France's Top 2% Scientists 2023

France has 5,588 scientists on the 2023 single-year Top 2% list, up 1.4% from 5,509 in 2022. That places France 9th in the world by number of listed scientists, down 1 place. Sorbonne Université has the most listed scientists (240), followed by Université Paris-Saclay (211).

Single Year

5,588

+79 (+1.4%) vs 2022

Career Data

6,522

+238 (+3.8%) vs 2022

World rank by count

down 1 place vs 2022

Institutes

1,141

+299 (+35.5%) vs 2022

Scientists in France on the list, by year

The single-year count has grown 24% 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 list2023

Show the list

1Sorbonne Université240
2Université Paris-Saclay211
3Université Paris Cité175
4Université Grenoble Alpes142
5Université de Montpellier123
6CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique98
7Hôpital Universitaire Pitié Salpêtrière91
8Université de Lorraine83
9Université Claude Bernard Lyon 168
10Université de Bordeaux62

All 5,588 scientists

Single-year list2023

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	49	KG Kroemer, Guido	Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers	Immunology	Rank 1
2	81	BF Bray, Freddie	Centre international de Recherche sur le Cancer	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 3
3	128	TJ Tarascon, J. M.	Chimie du Solide et Energie Lab	Energy	Rank 6
4	225	RC Robert, Caroline	Université Paris-Saclay	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 8
5	359	DS Dehaene, Stanislas	Neuroimagerie Cognitive	Experimental Psychology	Rank 6
6	434	TC Théry, Clotilde	Immunite et Cancer	Immunology	Rank 17
7	457	RD Raoult, Didier	MEPHI - Microbes, Evolution, Phylogénie et Infections	Microbiology	Rank 5
8	463	DA Dufresne, Alain	Université Grenoble Alpes	Polymers	Rank 3
9	614	MS Mallat, Stéphane	Collège de France	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 40
10	634	TW Thuiller, Wilfried	Université Grenoble Alpes	Ecology	Rank 12
11	661	SP Simon, Patrice	Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier	Energy	Rank 17
12	697	AD Astruc, Didier	Institut des Sciences Moléculaires	Organic Chemistry	Rank 5
13	770	SR Spitzer, Robert	Université de Bordeaux	Psychiatry	Rank 18
14	792	LJ Lehn, Jean Marie	Institut de Science et d’Ingénierie Supramoléculaires	Organic Chemistry	Rank 6
15	861	LP Lions, Pierre Louis	Université Paris-Dauphine	General Mathematics	Rank 2
16	866	Crini, Grégorio	Laboratoire Chrono-Environnement	Polymers	Rank 5
17	899	RN Roussel, Nicolas	Laboratoire Navier	Building & Construction	Rank 7
18	968	DT Damour, Thibault	Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 7
19	1,056	DG de Gennes, Pierre Gilles	Collège de France	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 7
20	1,071	LM Loreau, Michel	Station d’Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale	Ecology	Rank 26
21	1,157	JC Jabbour, Charbel Jose Chiappetta	NEOMA Business School	Business & Management	Rank 29
22	1,162	DH Duffau, Hugues	Université de Montpellier	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 77
23	1,254	FJ Ferlay, Jacques	Centre international de Recherche sur le Cancer	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 31
24	1,280	KA Klamt, Andreas	Dassault Systemes	Chemical Physics	Rank 26
25	1,301	TJ Tirole, Jean	Institut d‘Économie Industrielle, Toulouse	Economics	Rank 27
26	1,354	FG Férey, Gérard	Institut Universitaire de France	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 4
27	1,409	ZL Zitvogel, Laurence	Institut de Cancerologie Gustave Roussy	Immunology	Rank 45
28	1,427	LB Latour, Bruno	SciencesPo Paris	Science Studies	Rank 5
29	1,432	BF Bach, Francis	École Normale Supérieure	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 77
30	1,505	DL Dana, Léo Paul	ICD Business School	Business & Management	Rank 47
31	1,508	QD Quérét, David	Laboratoire d'Hydrodynamique de l'Ecole Polytechnique	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 11
