David Alan	The University of Sydney Business School	Logistics & Transportation	Rank 1
46	1,693	GS Gandevia, Simon Charles	Neuroscience Research Australia	Physiology	Rank 1
47	1,739	MR Munns, Rana E.	CSIRO Agriculture Flagship, Brisbane	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 10
48	1,758	PR Pekrun, Reinhard H.	Australian Catholic University	Education	Rank 7
49	1,764	SE Seeman, Ego	University of Melbourne	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 49
50	1,768	HQ Han, Qing-Long	Swinburne University of Technology	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 6
51	1,770	LD Lindenmayer, David B.	The Fenner School of Environment & Society	Ecology	Rank 39
52	1,776	HW Hall, Wayne D.	The University of Queensland	Substance Abuse	Rank 4
53	1,794	KY Kivshar, Yuri S.	The Australian National University	Optics	Rank 8
54	1,806	MP Mulvaney, Paul A.	University of Melbourne	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 55
55	1,814	SP Shi, Peng	The University of Adelaide	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 7
56	1,837	LD Lupton, Deborah A.	UNSW Sydney	Public Health	Rank 18
57	1,862	MC Moritz, Craig C.	ANU Research School of Biology	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 28
58	1,945	HT Hughes, Terence P.	James Cook University	Ecology	Rank 42
59	1,952	JS Jiang, San Ping	WA School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering	Energy	Rank 22
60	1,971	PG Parker, Gordon B.	UNSW Sydney	Psychiatry	Rank 69
61	2,141	FR Frost, Ray Leslie	Queensland University of Technology	Chemical Physics	Rank 62
62	2,150	CR Connell, Raewyn W.	The University of Sydney	Sociology	Rank 4
63	2,152	FG Farquhar, Graham Douglas	ANU Research School of Biology	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 15
64	2,182	HP Hodges, Paul William	The University of Queensland	Orthopedics	Rank 6
65	2,279	MA McMichael, Anthony J.	ANU Medical School	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 53
66	2,344	NP Narayan, Paresh Kumar	Monash University	Economics	Rank 21
67	2,363	TM Tiggemann, Marika	Flinders University	Social Psychology	Rank 45
68	2,364	PE Perucca, Emilio P.	Monash University	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 216
69	2,372	BM Berk, Michael R.	Deakin University	Psychiatry	Rank 80
70	2,386	PR Parton, Robert G.	The University of Queensland	Developmental Biology	Rank 138
71	2,418	GP Gale, Philip A.	University of Technology Sydney	Organic Chemistry	Rank 62
72	2,429	ML Morawska, Lidia	Queensland University of Technology	Environmental Sciences	Rank 12
73	2,446	SA Strasser, Andreas	Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research	Immunology	Rank 81
74	2,462	HR Hobbs, Richard J.	The University of Western Australia	Ecology	Rank 55
75	2,482	BN Bolan, Nanthi Sirangie	The University of Western Australia	Environmental Sciences	Rank 13
76	2,552	TH Taylor, Hugh R.	Melbourne School of Population and Global Health	Ophthalmology & Optometry	Rank 12
77	2,614	MJ McGrath, John Joseph	The University of Queensland	Psychiatry	Rank 87
78	2,640	HJ Hattie, John Allan C.	Faculty of Education	Education	Rank 10
79	2,659	ER Ellis, Rod	Curtin University	Languages & Linguistics	Rank 2
80	2,683	BR Buchbinder, Rachelle	Monash University	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 60
81	2,701	MD MacFarlane, Douglas R.	Monash University	Energy	Rank 36
82	2,709	LM Lenzen, Manfred	The University of Sydney	Environmental Sciences	Rank 16
83	2,728	CD Celermajer, David S.	Heart Research Institute Australia	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 127
84	2,736	RN Rose, Nikolas	The Australian National University	Sociology	Rank 7
85	2,746	NS Nakagawa, Shinichi	UNSW Sydney	Ecology	Rank 59
86	2,802	CM Coltheart, Max	Macquarie University	Experimental Psychology	Rank 52
87	2,864	MP Mitchell, Paul G.	The University of Sydney	Ophthalmology & Optometry	Rank 15
88	2,881	CJ Chalmers, J. P.	The University of Sydney School of Medicine	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 135
89	2,886	MD Metcalf, Donald	Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research	Immunology	Rank 98
90	2,897	WM White, Martin J.	The University of Adelaide	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 30
91	2,930	HL Ho, Luis C.	The University of Newcastle, Australia	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 13
92	2,944	RR Rapee, Ronald M.	Macquarie University	Clinical Psychology	Rank 18
93	2,990	BJ Bezdek, Jim C.	University of Melbourne	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 85
94	2,992	GP Gibson, Peter G.	The University of Newcastle, Australia	Respiratory System	Rank 21
95	3,007	FR Frankham, Richard R.	Macquarie University	Ecology	Rank 66
96	3,009	SL Simmons, Leigh W.	The University of Western Australia	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 38
97	3,066	EM Esler, Murray David	The Alfred	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 143
98	3,259	AG Andrews, Gavin A.	UNSW Sydney	Psychiatry	Rank 106
99	3,273	DL Degenhardt, Louisa J.	National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre	Substance Abuse	Rank 14
100	3,300	HP Holt, Patrick G.	Perth Children's Hospital	Immunology	Rank 121
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You are seeing the first 100. 8,451 more are on the 2026 career-long list.

Ranks 101 to 8,551The whole list, not only the top 100.

Every year since 2020Single Year and Career Data.

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Countries with a similar count

Career-long list2026

Germany12,809 scientists

Canada10,063 scientists

Japan9,097 scientists

France7,613 scientists

Italy7,363 scientists

Netherlands5,001 scientists

Explore other countries

Career-long list2026

New Zealand1,224 scientists

Singapore1,154 scientists

Malaysia515 scientists

Thailand343 scientists

Vietnam121 scientists

Indonesia70 scientists

All countries on the world map

Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from Australia are in the 2026 Stanford Top 2% list?

8,971 scientists affiliated with Australia are on the 2026 single-year list, and 8,551 are on the career-long list.

Which institute in Australia has the most Top 2% scientists?

On the 2026 career-long list, The University of Queensland has the most listed scientists from Australia, with 567. It is followed by Monash University with 564.

How has the number of Top 2% scientists in Australia changed since 2020?

On the career-long list, Australia went from 5,441 scientists in 2020 to 8,551 in 2026, a change of +57.2%.

What is the difference between the single-year and career-long lists?

The single-year list ranks scientists on the citations their work received in one year. The career-long list ranks them on citations across their whole career. Both lists are published every year, and a scientist can be on one, both or neither.

What is the official source of this data?

The rankings come from the science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators published by Ioannidis et al. in the Elsevier Data Repository, updated every year. TOPSCINET, an independent platform, organises that data by country, year, institute and field, so you can compare and explore it.