France's Top 2% Scientists 2020

France has 4,502 scientists on the 2020 single-year Top 2% list. That places France 8th in the world by number of listed scientists. Sorbonne Universite has the most listed scientists (230), followed by Universite Paris-Saclay (205).

Single Year

4,502

First year listed

Career Data

5,048

First year listed

World rank by count

First year listed

Institutes

882

First year listed

Scientists in France on the list, by year

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 list2020

Show the list

1Sorbonne Universite230
2Universite Paris-Saclay205
3Universite Grenoble Alpes157
4Université de Montpellier103
5Université de Bordeaux102
6CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique99
7Université de Strasbourg79
8Universite Paul Sabatier Toulouse III74
9Aix Marseille Université71
10Université de Lorraine68

All 4,502 scientists

Single-year list2020

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	60	KG Kroemer, Guido	Stabilité génétique et oncogenèse	Immunology	Rank 1
2	82	TJ Tarascon, Jean Marie	Collège de France	Energy	Rank 3
3	221	DS Dehaene, Stanislas	Collège de France	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 16
4	262	BF Bray, Freddie	International Agency for Research on Cancer	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 13
5	315	DA Dufresne, Alain	Universite Grenoble Alpes	Polymers	Rank 2
6	403	LJ Lehn, Jean Marie	Université de Strasbourg	General Chemistry	Rank 4
7	526	MS Mallat, Stéphane	École Normale Supérieure	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 34
8	527	SP Simon, Patrice	CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique	Energy	Rank 14
9	551	TW Thuiller, Wilfried	Universite Grenoble Alpes	Ecology	Rank 16
10	558	FG Férey, Gérard	Institut Lavoisier de Versailles	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 2
11	662	LP Lions, Pierre Louis	Université Paris-Dauphine	General Mathematics	Rank 2
12	672	LM Loreau, Michel	Station d’Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale	Ecology	Rank 19
13	674	DG de Gennes, Pierre Gilles	Institut Curie	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 10
14	685	AD Astruc, Didier	Université de Bordeaux	Organic Chemistry	Rank 7
15	700	RD Raoult, Didier	Aix Marseille Université	Microbiology	Rank 9
16	716	TC Théry, Clotilde	Immunite et Cancer	Immunology	Rank 20
17	952	QD Quéré, David	Ecole Superieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 15
18	1,188	RC Robert, Caroline	Universite Paris-Saclay	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 40
19	1,232	MA Møller, Anders Pape	Laboratoire Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution	Ecology	Rank 35
20	1,256	TJ Tirole, Jean	École des Ponts ParisTech	Economics	Rank 27
21	1,365	FJ Ferlay, Jacques	International Agency for Research on Cancer	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 46
22	1,374	AJ Antoni, Jérôme	Laboratoire Vibrations Acoustiques	Acoustics	Rank 1
23	1,400	RM Rinaudo, Marguerite	Biomaterials Applications	Polymers	Rank 6
24	1,455	HB Henrissat, Bernard	Aix Marseille Université	Microbiology	Rank 21
25	1,519	ET Ebbesen, T. W.	Université de Strasbourg	Optics	Rank 11
26	1,532	DT Damour, Thibault	Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 8
27	1,533	Crini, Grégorio	Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté	Polymers	Rank 7
28	1,759	BF Bach, Francis	École Normale Supérieure	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 80
29	1,806	FM Fink, Mathias	Ecole Superieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris	Acoustics	Rank 2
30	1,919	DH Duffau, H.	Université de Montpellier	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 122
31	1,978	LB Latour, Bruno	SciencesPo	Political Science & Public Administration	Rank 4
32	1,996	SA Scalbert, Augustin	International Agency for Research on Cancer	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 8
33	2,029	SC Schmid, Cordelia	Universite Grenoble Alpes	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 88
34	2,052	FA Fert, A.	Unité Mixte de Physique CNRS/Thales	Applied Physics	Rank 64
35	2,154	DM Dougados, Maxime	Centre de Recherche Epidémiologiques et Bio Statistiques de Sorbonne Paris Cité (CRESS)	Arthritis & Rheumatology	Rank 12
36	2,214	CP Couvreur, P.	Institut Galien Paris-Sud	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 12
37	2,282	SJ Savéant, Jean Michel	Université de Paris	General Chemistry	Rank 20
38	2,313	LB Le Bihan, Denis	CEA Saclay	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 152
39	2,323	DD Dubois, Didier	Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 97
40	2,340	LJ Lutz, Jean François	Université de Strasbourg	Polymers	Rank 14
41	2,387	CJ Chaboche, J. L.	ONERA-DMSM - Matériaux et Structures Métalliques	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 29
42	2,427	RN Roussel, Nicolas	CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique	Building & Construction	Rank 11
43	2,432	ZL Zitvogel, Laurence	Universite Paris-Saclay	Immunology	Rank 55
44	2,445	SC Serre, Christian	École Normale Supérieure	Organic Chemistry	Rank 42
45	2,450	LS Lavorel, Sandra	Universite Grenoble Alpes	Ecology	Rank 82
46	2,464	VW Van Wassenhove, Luk N.	INSEAD, Europe	Operations Research	Rank 6
47	2,518	RF Rousset, François	Université de Montpellier	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 28
48	2,520	HL Hollebeek, Linda D.	Montpellier Business School	Marketing	Rank 15
49	2,593	RJ Rodríguez-Carvajal, Juan	Institut Laue-Langevin	Applied Physics	Rank 72
50	2,669	SB Staels, Bart	University of Lille	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 75
51	2,684	JC Jabbour, Charbel Jose Chiappetta	Montpellier Business School	Environmental Sciences	Rank 23
52	2,761	CG Chabrier, G.	Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 9
