France's Top 2% Scientists 2025

France has 5,886 scientists on the 2025 single-year Top 2% list, up 1.8% from 5,781 in 2024. That places France 9th in the world by number of listed scientists, down 1 place. Université Paris-Saclay has the most listed scientists (234), followed by Sorbonne Université (187).

Single Year

5,886

+105 (+1.8%) vs 2024

Career Data

7,284

+363 (+5.2%) vs 2024

World rank by count

down 1 place vs 2024

Institutes

1,342

+515 (+62.3%) vs 2024

Scientists in France on the list, by year

The single-year count has grown 31% since 2020.

Single-year list, change on the previous year

2021+17.1%

2022+4.5%

2023+1.4%

2024+3.5%

2025+1.8%

Show the numbers

Year	Single Year	Change	Career Data	Change
2020	4,502		5,048
2021	5,274	+17.1%	5,912	+17.1%
2022	5,509	+4.5%	6,284	+6.3%
2023	5,588	+1.4%	6,522	+3.8%
2024	5,781	+3.5%	6,921	+6.1%
2025	5,886	+1.8%	7,284	+5.2%

Top 10 institutes in France

By number of listed scientists

Single-year list2025

Show the list

1Université Paris-Saclay234
2Sorbonne Université187
3Université Paris Cité168
4CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique166
5Université Grenoble Alpes116
6Université de Montpellier102
7Université de Lorraine86
8Université de Bordeaux72
9Hôpital Universitaire Pitié Salpêtrière71
10Aix Marseille Université64

All 5,886 scientists

Single-year list2025

The first 100 are free to browse.

