France's Top 2% Scientists 2026: Career-Long List

France has 7,613 scientists on the 2026 career-long Top 2% list, up 4.5% from 7,284 in 2025. That places France 8th in the world by number of listed scientists. Université Paris-Saclay has the most listed scientists (290), followed by Sorbonne Université (284).

Single Year

5,914

+28 (+0.5%) vs 2025

Career Data

7,613

+329 (+4.5%) vs 2025

World rank by count

No change vs 2025

Institutes

1,618

+21 (+1.3%) vs 2025

Scientists in France on the list, by year

The career-long count has grown 51% 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%

2026+4.5%

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%
2026	5,914	+0.5%	7,613	+4.5%

Top 10 institutes in France

By number of listed scientists

Career-long list2026

Show the list

1Université Paris-Saclay290
2Sorbonne Université284
3CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique271
4Université Paris Cité198
5Université Grenoble Alpes186
6Université de Bordeaux147
7Université de Montpellier123
8Université de Lorraine106
9Université de Toulouse95
10Université Claude Bernard Lyon 185

All 7,613 scientists

Career-long list2026

Showing the 2026 career-long list. Looking for single-year rankings? See the single-year list

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	Institut de Cancerologie Gustave Roussy	Immunology	Rank 3
2	152	LJ Lehn, Jean Maríe Pierre	Université de Strasbourg	Organic Chemistry	Rank 1
3	158	TJ Tarascon, Jean Marie	CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique	Energy	Rank 3
4	181	DG de Gennes, Pierre Gilles	Institut Curie	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 3
5	213	MA Møller, Anders Pape	Université Paris-Saclay	Ecology	Rank 4
6	220	PD Parkin, Donald Maxwell	Centre international de Recherche sur le Cancer	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 9
7	278	DS Dehaene, Stanislas	Collège de France	Experimental Psychology	Rank 5
8	312	RD Raoult, Didier A.	Aix Marseille Université	Microbiology	Rank 4
9	439	CP Chambon, Pierre Kastner Pierre	IGBMC Institut de Genetique et de Biologie Moleculaire et Cellulaire	Developmental Biology	Rank 28
10	553	FG Férey, Gèrard	Institut Universitaire de France	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 4
11	632	MS Mallat, Stéphane G.	Collège de France	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 23
12	650	BF Bray, Freddie Ian	Centre international de Recherche sur le Cancer	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 23
13	803	DP Delmas, Pierre Dominique	Hopital Edouard Herriot	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 30
14	841	DA Dufresne, Alain	Université Grenoble Alpes	Polymers	Rank 6
15	880	DT Damour, Thibault	Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 9
16	889	AD Astruc, Didier D.	Université de Bordeaux	Organic Chemistry	Rank 26
17	1,010	LP Lions, Pierre Louis	Collège de France	General Mathematics	Rank 1
18	1,113	ET Ebbesen, Thomas Wren	Institut de Science et d’Ingénierie Supramoléculaires	Applied Physics	Rank 41
19	1,170	BJ Bousquet, Jean J.	MACVIA-France	Allergy	Rank 3
20	1,203	LM Loreau, Michel	Station d’Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale	Ecology	Rank 26
21	1,264	RC Robert, Caroline	Institut de Cancerologie Gustave Roussy	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 50
22	1,333	MG Molander, Gary A.	Université Paris-Saclay	Organic Chemistry	Rank 38
23	1,339	TW Thuiller, Wilfried	Université Grenoble Alpes	Ecology	Rank 29
24	1,392	BY Ben-Ari, Yéhézékiel	Neurochlore	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 128
25	1,490	FR Feynman, Richard P.	Université de Bretagne Occidentale	Applied Physics	Rank 55
26	1,514	HM Humbert, Marc	Hopital de Bicetre	Respiratory System	Rank 11
27	1,529	DM Dougados, Maxime R.	Centre de Recherche Epidémiologiques et Bio Statistiques de Sorbonne Paris Cité (CRESS)	Arthritis & Rheumatology	Rank 12
28	1,564	SB Staels, Bart	Université de Lille	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 85
29	1,711	LB Latour, Bruno	Médialab Sciences Po	Science Studies	Rank 3
