Estonia's Top 2% Scientists 2021: Career-Long List

Estonia has 52 scientists on the 2021 career-long Top 2% list, up 23.8% from 42 in 2020. That places Estonia 60th in the world by number of listed scientists, down 1 place. Tartu Ülikool has the most listed scientists (15), followed by Tallinna Tehnikaülikool (10).

Single Year

+5 (+8.6%) vs 2020

Career Data

+10 (+23.8%) vs 2020

World rank by count

#60

down 1 place vs 2020

Institutes

+5 (+55.6%) vs 2020

Scientists in Estonia on the list, by year

The career-long count has grown 24% since 2020.

Career-long list, change on the previous year

2021+23.8%

2022+7.7%

2023+19.6%

2024+4.5%

2025+21.4%

Show the numbers

Year	Single Year	Change	Career Data	Change
2020	58		42
2021	63	+8.6%	52	+23.8%
2022	80	+27.0%	56	+7.7%
2023	77	-3.8%	67	+19.6%
2024	83	+7.8%	70	+4.5%
2025	108	+30.1%	85	+21.4%

Top 10 institutes in Estonia

By number of listed scientists

Career-long list2021

Show the list

All 52 scientists

Career-long list2021

Everyone on the list, free to browse.

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Rank in Estonia	World rank	Scientist	Institute	Sub-field	Rank in sub-field
1	2,078	NÜ Niinemets, Ülo	Estonian University of Life Sciences	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 10
2	12,673	ZM Zobel, Martin	Ökoloogia ja Maateaduste Instituut	Ecology	Rank 225
3	24,887	RM Raidal, M.	National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics, Tallinn	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 399
4	36,978	HL Hollebeek, Linda D.	Tallinna Tehnikaülikool	Marketing	Rank 70
5	40,903	KT Koivisto, Tomi S.	National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics, Tallinn	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 686
6	43,566	SS Sugita, Shinya	Institute of Ecology, Tallinn	Paleontology	Rank 139
7	43,833	PM Pärtel, Meelis	Ökoloogia ja Maateaduste Instituut	Ecology	Rank 742
8	44,834	AJ Allik, Jüri	Academia Scientiarum Estoniae	Social Psychology	Rank 406
9	50,791	LJ Love, James H.	Tartu Ülikool	Economics	Rank 422
10	56,127	TR Taagepera, Rein	Tartu Ülikool	Political Science & Public Administration	Rank 182
11	56,230	TL Tedersoo, Leho	Ökoloogia ja Maateaduste Instituut	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 713
12	66,192	DM Dumas, Marlon	Tartu Ülikool	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 1,055
13	67,910	HJ Harro, Jaanus	Tartu Ülikooli Keemia Instituut	Psychiatry	Rank 1,297
14	73,072	SA Samoson, Ago	Tallinna Tehnikaülikool	Chemical Physics	Rank 1,547
15	73,563	BR Bhat, Rajeev	Estonian University of Life Sciences	Food Science	Rank 302
16	79,038	KT Kutser, Tiit	Eesti Mereinstituut	Geological & Geomatics Engineering	Rank 303
17	91,425	KM Karelson, Mati	Tartu Ülikooli Keemia Instituut	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 301
18	93,976	WI Williams, Ingrid H.	Estonian University of Life Sciences	Entomology	Rank 253
19	106,117	KA Kuusk, Andres	Tartu Ülikool	Geological & Geomatics Engineering	Rank 426
20	107,476	MÜ Mander, Ülo	Ökoloogia ja Maateaduste Instituut	Environmental Engineering	Rank 492
21	120,754	JJ Jürimäe, Jaak	Meditsiiniteaduste Valdkond	Sport Sciences	Rank 358
22	123,831	KK Kannike, Kristjan	NICPB	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 2,101
23	128,379	KU Kõljalg, Urmas	Ökoloogia ja Maateaduste Instituut	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 1,795
24	135,526	VA Viru, Atko	Tartu Ülikool	Sport Sciences	Rank 415
25	137,795	TM Trapido, Marina	Tallinna Tehnikaülikool	Environmental Engineering	Rank 645
26	137,881	GI Goodson, Ivor F.	Tallinna Ülikool	Education	Rank 741
27	139,233	LA Laisk, Agu	Tartu Ülikool	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 1,960
28	143,068	KI Koppel, Ilmar A.	Tartu Ülikool	Organic Chemistry	Rank 2,520
29	146,855	KA Kahru, Anne	Academia Scientiarum Estoniae	Environmental Sciences	Rank 918
30	150,663	KM Koel, Mihkel	Tallinna Tehnikaülikool	Analytical Chemistry	Rank 1,187
31	152,844	KO Kull, Olevi	Ökoloogia ja Maateaduste Instituut	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 2,164
32	158,355	KK Kull, Kalevi	Tartu Ülikool	Languages & Linguistics	Rank 238
33	175,446	SS Sakr, Sherif	Tartu Ülikool	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 2,867
34	177,298	LÜ Lepik, Ülo	Tartu Ülikool	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 1,210
35	180,499	SJ Stanturf, John A.	Estonian University of Life Sciences	Forestry	Rank 237
36	181,463	KK Kukli, K.	Tartu Ülikooli Füüsika Instituut	Applied Physics	Rank 5,080
37	182,060	SA Sellin, Arne	Ökoloogia ja Maateaduste Instituut	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 2,586
38	184,737	ST Soomere, Tarmo	Tallinna Tehnikaülikool	Oceanography	Rank 433
39	185,631	HI Hussainova, Irina	Tallinna Tehnikaülikool	Materials	Rank 2,598
40	200,306	TK Tammeveski, Kaido	Tartu Ülikool	Energy	Rank 2,570
41	217,553	NT Nilson, Tiit	Tartu Ülikool	Geological & Geomatics Engineering	Rank 933
42	218,882	LI Leito, Ivo	Tartu Ülikooli Keemia Instituut	Analytical Chemistry	Rank 1,862
43	240,845	SP Saari, Peeter	Academia Scientiarum Estoniae	Optics	Rank 950
44	244,626	KT Kalamees, Targo	Tallinna Tehnikaülikool	Building & Construction	Rank 529
45	248,203	KJ Kurnitski, Jarek	Tallinna Tehnikaülikool	Building & Construction	Rank 539
46	256,710	HS Hall, Stephen J.G.	Estonian University of Life Sciences	Dairy & Animal Science	Rank 934
47	270,358	LE Lust, Enn	Tartu Ülikool	Energy	Rank 3,625
48	299,155	AG Anbarjafari, Gholamreza	Tartu Ülikool	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 5,148
49	303,166	TS Tomasiello, Stefania	Tartu Ülikool	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 5,232
50	381,463	EJ Engelbrecht, Jüri	Tallinna Tehnikaülikool	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 2,778
51	382,728	TK Tribe, Keith	Tartu Ülikooli Ajaloo ja Arheoloogia Instituut	History	Rank 146
52	463,223	VD Vinnikov, Dmitri	Tallinna Tehnikaülikool	Electrical & Electronic Engineering	Rank 1,758
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Career-long list2021

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Career-long list2021

United Kingdom17,237 scientistsin 2021

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Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from Estonia are in the 2021 Stanford Top 2% list?

63 scientists affiliated with Estonia are on the 2021 single-year list, and 52 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2021 career-long list, Tartu Ülikool has the most listed scientists from Estonia, with 15. It is followed by Tallinna Tehnikaülikool with 10.

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

On the career-long list, Estonia went from 42 scientists in 2020 to 52 in 2021, a change of +23.8%.

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.