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Rank in France	World rank	Scientist	Institute	Sub-field	Rank in sub-field
1	57	KG Kroemer, Guido	Institut de Cancerologie Gustave Roussy	Immunology	Rank 1
2	88	BF Bray, Freddie Ian	Centre international de Recherche sur le Cancer	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 3
3	125	TJ Tarascon, Jean Marie	CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique	Energy	Rank 3
4	333	RC Robert, Caroline	Institut de Cancerologie Gustave Roussy	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 8
5	433	DS Dehaene, Stanislas	Collège de France	Experimental Psychology	Rank 7
6	450	FW Fosso Wamba, Samuel Fasso	TBS Business School	Information Systems	Rank 6
7	514	TW Thuiller, Wilfried	Université Grenoble Alpes	Ecology	Rank 12
8	552	FR Feynman, Richard P.	Université de Bretagne Occidentale	Applied Physics	Rank 15
9	569	TC Thèry, Clotilde	Institut Curie	Developmental Biology	Rank 18
10	604	DA Dufresne, Alain	Université Grenoble Alpes	Polymers	Rank 4
11	625	SP Simon, Patrice	Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier	Energy	Rank 19
12	634	JC Jabbour, Charbel Jose Chiappetta	NEOMA Business School	Business & Management	Rank 23
13	650	DT Damour, Thibault	Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 7
14	733	MS Mallat, Stéphane G.	Collège de France	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 51
15	762	LM Loreau, Michel	Station d’Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale	Ecology	Rank 17
16	846	LB Latour, Bruno	Médialab Sciences Po	Science Studies	Rank 3
17	860	AD Astruc, Didier D.	Université de Bordeaux	Organic Chemistry	Rank 4
18	864	LP Lions, Pierre Louis	Collège de France	General Mathematics	Rank 2
19	940	Crini, Grégorio	Laboratoire Chrono-Environnement	Polymers	Rank 8
20	992	RD Raoult, Didier A.	Aix Marseille Université	Microbiology	Rank 15
21	1,041	RN Roussel, Nicolas	Laboratoire Navier	Building & Construction	Rank 12
22	1,056	BP Bourdieu, Pierre	École Pratique des Hautes Études	Sociology	Rank 3
23	1,087	DG de Gennes, Pierre Gilles	Institut Curie	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 8
24	1,097	AJ Antoni, Jérôme	Laboratoire Vibrations Acoustiques	Acoustics	Rank 2
25	1,155	HM Humbert, Marc	Hypertension Artérielle Pulmonaire : Physiopathologie et Innovation Thérapeutique	Respiratory System	Rank 2
26	1,205	DR Di Renzo, Marco	Laboratoire des Signaux et Systèmes	Networking & Telecommunications	Rank 14
27	1,294	Dubey, Rameshwar	Montpellier Business School	Business & Management	Rank 48
28	1,303	FR Filieri, Raffaele	Audencia	Marketing	Rank 13
29	1,339	TJ Tirole, Jean	Toulouse School of Economics - Recherche - (TSE-R)	Economics	Rank 36
30	1,377	ZL Zitvogel, Laurence	Institut de Cancerologie Gustave Roussy	Immunology	Rank 33
31	1,392	FP Friedlingstein, Pierre	École Normale Supérieure	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 15
32	1,439	DL Dana, Léo Paul	Montpellier Business School	Business & Management	Rank 54
33	1,503	SH Sampson, Hugh A.	DBV Technologies	Allergy	Rank 2
34	1,538	LJ Lehn, Jean Maríe Pierre	Université de Strasbourg	Organic Chemistry	Rank 16
35	1,591	PL Peyrin-Biroulet, Laurent	Université de Lorraine	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 25
36	1,597	HG Hortobágyi, Gabriel N.	Division of Breast Cancer Research	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 30
37	1,598	QD Quéré, David	Laboratoire d'Hydrodynamique de l'Ecole Polytechnique	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 12
38	1,610	FJ Ferlay, Jacques	Centre international de Recherche sur le Cancer	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 31
39	1,616	WL Wacquant, Löic J.D.	Centre Européen de Sociologie et de Science Politique (CESSP - UMR 8209)	Sociology	Rank 7
40	1,623	CP Ciais, Philippe	Université Paris-Saclay	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 21
41	1,646	BF Bach, Francis R.	Université PSL	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 96
42	1,717	BS Bag, Surajit	Excelia Business School	Business & Management	Rank 65
43	1,995	ZF Zannad, Faïez Mohamed	CHU de Caen Normandie	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 54
44	2,171	OR Olfati-Saber, Reza	Sanofi S.A.	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 22
45	2,280	CV Cottin, Vincent	Infections Virales et Pathologie Comparée (IVPC)	Respiratory System	Rank 5
46	2,320	ET Ebbesen, Thomas Wren	Université de Strasbourg	Applied Physics	Rank 63
47	2,356	HB Henrissat, Bernard	Aix Marseille Université	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 36
48	2,438	MA Møller, Anders Pape	Université Paris-Saclay	Ecology	Rank 69
49	2,470	VG Varoquaux, Gaël P.	INRIA Saclay	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 125
50	2,596	PA Polyakov, Andrey E.	Université de Lille	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 28
51	2,625	BP Boileau, Pascal	Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal Poissy-St-Germain-en-Laye	Orthopedics	Rank 5
52	2,635	CJ Chave, Jérôme	Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier	Ecology	Rank 74
53	2,714	DH Duffau, Hugues	Université de Montpellier	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 138
54	2,742	CM Cuturi, Marco	Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 148
55	2,755	RM Rinaudo, Marguerite	Biomaterials Applications	Polymers	Rank 15
56	2,764	FA Fert, Albert	Université Paris-Saclay	Applied Physics	Rank 72
57	2,811	DB Dubois, Bruno	Hôpital Universitaire Pitié Salpêtrière	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 143
58	2,892	DB Dréno, Brigitte	Hôtel Dieu CHU de Nantes	Dermatology & Venereal Diseases	Rank 4
