France's Top 2% Scientists 2024: Career-Long List

France has 6,921 scientists on the 2024 career-long Top 2% list, up 6.1% from 6,522 in 2023. That places France 8th in the world by number of listed scientists. CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique has the most listed scientists (1,390), followed by Inserm (404).

Single Year

5,781

+193 (+3.5%) vs 2023

Career Data

6,921

+399 (+6.1%) vs 2023

World rank by count

No change vs 2023

Institutes

1,026

-335 (-24.6%) vs 2023

Scientists in France on the list, by year

The career-long count has grown 37% since 2020.

Career-long list, change on the previous year

2021+17.1%

2022+6.3%

2023+3.8%

2024+6.1%

2025+5.2%

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

Career-long list2024

Show the list

1CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique1,390
2Inserm404
3Sorbonne Université386
4Université Paris-Saclay119
5Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives109
6Institut Pasteur, Paris97
7École Normale Supérieure93
8AP-HP Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Paris81
9Université Paris Cité72
10Université Grenoble Alpes68

All 6,921 scientists

Career-long list2024

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	34	KG Kroemer, Guido	Sorbonne Université	Immunology	Rank 3
2	124	LJ Lehn, Jean Marie	Université de Strasbourg	Organic Chemistry	Rank 1
3	170	DG de Gennes, Pierre Gilles	Collège de France	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 3
4	177	TJ Tarascon, Jean Marie	Collège de France	Energy	Rank 3
5	201	MA Møller, Anders Pape	Université Paris-Saclay	Ecology	Rank 3
6	202	PD Parkin, Donald Maxwell	Centre international de Recherche sur le Cancer	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 9
7	283	DS Dehaene, Stanislas	Inserm	Experimental Psychology	Rank 6
8	317	RD Raoult, Didier	Aix Marseille Université	Microbiology	Rank 4
9	366	CP Chambon, Pierre	Collège de France	Developmental Biology	Rank 25
10	476	FG Férey, Gérard	Institut Universitaire de France	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 4
11	589	MS Mallat, Stéphane	Collège de France	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 18
12	622	DP Delmas, P.	Inserm	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 28
13	709	Hopfield, John	Université de Bretagne Occidentale	Applied Physics	Rank 28
14	924	DT Damour, Thibault	Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 9
15	954	DA Dufresne, Alain	Université Grenoble Alpes	Polymers	Rank 7
16	1,024	ET Ebbesen, Thomas W.	CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique	Applied Physics	Rank 40
17	1,078	LP Lions, Pierre Louis	Collège de France	General Mathematics	Rank 1
18	1,090	BA Ben Ari, Yehezkel	Campus scientifique de Luminy	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 109
19	1,177	BF Bray, Freddie	Centre international de Recherche sur le Cancer	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 48
20	1,417	DM Dougados, Maxime	Hopital Cochin AP-HP	Arthritis & Rheumatology	Rank 10
21	1,482	LB Le Bihan, Denis	Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 144
22	1,484	SB Staels, Bart	Institut Pasteur de Lille	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 87
23	1,508	LM Loreau, Michel	CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique	Ecology	Rank 28
24	1,566	TW Thuiller, Wilfried	Université Grenoble Alpes	Ecology	Rank 30
25	1,644	CJ Changeux, Jean Pierre	Institut Pasteur, Paris	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 165
26	1,709	FR Feynman, Richard P.	Université de Bretagne Occidentale	Applied Physics	Rank 63
27	1,743	RC Robert, Caroline	Institut de Cancerologie Gustave Roussy	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 78
28	1,870	DD Dubois, Didier	Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 53
29	1,893	TJ Tirole, Jean	Toulouse School of Economics - Recherche - (TSE-R)	Economics	Rank 15
30	1,898	HM Humbert, Marc	Université Paris-Saclay	Respiratory System	Rank 13
