Germany's Top 2% Scientists 2024

Germany has 10,422 scientists on the 2024 single-year Top 2% list, up 3.3% from 10,088 in 2023. That places Germany 4th in the world by number of listed scientists. Technische Universität München has the most listed scientists (392), followed by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (239).

Single Year

10,422

+334 (+3.3%) vs 2023

Career Data

11,573

+583 (+5.3%) vs 2023

World rank by count

No change vs 2023

Institutes

1,072

+7 (+0.7%) vs 2023

Scientists in Germany on the list, by year

The single-year count has grown 27% since 2020.

Single-year list, change on the previous year

2021+15.4%

2022+5.6%

2023+1.3%

2024+3.3%

2025+2.3%

Show the numbers

Year	Single Year	Change	Career Data	Change
2020	8,177		8,792
2021	9,436	+15.4%	9,986	+13.6%
2022	9,961	+5.6%	10,562	+5.8%
2023	10,088	+1.3%	10,990	+4.1%
2024	10,422	+3.3%	11,573	+5.3%
2025	10,666	+2.3%	12,166	+5.1%

Top 10 institutes in Germany

By number of listed scientists

Single-year list2024

Show the list

All 10,422 scientists

Single-year list2024

The first 100 are free to browse.

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Rank in Germany	World rank	Scientist	Institute	Sub-field	Rank in sub-field
1	6	GS Grimme, Stefan	Universität Bonn	Chemical Physics	Rank 1
2	32	NF Neese, Frank	Max Planck Institute for Coal Research	Chemical Physics	Rank 3
3	62	SG Sheldrick, George M.	Georg-August-Universität Göttingen	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 1
4	102	ID Ivanov, Dmitry	Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin	Operations Research	Rank 1
5	132	RM Rillig, Matthias C.	Freie Universität Berlin	Ecology	Rank 3
6	140	KY Kuzyakov, Yakov	Georg-August-Universität Göttingen	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 2
7	145	SH Sies, Helmut	Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 3
8	146	SA Stamatakis, Alexandros	Karlsruher Institut für Technologie	Bioinformatics	Rank 4
9	190	BP Blöchl, Peter E.	Technische Universität Clausthal	Applied Physics	Rank 7
10	200	RD Raabe, Dierk	Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials	Materials	Rank 4
11	275	WM Winkler, Michael	Paderborn University	General Mathematics	Rank 1
12	282	SV Springel, Volker	Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 1
13	310	WF Weigend, Florian	Philipps-Universität Marburg	Chemical Physics	Rank 6
14	322	van der Aalst, Wil M.P.	Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 23
15	356	BM Blüher, Matthias	Universität Leipzig	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 7
16	370	MF Menter, Florian	ANSYS, Inc.	Aerospace & Aeronautics	Rank 1
17	380	NM Neurath, Markus F.	Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 6
18	411	BH Brenner, Hermann	German Cancer Research Center	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 14
19	463	MM Mann, Matthias	Max-Planck-Institut für Biochemie	Developmental Biology	Rank 16
20	465	SB Schölkopf, Bernhard	Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 35
21	486	LR Ley, Ruth E.	Max Planck Campus Tübingen	Microbiology	Rank 4
22	492	PM Pinquart, Martin	Philipps-Universität Marburg	Developmental & Child Psychology	Rank 8
23	583	SS Sonnentag, Sabine	Universität Mannheim	Business & Management	Rank 20
24	590	HS Hofmann, Stefan G.	Philipps-Universität Marburg	Clinical Psychology	Rank 4
25	623	SR Schlögl, Robert	Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society	Physical Chemistry	Rank 3
26	626	BJ Behler, Jörg	Ruhr-Universitat Bochum	Chemical Physics	Rank 12
27	627	BP Bork, Peer	European Molecular Biology Laboratory Heidelberg	Developmental Biology	Rank 21
28	727	AL Ackermann, Lutz	Georg-August-Universität Göttingen	Organic Chemistry	Rank 4
29	738	JJ Jonas, Jost Bruno	Universität Heidelberg	Ophthalmology & Optometry	Rank 2
30	783	TF Tacke, Frank	Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 14
31	799	SA Stukowski, Alexander	OVITO GmbH	Materials	Rank 14
32	884	PM Pfaffl, Michael W.	Technische Universität München	Dairy & Animal Science	Rank 1
33	889	MP Murray, Peter J.	Max-Planck-Institut für Biochemie	Immunology	Rank 30