59	2,903	FG Férey, Gèrard	Institut Universitaire de France	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 6
60	2,930	HC Hidalgo, César A.	Toulouse School of Economics - Recherche - (TSE-R)	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 160
61	2,989	CM Callon, Michel	Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation	Science Studies	Rank 8
62	3,017	AV Aboyans, Victor	CHU de Limoges	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 79
63	3,054	DA Delorme, Arnaud	Brain and Cognition Research Center in Toulouse	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 158
64	3,085	LT Lawrence, Toby	Centre d’Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy	Immunology	Rank 63
65	3,130	BL Bocquet, Lydéric	École Normale Supérieure	Chemical Physics	Rank 59
66	3,211	MG Molander, Gary A.	Université Paris-Saclay	Organic Chemistry	Rank 46
67	3,337	LS Lavorel, Sandra	Laboratoire d’Écologie Alpine (LECA)	Ecology	Rank 90
68	3,372	MM Mohty, Mohamad	Hôpital Saint-Antoine	Immunology	Rank 70
69	3,500	LJ Lefaucheur, Jean Pascal	Hôpital Henri Mondor	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 181
70	3,589	HP Hohenberg, Pierre C.	École Normale Supérieure	Applied Physics	Rank 95
71	3,591	WC Will, Clifford M.	Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 38
72	3,682	FW Fridman, Wolf Herman	Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers	Immunology	Rank 78
73	3,704	SH Sokol, Harry	Liver & Microbiome Research (GLIMMER) FHU	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 48
74	3,721	DC Delmas, Claude	CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique	Energy	Rank 93
75	3,834	SA Scalbert, Augustin	Centre international de Recherche sur le Cancer	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 18
76	3,842	SC Serre, Christian	Institut des Matériaux Poreux de Paris IMAP	Organic Chemistry	Rank 52
77	3,869	DM Dougados, Maxime R.	Centre de Recherche Epidémiologiques et Bio Statistiques de Sorbonne Paris Cité (CRESS)	Arthritis & Rheumatology	Rank 21
78	3,906	RC Rovelli, Carlo	Aix Marseille Université	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 44
79	3,911	RV Ratziu, Vlad	Sorbonne Université	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 51
80	3,930	BC Bailly, Christian	Cancer Heterogeneity, Plasticity & Resistance to Therapies (Canther)	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 14
81	3,954	HH Hampel, Harald G.	Hôpital Universitaire Pitié Salpêtrière	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 202
82	3,988	SB Staels, Bart	Université de Lille	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 61
83	4,052	CJ Chaboche, Jean Louis	ONERA Office National d'Etudes et Recherches Aerospatiales	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 38
84	4,224	BP Bédossa, Pierre	Liverpat	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 57
85	4,233	VM Volonteri, Marta	Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 27
86	4,237	PT Piketty, Thomas	École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales	Economics	Rank 94
87	4,247	SJ Savéant, Jean Michel	Université Paris Cité	Energy	Rank 110
88	4,264	RJ Rodríguez-Carvajal, Juan R.	Institut Laue-Langevin	Applied Physics	Rank 106
89	4,309	MP Moreau, Philippe	Nantes Université	Immunology	Rank 91
90	4,411	PE Paradis, Emmanuel	Université de Montpellier	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 31
91	4,464	VW van Wassenhove, Luk N.V.	INSEAD, Europe	Operations Research	Rank 19
92	4,543	CA Clark, Andrew E.	CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique	Economics	Rank 98
93	4,544	LB Le Bihan, Denis J.	Université Paris-Saclay	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 227
94	4,564	Dolgui, Alexandre	IMT Atlantique	Operations Research	Rank 20
95	4,598	LS Laurent, Stéphane L.	PARCC - Paris-Centre de Recherche Cardiovasculaire	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 122
96	4,690	SI Soerjomataram, Isabelle	Centre international de Recherche sur le Cancer	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 117
97	4,716	PL Philippot, Laurent	INRAE	Microbiology	Rank 69
98	4,733	BF Bérenbaum, Françis	Hôpital Saint-Antoine	Arthritis & Rheumatology	Rank 26
99	4,762	AD Annane, Djillali	AP-HP Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Paris	Emergency & Critical Care Medicine	Rank 10
100	4,811	AF André, Fabrice	Institut de Cancerologie Gustave Roussy	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 121
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Ranks 101 to 5,886The whole list, not only the top 100.

Every year since 2020Single Year and Career Data.

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Countries with a similar count

Single-year list2025

Canada8,303 scientists

Italy7,991 scientists

India6,236 scientists

Japan5,713 scientists

Netherlands4,727 scientists

Spain4,267 scientists

Explore other countries

Single-year list2025

Germany10,666 scientists

Switzerland3,549 scientists

Belgium2,124 scientists

Austria1,433 scientists

Luxembourg90 scientists

United Kingdom18,125 scientists

All countries on the world map

Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from France are in the 2025 Stanford Top 2% list?

5,886 scientists affiliated with France are on the 2025 single-year list, and 7,284 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2025 single-year list, Université Paris-Saclay has the most listed scientists from France, with 234. It is followed by Sorbonne Université with 187.

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

On the single-year list, France went from 4,502 scientists in 2020 to 5,886 in 2025, a change of +30.7%.

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.