30	1,832	CJ Changeux, Jean Pierre	Hôpital Necker Enfants Malades	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 171
31	1,849	ZL Zitvogel, Laurence	Institut de Cancerologie Gustave Roussy	Immunology	Rank 63
32	1,901	TJ Tirole, Jean	Toulouse School of Economics - Recherche - (TSE-R)	Economics	Rank 16
33	1,949	RM Rinaudo, Marguerite	Biomaterials Applications	Polymers	Rank 10
34	1,977	SJ Savéant, Jean Michel	Laboratoire d'Electrochimie Moléculaire(LEM)	Energy	Rank 23
35	2,076	DD Dubois, Didier J.	Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 62
36	2,164	CG Chabrier, Gilles	École Normale Supérieure de Lyon	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 9
37	2,237	FM Fink, Mathias A.	École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris	Acoustics	Rank 1
38	2,246	DH Duffau, Hugues	Hopital Gui de Chauliac	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 209
39	2,251	CP Ciais, Philippe	Université Paris-Saclay	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 19
40	2,297	LB Le Bihan, Denis J.	Université Paris-Saclay	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 213
41	2,300	RF Rousset, François	Université de Montpellier	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 32
42	2,345	SM Schlumberger, Martin Jean	Université Paris-Saclay	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 77
43	2,396	PJ Pawlotsky, Jean Michel	Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomédicale	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 43
44	2,405	SC Schmid, Cordelia	INRIA Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 71
45	2,469	JM Jeannerod, Marc	Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 224
46	2,517	BP Bédossa, Pierre	Université Paris Cité	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 47
47	2,568	ZF Zannad, Faïez Mohamed	Université de Lorraine	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 121
48	2,588	PM Piléni, Marie Paule	Sorbonne Université	Chemical Physics	Rank 70
49	2,641	QD Quéré, David	Laboratoire d'Hydrodynamique de l'Ecole Polytechnique	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 19
50	2,693	SP Simon, Patrice	Université de Toulouse	Energy	Rank 35
51	2,710	WL Wacquant, Löic J.D.	Centre Européen de Sociologie et de Science Politique (CESSP - UMR 8209)	Sociology	Rank 6
52	2,829	CB Coiffier, Bertrand B.	Centre Hospitalier Lyon-Sud	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 117
53	2,953	CP Couvreur, P.	Institut Galien Paris-Saclay	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 13
54	2,973	SJ Sauvage, Jean Pierre	Université de Strasbourg	General Chemistry	Rank 29
55	3,028	SM Safar, Mìchel E.	Hôpital Hotel-Dieu AP-HP	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 141
56	3,037	AD Annane, Djillali	AP-HP Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Paris	Emergency & Critical Care Medicine	Rank 14
57	3,063	FA Fert, Albert	Université Paris-Saclay	Applied Physics	Rank 94
58	3,068	BF Bach, Francis R.	Université PSL	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 89
59	3,077	BP Bourdieu, Pierre	École Pratique des Hautes Études	Sociology	Rank 8
60	3,290	DB Dubois, Bruno	Sorbonne Université	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 281
61	3,297	VG Veneziano, Gabriele	Collège de France	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 40
62	3,314	ZR Zana, Raoul	CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique	Chemical Physics	Rank 91
63	3,330	FA Fischer, Alain M.	Collège de France	Immunology	Rank 122
64	3,422	SA Scalbert, Augustin	Centre international de Recherche sur le Cancer	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 26
65	3,501	DG Decher, Gero	Institut Charles Sadron	Chemical Physics	Rank 97
66	3,521	MF Mègraud, Françis	Université de Bordeaux	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 60
67	3,610	RJ Rodríguez-Carvajal, Juan R.	Institut Laue-Langevin	Applied Physics	Rank 104
68	3,702	HP Hohenberg, Pierre C.	École Normale Supérieure	Applied Physics	Rank 105
69	3,758	LG London, Gèrard Michel	Centre Hospitalier FH	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 184