32	1,632	KM Karplus, Martin	Université de Strasbourg	Chemical Physics	Rank 34
33	1,675	ZF Zannad, Faiez	Université de Lorraine	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 48
34	1,717	AJ Antoni, Jérôme	Laboratoire Vibrations Acoustiques	Acoustics	Rank 2
35	1,786	BP Bourdieu, Pierre	École Pratique des Hautes Études	Sociology	Rank 8
36	1,792	PL Peyrin-Biroulet, Laurent	Université de Lorraine	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 25
37	1,819	WS Wamba, Samuel Fosso	TBS Business School	Information Systems	Rank 11
38	1,856	FA Fert, Albert	Université Paris-Saclay	Applied Physics	Rank 52
39	1,907	OR Olfati-Saber, Reza	Sanofi S.A.	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 14
40	1,909	ET Ebbesen, Thomas W.	Institut de Science et d’Ingénierie Supramoléculaires	Applied Physics	Rank 55
41	1,994	PM Pape Møller, Anders	Laboratoire Écologie, Systématique et Évolution	Ecology	Rank 56
42	2,010	DR Di Renzo, Marco	Laboratoire des Signaux et Systèmes	Networking & Telecommunications	Rank 17
43	2,128	HM Humbert, Marc	Université Paris-Saclay	Respiratory System	Rank 8
44	2,228	DM Dougados, Maxime	Hopital Cochin AP-HP	Arthritis & Rheumatology	Rank 14
45	2,249	CG Chabrier, Gilles	École Normale Supérieure de Lyon	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 8
46	2,406	SA Scalbert, Augustin	Centre international de Recherche sur le Cancer	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 12
47	2,439	BM Buchheit, Martin	INSEP Institut National des Sports et d?Education Physique	Sport Sciences	Rank 6
48	2,457	CP Ciais, Philippe	Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 34
49	2,481	OM Oturan, Mehmet A.	Laboratoire Géomatériaux et Environnement (LGE)	Environmental Sciences	Rank 32
50	2,521	RM Rinaudo, Marguerite	Biomaterials Applications	Polymers	Rank 11
51	2,559	FM Fink, Mathias	École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris	Acoustics	Rank 3
52	2,619	DB Dubois, Bruno	Hôpital Universitaire Pitié Salpêtrière	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 149
53	2,794	SB Staels, Bart	Université de Lille	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 61
54	2,807	Dubey, Rameshwar	Montpellier Business School	Business & Management	Rank 74
55	3,001	CJ Casanova, Jean Laurent	Hôpital Necker Enfants Malades	Immunology	Rank 74
56	3,078	LB Le Bihan, Denis	Université Paris-Saclay	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 183
57	3,082	FW Fridman, Wolf H.	Sorbonne Université	Immunology	Rank 79
58	3,114	CJ Chave, Jérôme	Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier	Ecology	Rank 86
59	3,120	AD Annane, Djillali	Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines	Emergency & Critical Care Medicine	Rank 9
60	3,121	LS Lavorel, Sandra	Laboratoire d’Écologie Alpine (LECA)	Ecology	Rank 87
61	3,192	Aghion, Philippe	Collège de France	Economics	Rank 67
62	3,237	VB Vellas, Bruno	CHU de Toulouse	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 193
63	3,252	CV Cottin, Vincent	Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1	Respiratory System	Rank 11
64	3,284	VG Varoquaux, Gaël	INRIA Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 195
65	3,292	EB Escudier, Bernard	Institut de Cancerologie Gustave Roussy	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 106
66	3,313	LS Laurent, Stephane	Université Paris Cité	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 104
67	3,324	GF Ginhoux, Florent	Institut de Cancerologie Gustave Roussy	Immunology	Rank 91
68	3,337	HP Hohenberg, P. C.	École Normale Supérieure	Applied Physics	Rank 84
69	3,367	DC Delmas, Claude	Université de Bordeaux	Energy	Rank 74
70	3,375	CP Couvreur, Patrick	Institut Galien Paris-Saclay	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 13
71	3,541	DB Dreno, Brigitte	Nantes Université	Dermatology & Venereal Diseases	Rank 7
72	3,585	LJ Lefaucheur, Jean Pascal	Hôpital Henri Mondor	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 209