31	1,932	SJ Savéant, Jean Michel	Laboratoire d'Electrochimie Moléculaire(LEM)	Energy	Rank 21
32	1,942	PJ Pawlotsky, Jean Michel	Hôpital Henri Mondor	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 32
33	1,957	RM Rinaudo, Marguerite	Biomaterials Applications	Polymers	Rank 10
34	1,985	ZL Zitvogel, Laurence	Institut de Cancerologie Gustave Roussy	Immunology	Rank 76
35	2,133	FM Fink, Mathias	École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris	Acoustics	Rank 1
36	2,137	JM Jeannerod, Marc	Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 200
37	2,146	PM Pileni, M. P.	Sorbonne Université	Chemical Physics	Rank 63
38	2,198	RF Rousset, François	CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 32
39	2,199	LB Latour, Bruno	SciencesPo Paris	Science Studies	Rank 3
40	2,272	SM Schlumberger, Martin	Institut de Cancerologie Gustave Roussy	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 80
41	2,353	CG Chabrier, Gilles	École Normale Supérieure de Lyon	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 9
42	2,378	DH Duffau, Hugues	Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Montpellier	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 224
43	2,451	CB Coiffier, Bertrand	Centre Hospitalier Lyon-Sud	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 106
44	2,536	SM Safar, Michel E.	Hôpital Hotel-Dieu AP-HP	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 126
45	2,581	SJ Sauvage, Jean Pierre	Université de Strasbourg	General Chemistry	Rank 29
46	2,590	OR Olfati-Saber, Reza	Sanofi S.A.	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 14
47	2,645	QD Quéré, David	CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 22
48	2,724	ZR Zana, Raoul	Institut Charles Sadron	Chemical Physics	Rank 78
49	2,760	SP Sansonetti, Philippe	Institut Pasteur, Paris	Microbiology	Rank 48
50	2,808	CP Couvreur, Patrick	Academie Nationale de Médecine	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 12
51	2,840	FA Fischer, Alain	Inserm	Immunology	Rank 112
52	2,923	ZF Zannad, Faiez	Université de Lorraine	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 145
53	3,116	KA Klamt, Andreas	Dassault Systemes	Chemical Physics	Rank 93
54	3,186	CP Ciais, Philippe	Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 30
55	3,212	FA Fert, Albert	CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique	Applied Physics	Rank 99
56	3,220	VG Veneziano, Gabriele	Collège de France	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 39
57	3,232	LG London, Gerard Michel	Centre Hospitalier FH	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 162
58	3,249	CS Cole, Stewart T.	Institut Pasteur, Paris	Microbiology	Rank 68
59	3,256	AD Annane, Djillali	Hopital Raymond Poincare	Emergency & Critical Care Medicine	Rank 15
60	3,276	CJ Casanova, Jean Laurent	Hôpital Necker Enfants Malades	Immunology	Rank 128
61	3,312	SP Simon, Patrice	Université de Toulouse	Energy	Rank 40
62	3,345	AC Allègre, Claude J.	Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 28
63	3,356	SA Scalbert, Augustin	Centre international de Recherche sur le Cancer	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 26
64	3,361	CP Cossart, Pascale	Institut Pasteur, Paris	Microbiology	Rank 72
65	3,402	MF Mégraud, Francis	Université de Bordeaux	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 58
66	3,416	AY Agid, Yves	Hôpital Universitaire Pitié Salpêtrière	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 304
67	3,492	LL Leibler, Ludwik	CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique	Polymers	Rank 19
68	3,506	BJ Bach, Jean François	Académie des Sciences	Immunology	Rank 136
69	3,519	AP Amarenco, Pierre	Hôpital Bichat-Claude-Bernard AP-HP	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 313
70	3,553	BF Bach, Francis	INRIA Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 94
71	3,590	HP Hohenberg, P. C.	École Normale Supérieure	Applied Physics	Rank 109
72	3,597	RJ Rodríguez-Carvajal, Juan	Institut Laue-Langevin	Applied Physics	Rank 110
73	3,601	BP Bourdieu, Pierre	École Pratique des Hautes Études	Sociology	Rank 8