70	3,777	AC Allégre, Claude Jean	Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 36
71	3,808	CP Cossart, Pascale	Institut Pasteur, Paris	Microbiology	Rank 79
72	3,824	LL Leibler, Ludwik	École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris	Polymers	Rank 21
73	3,964	SP Steg, Philippe Gabriel	Université Paris Cité	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 193
74	4,007	CP Courvalin, Patrice M.	Institut Pasteur, Paris	Microbiology	Rank 83
75	4,026	PL Peyrin-Biroulet, Laurent	Université de Lorraine	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 71
76	4,118	GL Guillevin, Loïc	Université Paris Cité	Arthritis & Rheumatology	Rank 27
77	4,226	AY Agid, Yves A.	Hôpital Universitaire Pitié Salpêtrière	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 356
78	4,240	GÉ Glückman, Éliane G.	Hôpital Saint-Louis	Immunology	Rank 158
79	4,244	LJ Lutz, Jean François	Institut de Science et d’Ingénierie Supramoléculaires	Polymers	Rank 25
80	4,253	SM Storper, Michael	Sciences Po Paris	Geography	Rank 12
81	4,258	TC Thèry, Clotilde	Institut Curie	Developmental Biology	Rank 210
82	4,281	BY Belkaid, Yasmine	Institut Pasteur, Paris	Immunology	Rank 160
83	4,378	BJ Bach, Jean François	Hôpital Necker Enfants Malades	Immunology	Rank 162
84	4,465	SP Seglen, Per Ottar	Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 187
85	4,538	Crini, Grégorio	Laboratoire Chrono-Environnement	Polymers	Rank 28
86	4,556	LS Laurent, Stéphane L.	Hôpital Européen Georges-Pompidou	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 222
87	4,578	EB Escudier, Bernard J.	Institut de Cancerologie Gustave Roussy	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 192
88	4,623	AF Albarède, Francis	École Normale Supérieure de Lyon	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 47
89	4,681	MP Marcellin, Patrick M.	AP-HP Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Paris	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 81
90	4,763	BÉ Baulíeu, Étienne Émile	Maladies et Hormones du Système Nerveux	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 199
91	4,767	WC Will, Clifford M.	Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 58
92	4,820	PT Poynard, T.	Sorbonne Université	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 87
93	4,877	DC Delmas, Claude	CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique	Energy	Rank 59
94	4,892	BM Bousser, Marchie Germaine	Hôpital Lariboisiere AP-HP	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 408
95	4,899	EJ Endicott, Jean M.	Université de Bordeaux	Psychiatry	Rank 146
96	4,933	FP Fenaux, Pierre	Hôpital Saint-Louis	Immunology	Rank 184
97	4,943	WH Weimerskirch, Henri	Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC)	Ecology	Rank 100
98	4,997	MP Moreau, Philippe	Nantes Université	Immunology	Rank 185
99	5,009	RJ Roujeau, Jean Claude	Université Paris-Est Créteil Val de Marne	Dermatology & Venereal Diseases	Rank 18
100	5,025	CJ Chaboche, Jean Louis	ONERA Office National d'Etudes et Recherches Aerospatiales	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 34
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Countries with a similar count

Career-long list2026

Canada10,063 scientists

Japan9,097 scientists

Australia8,551 scientists

Italy7,363 scientists

Netherlands5,001 scientists

Spain4,103 scientists

Explore other countries

Career-long list2026

Germany12,809 scientists

Switzerland3,759 scientists

Belgium2,294 scientists

Austria1,566 scientists

Luxembourg74 scientists

United Kingdom21,350 scientists

All countries on the world map

Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from France are in the 2026 Stanford Top 2% list?

5,914 scientists affiliated with France are on the 2026 single-year list, and 7,613 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2026 career-long list, Université Paris-Saclay has the most listed scientists from France, with 290. It is followed by Sorbonne Université with 284.

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 7,613 in 2026, a change of +50.8%.

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.