53	2,851	DB Dubois, B.	Hôpital Universitaire Pitié Salpêtrière	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 192
54	2,863	CA Clark, Andrew E.	Ecole d’Économie de Paris	Economics	Rank 58
55	2,881	OM Oturan, Mehmet A.	Université Paris-Est	Environmental Sciences	Rank 25
56	2,922	PL Peyrin-Biroulet, Laurent	CHU de Nancy	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 32
57	2,936	CJ Chave, Jérome	Universite Paul Sabatier Toulouse III	Ecology	Rank 103
58	3,028	DC Delmas, Claude	Université de Bordeaux	Energy	Rank 59
59	3,093	BP Bourdieu, Pierre	École Pratique des Hautes Etudes	Sociology	Rank 11
60	3,107	CJ Casanova, Jean Laurent	Hôpital Necker Enfants Malades	Immunology	Rank 69
61	3,138	MP Moreau, Philippe	CHU de Nantes	Immunology	Rank 72
62	3,221	HM Humbert, Marc	Hopital de Bicetre	Respiratory System	Rank 11
63	3,280	NG Noctor, Graham	Institut des Sciences des Plantes de Paris-Saclay	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 26
64	3,426	CP Ciais, Philippe	Universite de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 51
65	3,482	MM Millan, Mark J.	Servier	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 17
66	3,730	CA Chambolle, A.	Centre de Mathématiques Appliquées	General Mathematics	Rank 11
67	3,767	JM Jeannerod, Marc	Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 260
68	3,798	CP Chambon, Pierre	Collège de France	Developmental Biology	Rank 160
69	3,837	EB Escudier, Bernard	Stabilité génétique et oncogenèse	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 133
70	3,866	LL Leibler, Ludwik	Ecole Superieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris	Polymers	Rank 29
71	3,887	GE Guibal, Eric	IMT Mines Alès	Chemical Engineering	Rank 26
72	3,889	MM Meybeck, Michel	Sorbonne Universite	Environmental Engineering	Rank 16
73	3,927	BY Ben-Ari, Yehezkel	Fundamental Research Department	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 269
74	3,979	CM Callon, Michel	Mines ParisTech	Sociology	Rank 14
75	3,983	HP Hohenberg, P. C.	École Normale Supérieure	Biophysics	Rank 4
76	4,002	BM Buchheit, Martin	Performance Department	Sport Sciences	Rank 9
77	4,007	WC Wild, Christopher P.	International Agency for Research on Cancer	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 139
78	4,039	PE Paradis, Emmanuel	Université de Montpellier	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 53
79	4,054	LT Lawrence, Toby	Centre d’Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy	Immunology	Rank 95
80	4,130	LI Laptev, Ivan	École Normale Supérieure	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 143
81	4,224	LS Laurent, Stephane	Hopital Europeen Georges-Pompidou	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 120
82	4,291	BJ Bousquet, Jean	CHU Montpellier	Allergy	Rank 7
83	4,311	PJ Pawlotsky, Jean Michel	Hôpital Henri Mondor	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 44
84	4,346	CL Castera, Laurent	University Hospitals Paris Nord Val de Seine	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 46
85	4,429	MH Martin, Hervé	Université Clermont Auvergne	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 71
86	4,440	SJ Soria, Jean Charles	Universite Paris-Saclay	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 146
87	4,556	SM Schlumberger, Martin	Universite Paris-Saclay	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 83
88	4,609	TA Tarantola, A.	Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 74
89	4,610	HJ Herrmann, Jean Marie	Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1	Physical Chemistry	Rank 26
90	4,704	FD Fassin, Didier	École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales	Anthropology	Rank 3
91	4,798	BA Bianco, Alberto	Université de Strasbourg	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 143
92	4,802	CJ Changeux, Jean Pierre	Collège de France	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 336
93	4,811	PH Pellissier, Hélène	Institut des Sciences Moléculaires de Marseille	Organic Chemistry	Rank 85
94	4,895	VJ Virieux, J.	Institut des Sciences de la Terre, Grenoble	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 82
95	4,896	MG Montalescot, Gilles	Hôpital Universitaire Pitié Salpêtrière	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 144
96	4,913	CV Cottin, Vincent	Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1	Respiratory System	Rank 21
97	4,917	BP Bedossa, Pierre	Hopital Beaujon	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 54
98	4,961	EA Eggermont, Alexander	Stabilité génétique et oncogenèse	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 168
99	5,109	AD Annane, D.	Universite Paris-Saclay	Emergency & Critical Care Medicine	Rank 15
100	5,218	PL Philippot, Laurent	Agroécologie (Agroécologie)	Microbiology	Rank 86
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Countries with a similar count

Single-year list2020

Canada6,602 scientistsin 2020

Australia6,100 scientistsin 2020

Italy4,746 scientistsin 2020

Japan4,484 scientistsin 2020

Netherlands3,480 scientistsin 2020

Spain2,767 scientistsin 2020

Explore other countries

Single-year list2020

Germany8,177 scientistsin 2020

Switzerland2,622 scientistsin 2020

Belgium1,503 scientistsin 2020

Austria984 scientistsin 2020

Luxembourg48 scientistsin 2020

United Kingdom13,805 scientistsin 2020

All countries on the world map

Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from France are in the 2020 Stanford Top 2% list?

4,502 scientists affiliated with France are on the 2020 single-year list, and 5,048 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2020 single-year list, Sorbonne Universite has the most listed scientists from France, with 230. It is followed by Universite Paris-Saclay with 205.

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.