34	908	RJ Rockström, Johan	Potsdam Institut fur Klimafolgenforschung	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 6
35	941	BA Boccaccini, Aldo R.	Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg	Materials	Rank 18
36	965	DI Dikic, Ivan	Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main	Developmental Biology	Rank 31
37	1,074	WF Würthner, Frank	Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg	Organic Chemistry	Rank 10
38	1,078	CP Crutzen, P. J.	Max Planck Institute for Chemistry	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 9
39	1,081	WM Winter, Martin	University of Münster	Energy	Rank 30
40	1,105	SG Schett, Georg	Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg	Arthritis & Rheumatology	Rank 4
41	1,106	PH Pörtner, Hans Otto	Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung	Physiology	Rank 1
42	1,116	SP Strasser, Peter	Technische Universität Berlin	Energy	Rank 31
43	1,119	SA Stang, A.	Universitätsklinikum Essen	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 31
44	1,205	BP Bürkner, Paul Christian	Technische Universität Dortmund	Statistics & Probability	Rank 20
45	1,213	ET Efferth, Thomas	Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 5
46	1,284	RD Rueckert, Daniel	Technische Universität München	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 74
47	1,292	FA Friederici, Angela D.	Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences	Experimental Psychology	Rank 24
48	1,295	KI Kögel-Knabner, Ingrid	Technische Universität München	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 7
49	1,321	GG Gigerenzer, Gerd	Max Planck Institute for Human Development	Experimental Psychology	Rank 25
50	1,334	WM Wink, Michael	Universität Heidelberg	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 13
51	1,351	KK Kümmerer, Klaus	Leuphana Universität Lüneburg	Environmental Sciences	Rank 27
52	1,376	BH Braak, Heiko	Universität Ulm	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 85
53	1,392	MJ Maier, Joachim	Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research	Energy	Rank 37
54	1,407	PS Parkin, Stuart S.P.	Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics	Applied Physics	Rank 39
55	1,432	RM Reck, Martin	German Center for Lung Research	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 32
56	1,436	AM Antonietti, Markus	Max-Planck-Institut für Kolloid- und Grenzflächenforschung	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 45
57	1,451	CJ Chase, Jonathan M.	German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig	Ecology	Rank 38
58	1,458	DT Dietz, Thomas	University of Münster	Ecology	Rank 40
59	1,491	BL Bornmann, Lutz	Administrative Headquarters of the Max Planck Society	Information & Library Sciences	Rank 6
60	1,525	KW Kabsch, Wolfgang	Max Planck Institute for Medical Research	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 26
61	1,557	HG Heusch, Gerd	Universitätsklinikum Essen	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 41
62	1,601	NM Nauck, Michael A.	St. Josef-Hospital im Katholischen Klinikum Bochum	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 25
63	1,620	FA Fernie, Alisdair R.	Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 18
64	1,639	LE Latz, Eicke	Universität Bonn	Immunology	Rank 44
65	1,641	CC Correll, Christoph U.	Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin	Psychiatry	Rank 37
66	1,650	HS Hell, Stefan W.	Max Planck Institute for Medical Research	Optics	Rank 11
67	1,664	Ringle, Christian M.	Hamburg University of Technology	Marketing	Rank 14
68	1,720	AM Andreae, Meinrat O.	Max Planck Institute for Chemistry	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 21
69	1,739	TT Tscharntke, Teja	Georg-August-Universität Göttingen	Ecology	Rank 49
70	1,747	SS Seuring, Stefan	Universität Kassel	Business & Management	Rank 60
71	1,777	Schubert, Ulrich S.	Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena	Polymers	Rank 9
72	1,790	LW Löscher, Wolfgang	Hannover Medical School	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 105
