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Iceland's Top 2% Scientists 2021: Career-Long List

Iceland has 50 scientists on the 2021 career-long Top 2% list, up 16.3% from 43 in 2020. That places Iceland 61st in the world by number of listed scientists, down 4 places. Haskoli Islands has the most listed scientists (21), followed by Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland (7).

Single Year
51
+9 (+21.4%) vs 2020
Career Data
50
+7 (+16.3%) vs 2020
World rank by count
#61
down 4 places vs 2020
Institutes
12
No change vs 2020

Scientists in Iceland on the list, by year

The career-long count has grown 16% since 2020.

Career-long list, change on the previous year
2021+16.3%
2022+10.0%
2023+16.4%
2024-1.6%
2025+23.8%
Show the numbers
YearSingle YearChangeCareer DataChange
20204243
202151+21.4%50+16.3%
202251+0.0%55+10.0%
202357+11.8%64+16.4%
202459+3.5%63-1.6%
202566+11.9%78+23.8%

Top 10 institutes in Iceland

By number of listed scientists

Career-long list2021
Show the list
  1. 1Haskoli Islands21
  2. 2Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland7
  3. 3Reykjavik University7
  4. 4Læknadeild Háskóla Íslands5
  5. 5deCODE genetics2
  6. 6Nordic Volcanological Center2
  7. 7Akureyri Regional Hospital1
  8. 8DT-Equipment1
  9. 9Háskólinn á Akureyri1
  10. 10IEEE1

All 50 scientists

Career-long list2021

Everyone on the list, free to browse.

Rank in Iceland World rank Scientist Institute Sub-field Rank in sub-field
1 6,536 Haskoli Islands Fisheries Rank 8
2 8,341 Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland Gastroenterology & Hepatology Rank 135
3 9,245 Haskoli Islands Geological & Geomatics Engineering Rank 18
4 9,981 Haskoli Islands Pharmacology & Pharmacy Rank 67
5 17,900 Læknadeild Háskóla Íslands Developmental Biology Rank 799
6 19,764 Haskoli Islands Ophthalmology & Optometry Rank 90
7 29,177 Haskoli Islands Chemical Physics Rank 681
8 39,623 Reykjavik University Marketing Rank 73
9 41,035 Vogur Hospital Substance Abuse Rank 137
10 53,815 deCODE genetics Developmental Biology Rank 1,913
11 55,913 Reykjavik University Business & Management Rank 532
12 59,350 Reykjavik University Computation Theory & Mathematics Rank 166
13 60,444 Haskoli Islands Geochemistry & Geophysics Rank 1,039
14 62,790 Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland Immunology Rank 1,878
15 72,496 Læknadeild Háskóla Íslands Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences Rank 1,065
16 75,065 Haskoli Islands Food Science Rank 310
17 75,093 Haskoli Islands Geochemistry & Geophysics Rank 1,307
18 77,769 Læknadeild Háskóla Íslands Dermatology & Venereal Diseases Rank 500
19 82,992 Haskoli Islands Fisheries Rank 195
20 83,067 Nordic Volcanological Center Geochemistry & Geophysics Rank 1,460
21 90,902 Haskoli Islands Nuclear & Particle Physics Rank 1,541
22 91,447 Reykjavik University Networking & Telecommunications Rank 794
23 92,320 Nordic Volcanological Center Geochemistry & Geophysics Rank 1,620
24 93,155 Læknadeild Háskóla Íslands Immunology Rank 2,622
25 93,696 Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland Microbiology Rank 2,361
26 96,283 deCODE genetics Developmental Biology Rank 3,021
27 97,062 Reykjavik University Clinical Psychology Rank 334
28 100,182 Haskoli Islands Geochemistry & Geophysics Rank 1,759
29 101,180 Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland Respiratory System Rank 1,017
30 103,808 Reykjavik University Psychiatry Rank 1,861
31 113,801 Akureyri Regional Hospital Oncology & Carcinogenesis Rank 4,435
32 116,737 Haskoli Islands Oncology & Carcinogenesis Rank 4,555
33 117,058 Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland Respiratory System Rank 1,175
34 119,662 Haskoli Islands Dentistry Rank 705
35 119,763 Haskoli Islands Geochemistry & Geophysics Rank 2,054
36 145,376 Haskoli Islands Education Rank 798
37 156,345 Læknadeild Háskóla Íslands Environmental & Occupational Health Rank 172
38 176,352 Haskoli Islands Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing Rank 2,886
39 187,752 IEEE Geological & Geomatics Engineering Rank 792
40 192,538 Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland Anesthesiology Rank 827
41 197,422 Haskoli Islands Archaeology Rank 188
42 242,594 DT-Equipment Optics Rank 955
43 244,581 Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland General & Internal Medicine Rank 2,696
44 246,364 Háskólinn á Akureyri Nursing Rank 925
45 264,062 Haskoli Islands Nursing Rank 1,022
46 268,531 School of Health Sciences Nursing Rank 1,046
47 279,750 Haskoli Islands Nursing Rank 1,106
48 321,676 Reykjavik University Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing Rank 5,604
49 408,887 Haskoli Islands Nursing Rank 1,787
50 587,514 Haskoli Islands Folklore Rank 4
Showing 1 to 50 of 50

Countries with a similar count

Career-long list2021

Explore other countries

Career-long list2021

Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from Iceland are in the 2021 Stanford Top 2% list?

51 scientists affiliated with Iceland are on the 2021 single-year list, and 50 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2021 career-long list, Haskoli Islands has the most listed scientists from Iceland, with 21. It is followed by Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland with 7.

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

On the career-long list, Iceland went from 43 scientists in 2020 to 50 in 2021, a change of +16.3%.

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.