74	3,617	DB Dubois, Bruno	Hôpital Universitaire Pitié Salpêtrière	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 323
75	3,651	GÉ Gluckman, Éliane	Hôpital Saint-Louis	Immunology	Rank 140
76	3,717	CP Courvalin, Patrice	Institut Pasteur, Paris	Microbiology	Rank 79
77	3,728	MP Marcellin, Patrick	Hôpital Beaujon	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 65
78	3,845	SJ Silk, Joseph	Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 21
79	4,014	GL Guillevin, Loïc	Hopital Cochin AP-HP	Arthritis & Rheumatology	Rank 24
80	4,032	BE Baulieu, Etienne Emile	Université Paris-Saclay	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 192
81	4,053	EJ Endicott, Jean	Groupe Hospitalier Pellegrin	Psychiatry	Rank 122
82	4,157	LJ Lutz, Jean François	CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique	Polymers	Rank 25
83	4,170	KO Kahn, Olivier	Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 21
84	4,229	EA Eggermont, Alexander M.M.	Institut de Cancerologie Gustave Roussy	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 179
85	4,297	BM Bousser, Marie Germaine	Hôpital Lariboisiere AP-HP	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 380
86	4,302	PT Poynard, Thierry	Sorbonne Université	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 73
87	4,406	EB Escudier, Bernard	Institut de Cancerologie Gustave Roussy	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 187
88	4,464	AF Albarede, Francis	École Normale Supérieure de Lyon	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 43
89	4,466	BP Bedossa, Pierre	Université Paris Cité	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 75
90	4,485	MN Muñoz, Nubia	Centre international de Recherche sur le Cancer	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 194
91	4,525	SP Steg, P. Gabriel	AP-HP Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Paris	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 232
92	4,614	RJ Roujeau, Jean Claude	Université Paris-Est Créteil Val de Marne	Dermatology & Venereal Diseases	Rank 13
93	4,645	HJ Hoffmann, Jules A.	CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique	Immunology	Rank 186
94	4,662	FP Fenaux, Pierre	Hôpital Saint-Louis	Immunology	Rank 187
95	4,686	LS Laurent, Stéphane	Université Paris Cité	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 237
96	4,776	LD Le Douarin, Nicole M.	Inserm	Developmental Biology	Rank 241
97	4,827	GP Garnero, Patrick	Inserm	Arthritis & Rheumatology	Rank 38
98	4,830	HJ Herrmann, Jean Marie	Institut de Recherches sur la Catalyse et l'Environnement de Lyon	Physical Chemistry	Rank 22
99	4,857	WH Weimerskirch, Henri	Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC)	Ecology	Rank 91
100	4,914	TC Théry, Clotilde	Institut Curie	Immunology	Rank 198
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Countries with a similar count

Career-long list2024

Canada9,265 scientistsin 2024

Japan8,261 scientistsin 2024

Australia7,447 scientistsin 2024

Italy6,272 scientistsin 2024

Netherlands4,515 scientistsin 2024

Spain3,508 scientistsin 2024

Explore other countries

Career-long list2024

Germany11,573 scientistsin 2024

Switzerland3,431 scientistsin 2024

Belgium1,997 scientistsin 2024

Austria1,403 scientistsin 2024

Luxembourg53 scientistsin 2024

United Kingdom19,646 scientistsin 2024

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Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from France are in the 2024 Stanford Top 2% list?

5,781 scientists affiliated with France are on the 2024 single-year list, and 6,921 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2024 career-long list, CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique has the most listed scientists from France, with 1,390. It is followed by Inserm with 404.

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

On the career-long list, France went from 5,048 scientists in 2020 to 6,921 in 2024, a change of +37.1%.

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.