73	1,791	BM Beller, Matthias	Leibniz Institute for Catalysis	Organic Chemistry	Rank 22
74	1,812	PM Plenio, Martin B.	Universität Ulm	General Physics	Rank 14
75	1,826	DC Dormann, Carsten F.	Universität Freiburg	Ecology	Rank 54
76	1,835	SS Schaltegger, Stefan	Leuphana Universität Lüneburg	Business & Management	Rank 63
77	1,850	RS Rose-John, Stefan	Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel	Immunology	Rank 47
78	1,869	AS Anker, Stefan	Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 49
79	1,912	WH Wittchen, Hans Ulrich	Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München	Psychiatry	Rank 41
80	1,913	FH Flemming, Hans Curt	Universität Duisburg-Essen	Environmental Engineering	Rank 8
81	1,939	FP Fratzl, Peter	Max-Planck-Institut für Kolloid- und Grenzflächenforschung	Materials	Rank 38
82	1,957	BI Bloch, Immanuel	Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München	General Physics	Rank 17
83	2,006	TM Thommes, Matthias	Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg	Chemical Physics	Rank 40
84	2,025	SD Svergun, Dmitri I.	European Molecular Biology Laboratory Hamburg	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 39
85	2,055	BM Bau, Michael	Constructor University	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 17
86	2,081	GA Geiger, Andreas	Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 112
87	2,107	HN Harbeck, Nadia	Klinikum der Universität München	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 48
88	2,122	KP Kirchhof, Paulus	Universitäre Herz- und Gefäßzentrum UKE Hamburg GmbH	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 53
89	2,125	LH Lichtenthaler, H. K.	Karlsruher Institut für Technologie	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 22
90	2,134	SR Schwarzer, Ralf	Freie Universität Berlin	Public Health	Rank 22
91	2,227	CJ Cirac, J. Ignacio	Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics	General Physics	Rank 19
92	2,240	FX Feng, Xinliang	Technische Universität Dresden	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 74
93	2,245	MV Mechtcherine, Viktor	Technische Universität Dresden	Building & Construction	Rank 18
94	2,306	BT Bieber, Thomas	Universitätsklinikum Bonn	Dermatology & Venereal Diseases	Rank 2
95	2,314	DH Diener, Hans Christoph	Universität Duisburg-Essen	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 129
96	2,377	SF Schwendicke, Falk	Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München	Dentistry	Rank 2
97	2,383	ZH Zacher, Hannes	Universität Leipzig	Business & Management	Rank 76
98	2,447	SU Seifert, Udo	Universität Stuttgart	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 20
99	2,463	DP Dayan, Peter	Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics	Experimental Psychology	Rank 44
100	2,493	GT Gneiting, Tilmann	Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS GmbH)	Statistics & Probability	Rank 28
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Countries with a similar count

Single-year list2024

United States71,460 scientistsin 2024

China27,166 scientistsin 2024

United Kingdom17,554 scientistsin 2024

Canada8,185 scientistsin 2024

Australia8,032 scientistsin 2024

Italy7,620 scientistsin 2024

Explore other countries

Single-year list2024

France5,781 scientistsin 2024

Netherlands4,534 scientistsin 2024

Switzerland3,404 scientistsin 2024

Belgium2,007 scientistsin 2024

Austria1,381 scientistsin 2024

Luxembourg74 scientistsin 2024

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Frequently asked questions

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

10,422 scientists affiliated with Germany are on the 2024 single-year list, and 11,573 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2024 single-year list, Technische Universität München has the most listed scientists from Germany, with 392. It is followed by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München with 239.

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

On the single-year list, Germany went from 8,177 scientists in 2020 to 10,422 in 2024, a change of +27.5%.

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.