Iceland's Top 2% Scientists 2023: Career-Long List

Iceland has 64 scientists on the 2023 career-long Top 2% list, up 16.4% from 55 in 2022. That places Iceland 59th in the world by number of listed scientists, up 1 place. Haskoli Islands has the most listed scientists (29), followed by Reykjavik University (7).

Single Year

+6 (+11.8%) vs 2022

Career Data

+9 (+16.4%) vs 2022

World rank by count

#59

up 1 place vs 2022

Institutes

+2 (+13.3%) vs 2022

Scientists in Iceland on the list, by year

The career-long count has grown 49% 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

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%

Top 10 institutes in Iceland

By number of listed scientists

Career-long list2023

Show the list

All 64 scientists

Career-long list2023

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	6,649	CS Campana, Steven E.	Haskoli Islands	Fisheries	Rank 5
2	7,138	BE Bjornsson, Einar S.	Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 124
3	8,414	BJ Benediktsson, Jón Atli	Haskoli Islands	Geological & Geomatics Engineering	Rank 17
4	9,266	LT Loftsson, Thorsteinn	Haskoli Islands	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 56
5	13,304	OE Oelkers, Eric H.	Haskoli Islands	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 194
6	19,972	SK Stefánsson, Kári	deCODE genetics	Developmental Biology	Rank 802
7	20,629	SE Stefansson, Einer	Haskoli Islands	Ophthalmology & Optometry	Rank 98
8	29,262	JH Jónsson, Hannes	Raunvísindastofnun Háskólans	Chemical Physics	Rank 646
9	30,530	GV Gudnason, Vilmundur	Icelandic Heart Association	Developmental Biology	Rank 1,132
10	39,911	FG Foxall, Gordon R.	Reykjavik University	Marketing	Rank 87
11	45,275	PH Pettinati, Helen	Vogur Hospital	Substance Abuse	Rank 146
12	47,576	ST Sawik, Tadeusz	Reykjavik University	Operations Research	Rank 151
13	57,068	TG Thorleifsson, Gudmar	deCODE genetics	Developmental Biology	Rank 1,862
14	57,742	AS Arnórsson, Stefán	Haskoli Islands	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 984
15	62,227	AI Agnarsson, Ingi	Haskoli Islands	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 566
16	63,723	HM Halldórsson, Magnús M.	Reykjavik University	Computation Theory & Mathematics	Rank 170
17	66,824	VH Valdimarsson, Helgi	Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland	Immunology	Rank 1,943
18	70,725	PM Parnham, Michael J.	EpiEndo Pharmaceuticals	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 641
19	72,839	TT Thordarson, T.	Haskoli Islands	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 1,263
20	74,309	KH Kristinsson, Hordur G.	Haskoli Islands	Food Science	Rank 354
21	74,697	BH Bjornsson, Helgi	Haskoli Islands	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 1,119
22	79,517	SA Stefánsson, Andri	Haskoli Islands	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 1,384
23	80,431	KS Koziel, Slawomir	Reykjavik University	Networking & Telecommunications	Rank 697
24	81,475	SB Sigurgeirsson, B.	Læknadeild Háskóla Íslands	Dermatology & Venereal Diseases	Rank 526
25	81,570	MB Magnadóttir, Bergljót	Haskoli Islands	Fisheries	Rank 178
26	85,490	KÁ Kristjánsson, Árni	Haskoli Islands	Experimental Psychology	Rank 1,005
27	87,541	KS Kristinsson, Sigurður Yngvi	Læknadeild Háskóla Íslands	Immunology	Rank 2,455
28	87,978	GT Gislason, Thorarinn	Læknadeild Háskóla Íslands	Respiratory System	Rank 887
29	92,785	SF Sigmundsson, Freysteinn	Nordic Volcanological Center	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 1,635
30	98,906	KK Kristinsson, Karl G.	Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland	Microbiology	Rank 2,503
