Iceland's Top 2% Scientists 2020

Iceland has 42 scientists on the 2020 single-year Top 2% list. That places Iceland 66th in the world by number of listed scientists. Haskoli Islands has the most listed scientists (29), followed by deCODE genetics (3).

Single Year

First year listed

Career Data

First year listed

World rank by count

#66

First year listed

Institutes

First year listed

Scientists in Iceland on the list, by year

Single-year list, change on the previous year

2021+21.4%

2022+0.0%

2023+11.8%

2024+3.5%

2025+11.9%

Show the numbers

Year	Single Year	Change	Career Data	Change
2020	42		43
2021	51	+21.4%	50	+16.3%
2022	51	+0.0%	55	+10.0%
2023	57	+11.8%	64	+16.4%
2024	59	+3.5%	63	-1.6%
2025	66	+11.9%	78	+23.8%

Institutes in Iceland

By number of listed scientists

Single-year list2020

Show the list

All 42 scientists

Single-year list2020

Everyone on the list, free to browse.

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Rank in Iceland	World rank	Scientist	Institute	Sub-field	Rank in sub-field
1	4,129	BJ Benediktsson, Jon Atli	Haskoli Islands	Geological & Geomatics Engineering	Rank 27
2	4,404	BE Björnsson, Einar S.	Landspitali University Hospital	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 47
3	6,161	CS Campana, Steven E.	Haskoli Islands	Fisheries	Rank 6
4	6,465	LT Loftsson, Thorsteinn	Haskoli Islands	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 35
5	9,878	DD Dimov, Dimo	Reykjavik University	Business & Management	Rank 254
6	24,148	SE Stefánsson, Einar	Landspitali University Hospital	Ophthalmology & Optometry	Rank 75
7	24,868	JH Jónsson, Hannes	Haskoli Islands	Chemical Physics	Rank 481
8	30,098	SE Skúlason, Egill	Haskoli Islands	Physical Chemistry	Rank 172
9	36,053	AS Arnórsson, Stefán	Haskoli Islands	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 718
10	38,183	SA Stefánsson, Andri	Haskoli Islands	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 767
11	39,004	SK Stefansson, Kari	Haskoli Islands	Developmental Biology	Rank 1,228
12	39,325	MB Magnadóttir, Bergljót	Haskoli Islands	Fisheries	Rank 87
13	39,678	TG Thorleifsson, Gudmar	deCODE genetics	Developmental Biology	Rank 1,249
14	44,036	SH Stefánsson, Hreinn	deCODE genetics	Developmental Biology	Rank 1,406
15	44,593	PB Pjetursson, Bjarni E.	Haskoli Islands	Dentistry	Rank 165
16	46,064	SI Sigfusdottir, Inga Dora	Reykjavik University	Public Health	Rank 509
17	49,399	GD Gudbjartsson, Daniel F.	deCODE genetics	Developmental Biology	Rank 1,540
18	58,776	BH Björnsson, Helgi	Haskoli Islands	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 1,114
19	61,807	EJ Einarsdottir, Johanna	Haskoli Islands	Education	Rank 510
20	63,152	KH Kristinsson, Hordur G.	Matís ohf., Iceland	Food Science	Rank 402
21	66,700	GS Gislason, Sigurdur Reynir	Institute of Earth Sciences	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 1,263
22	67,358	GT Gylfason, Thorvaldur	Haskoli Islands	Economics	Rank 861
23	73,899	FD Friedan, Daniel	Haskoli Islands	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 828
24	74,900	SH Sigurdsson, Haraldur	Haskoli Islands	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 1,409
25	75,707	TT Thordarson, T. H.	Institute of Earth Sciences	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 1,428
26	77,127	GV Gudnason, Vilmundur	Haskoli Islands	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 2,033
27	84,282	SB Sigurgeirsson, Bardur	Haskoli Islands	Dermatology & Venereal Diseases	Rank 297
28	84,620	RK Ragnarsdóttir, Kristín Vala	Haskoli Islands	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 1,584
29	91,648	PH Pettinati, Helen	Vogur Hospital	Substance Abuse	Rank 317
30	93,166	EP Einarsson, Páll	Haskoli Islands	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 1,717
31	98,083	HM Halldórsson, Magnús M.	Reykjavik University	Computation Theory & Mathematics	Rank 216
32	99,213	SG Sigurdsson, Gisli H.	Haskoli Islands	Anesthesiology	Rank 283
33	117,529	SF Sigmundsson, Freysteinn	Haskoli Islands	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 2,118
34	126,917	GT Gislason, Thorarinn	Haskoli Islands	Respiratory System	Rank 866
35	131,259	WB Wu, Bing	Haskoli Islands	Chemical Engineering	Rank 958
36	142,575	HS Hardarson, Sveinn Hákon	Haskoli Islands	Ophthalmology & Optometry	Rank 748
37	158,726	BD Bird, Deanne	Haskoli Islands	Strategic, Defence & Security Studies	Rank 293
38	184,295	MM Masson, Már	Haskoli Islands	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 1,288
39	186,518	GS Gizurarson, Sveinbjörn	Haskoli Islands	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 1,307
40	215,857	SI Shelykh, Ivan A.	University Science Institute Reykjavik	Applied Physics	Rank 5,292
41	285,681	ES Elias, Said	Haskoli Islands	Civil Engineering	Rank 1,127
42	766,806	MS Magnússon, Sigurdur Gylfi	Haskoli Islands	History	Rank 172
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Showing 1 to 42 of 42 Show

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Single-year list2020

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Single-year list2020

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Frequently asked questions

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

42 scientists affiliated with Iceland are on the 2020 single-year list, and 43 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2020 single-year list, Haskoli Islands has the most listed scientists from Iceland, with 29. It is followed by deCODE genetics with 3.

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.