73	3,606	AV Aboyans, Victor	Hopital Dupuytren	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 112
74	3,637	VW Van Wassenhove, Luk	INSEAD, Europe	Operations Research	Rank 12
75	3,717	CJ Chaboche, J. L.	ONERA Office National d'Etudes et Recherches Aerospatiales	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 38
76	3,775	WC Wild, Chris	Centre international de Recherche sur le Cancer	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 122
77	3,780	BP Bedossa, Pierre	Hôpital Beaujon	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 48
78	3,879	CM Callon, Michel	Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation	Science Studies	Rank 9
79	3,980	CA Clark, Andrew E.	Ecole d’Économie de Paris	Economics	Rank 75
80	4,028	PE Paradis, Emmanuel	Université de Montpellier	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 33
81	4,076	RC Rovelli, Carlo	Centre de Physique Theorique	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 33
82	4,130	SH Sokol, H.	Hôpital Saint-Antoine	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 54
83	4,226	PA Polyakov, Andrey	Université de Lille	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 45
84	4,353	FK Fizazi, Karim	Institut de Cancerologie Gustave Roussy	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 144
85	4,414	BJ Blay, Jean Yves	Le Centre Régional de Lutte Contre le Cancer Léon Bérard	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 147
86	4,433	HG Habib, Gilbert	Hopital La Timone	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 145
87	4,440	MP Moreau, Philippe	Hôtel Dieu CHU de Nantes	Immunology	Rank 114
88	4,447	FR Filieri, Raffaele	Audencia	Marketing	Rank 30
89	4,490	BL Bocquet, Lydéric	Laboratoire de Physique de l’Ecole Normale Supérieure	Chemical Physics	Rank 82
90	4,491	PT Piketty, Thomas	Ecole d’Économie de Paris	Economics	Rank 83
91	4,512	RG Raposo, Graça	Biologie Cellulaire et Cancer	Developmental Biology	Rank 149
92	4,534	AF André, Fabrice	Institut de Cancerologie Gustave Roussy	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 155
93	4,556	NG Noctor, Graham	Institut Universitaire de France	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 46
94	4,669	RJ Rodríguez-Carvajal, Juan	Institut Laue-Langevin	Applied Physics	Rank 107
95	4,723	VE Vivier, Eric	Centre d’Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy	Immunology	Rank 122
96	4,781	BC Bailly, Christian	Cancer Heterogeneity, Plasticity & Resistance to Therapies (Canther)	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 16
97	4,784	PA Pizzi, Antonio	Université de Lorraine	Polymers	Rank 22
98	4,810	MM Mohty, Mohamad	Hôpital Saint-Antoine	Immunology	Rank 124
99	4,845	HN Hansen, Nikolaus	École polytechnique	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 194
100	4,858	BP Boileau, P.	Institut de Chirurgie Réparatrice Locomoteur et du Sport (ICR)	Orthopedics	Rank 9
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Countries with a similar count

Single-year list2023

Australia7,600 scientistsin 2023

Italy7,099 scientistsin 2023

Japan5,694 scientistsin 2023

India4,635 scientistsin 2023

Netherlands4,291 scientistsin 2023

Spain3,736 scientistsin 2023

Explore other countries

Single-year list2023

Germany10,088 scientistsin 2023

Switzerland3,311 scientistsin 2023

Belgium1,935 scientistsin 2023

Austria1,300 scientistsin 2023

Luxembourg68 scientistsin 2023

United Kingdom16,795 scientistsin 2023

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Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from France are in the 2023 Stanford Top 2% list?

5,588 scientists affiliated with France are on the 2023 single-year list, and 6,522 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2023 single-year list, Sorbonne Université has the most listed scientists from France, with 240. It is followed by Université Paris-Saclay with 211.

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 5,588 in 2023, a change of +24.1%.

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.