31	99,115	YS Young, Susan	Reykjavik University	Psychiatry	Rank 1,744
32	99,207	EP Einarsson, Páll	Haskoli Islands	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 1,730
33	100,448	JJ James, Jack E.	Reykjavik University	Clinical Psychology	Rank 341
34	107,990	GG Gudmundsson, G.	Læknadeild Háskóla Íslands	Respiratory System	Rank 1,062
35	110,775	GS Gislason, Sigurdur R.	Haskoli Islands	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 1,922
36	121,390	PB Pjetursson, Bjarni E.	Haskoli Islands	Dentistry	Rank 699
37	122,388	BJ Bjornsson, J.	Akureyri Regional Hospital	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 4,735
38	131,155	TH Tulinius, Hrafn	Haskoli Islands	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 5,014
39	135,874	EJ Einarsdóttir, Johanna	Haskoli Islands	Education	Rank 808
40	152,422	KJ Kristjánsson, Jakob K.	Hripa ehf	Microbiology	Rank 3,710
41	167,196	RV Rafnsson, Vilhjalmur	Haskoli Islands	Environmental & Occupational Health	Rank 167
42	168,015	TL Tryggvadottir, Laufey	Icelandic Cancer Registry	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 6,328
43	174,130	LG Lucas, Gavin	Haskoli Islands	Archaeology	Rank 172
44	177,523	SE Skúlason, Egill	Raunvísindastofnun Háskólans	Physical Chemistry	Rank 629
45	181,704	AR Arnason, Ragnar	Haskoli Islands	Fisheries	Rank 503
46	182,492	RT Runarsson, Thomas Philip	Haskoli Islands	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 3,558
47	192,268	JF Jonasson, Fridbert	Læknadeild Háskóla Íslands	Ophthalmology & Optometry	Rank 1,441
48	195,173	SP Swain, Philip H.	IEEE	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 3,803
49	198,067	MM Másson, Már	School of Health Sciences	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 1,982
50	203,830	SG Sigurdsson, Gisli Heimir	Læknadeild Háskóla Íslands	Anesthesiology	Rank 869
51	213,288	IK Ingolfsdottir, Kristin	Haskoli Islands	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 878
52	223,910	SG Stefansson, G.	Raunvísindastofnun Háskólans	Fisheries	Rank 703
53	250,883	HS Halldórsdóttir, Sigridur	Háskólinn á Akureyri	Nursing	Rank 805
54	253,335	LK Leosson, Kristjan	DTE ehf.	Optics	Rank 840
55	265,159	WB Wu, Bing	Haskoli Islands	Chemical Engineering	Rank 1,401
56	266,823	SE Svavarsdottir, Erla Kolbrun	School of Health Sciences	Nursing	Rank 898
57	275,065	KG Kristjánsdóttir, Guðrún	School of Health Sciences	Nursing	Rank 933
58	288,512	BD Bird, Deanne K.	Haskoli Islands	Strategic, Defence & Security Studies	Rank 368
59	291,134	JH Jonsdottir, Helga	Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland	Nursing	Rank 1,022
60	323,477	AL Aceto, Luca	Reykjavik University	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 6,621
61	443,186	MT Magnusson, Thor	Haskoli Islands	Music	Rank 33
62	503,560	GD Gautam, Dipendra	Haskoli Islands	Strategic, Defence & Security Studies	Rank 659
63	517,595	HE Hyytiä, Esa	Haskoli Islands	Networking & Telecommunications	Rank 5,600
64	567,942	HV Hafstein, Valdimar Tr	Haskoli Islands	Folklore	Rank 4
No scientists match this filter.

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Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from Iceland are in the 2023 Stanford Top 2% list?

57 scientists affiliated with Iceland are on the 2023 single-year list, and 64 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2023 career-long list, Haskoli Islands has the most listed scientists from Iceland, with 29. It is followed by Reykjavik University 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 64 in 2023, a change of +48.8%.

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.