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Kenya's Top 2% Scientists 2025: Career-Long List
Kenya has 51 scientists on the 2025 career-long Top 2% list, up 34.2% from 38 in 2024. That places Kenya 70th in the world by number of listed scientists, up 2 places. International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi has the most listed scientists (7), followed by Wellcome Trust Research Laboratories Nairobi (6).
Data Type
Year
Single Year
69
+12 (+21.1%) vs 2024
Career Data
51
+13 (+34.2%) vs 2024
World rank by count
#70
up 2 places vs 2024
Institutes
31
+7 (+29.2%) vs 2024
Scientists in Kenya on the list, by year
The career-long count has grown 50% since 2020.
Career-long list, change on the previous year
2021+2.9%
2022+0.0%
2023+8.6%
2024+0.0%
2025+34.2%
Show the numbers
| Year | Single Year | Change | Career Data | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 34 | 34 | ||
| 2021 | 39 | +14.7% | 35 | +2.9% |
| 2022 | 40 | +2.6% | 35 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 52 | +30.0% | 38 | +8.6% |
| 2024 | 57 | +9.6% | 38 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 69 | +21.1% | 51 | +34.2% |
Top 10 institutes in Kenya
By number of listed scientists
Career-long list2025
Show the list
- 1International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi7
- 2Wellcome Trust Research Laboratories Nairobi6
- 3Kenya Medical Research Institute4
- 4International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology Nairobi3
- 5African Population and Health Research Center2
- 6International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)2
- 7The Aga Khan University Kenya2
- 8World Agroforestry Centre2
- 9African Academy of Sciences1
- 10African Conservation Centre1
All 51 scientists
Career-long list2025
| Rank in Kenya | World rank | Scientist | Institute | Sub-field | Rank in sub-field |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9,648 | Kenya Medical Research Institute | Tropical Medicine | Rank 10 | |
| 2 | 9,829 |
MK
|
Wellcome Trust Research Laboratories Nairobi | Tropical Medicine | Rank 11 |
| 3 | 11,065 | International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi | Agronomy & Agriculture | Rank 37 | |
| 4 | 18,956 | Wellcome Trust Research Laboratories Nairobi | Neurology & Neurosurgery | Rank 1,453 | |
| 5 | 21,453 | Mpala Research Centre | Ecology | Rank 389 | |
| 6 | 29,201 | The Aga Khan University Kenya | Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine | Rank 235 | |
| 7 | 37,928 |
QJ
|
Samburu National Park | Neurology & Neurosurgery | Rank 2,695 |
| 8 | 38,296 | International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases, Kenya | Neurology & Neurosurgery | Rank 2,725 | |
| 9 | 60,388 | Wellcome Trust Research Laboratories Nairobi | General & Internal Medicine | Rank 778 | |
| 10 | 61,048 | The Aga Khan University Kenya | Microbiology | Rank 1,525 | |
| 11 | 68,385 | Wellcome Trust Research Laboratories Nairobi | Microbiology | Rank 1,707 | |
| 12 | 68,508 | African Conservation Centre | Ecology | Rank 1,190 | |
| 13 | 76,501 | International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi | Plant Biology & Botany | Rank 1,053 | |
| 14 | 79,434 | World Agroforestry Centre | Ecology | Rank 1,375 | |
| 15 | 79,719 | Turkana Basin Institute | Anthropology | Rank 98 | |
| 16 | 88,694 | Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean | Marine Biology & Hydrobiology | Rank 700 | |
| 17 | 89,787 | International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology Nairobi | Entomology | Rank 229 | |
| 18 | 95,817 | International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi | Agronomy & Agriculture | Rank 500 | |
| 19 | 110,109 | Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative Eastern Africa | Microbiology | Rank 2,745 | |
| 20 | 125,524 | KEMRI/Welcome Trust Research Programme | General & Internal Medicine | Rank 1,566 | |
| 21 | 141,509 | International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi | Agronomy & Agriculture | Rank 769 | |
| 22 | 142,178 | International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) | Agronomy & Agriculture | Rank 777 | |
| 23 | 159,228 | Wellcome Trust Research Laboratories Nairobi | Mycology & Parasitology | Rank 343 | |
| 24 | 166,545 | British Overseas Development Administration | Veterinary Sciences | Rank 592 | |
| 25 | 171,572 | International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi | Mycology & Parasitology | Rank 378 | |
| 26 | 174,254 |
SM
|
Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi | Oncology & Carcinogenesis | Rank 6,415 |
| 27 | 174,878 |
SM
|
TSBF | Agronomy & Agriculture | Rank 1,003 |
| 28 | 176,578 | Kenya Medical Research Institute | Tropical Medicine | Rank 400 | |
| 29 | 179,053 | Kenya AIDS Vaccine Initiative (KAVI) | Virology | Rank 1,459 | |
| 30 | 179,553 | Wellcome Trust Research Laboratories Nairobi | Microbiology | Rank 4,323 | |
| 31 | 186,141 | Chuka University | Applied Physics | Rank 4,953 | |
| 32 | 190,199 | African Sustainable Development Research Consortium (ASDRC) | Tropical Medicine | Rank 429 | |
| 33 | 193,750 | ICIPE | Agronomy & Agriculture | Rank 1,126 | |
| 34 | 195,309 | Amref Health Africa | Tropical Medicine | Rank 450 | |
| 35 | 213,795 | Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) | Environmental Engineering | Rank 1,159 | |
| 36 | 222,587 | International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi | Veterinary Sciences | Rank 889 | |
| 37 | 234,381 | University of Nairobi | Pediatrics | Rank 1,368 | |
| 38 | 243,299 | World Agroforestry Centre | Agronomy & Agriculture | Rank 1,447 | |
| 39 | 256,185 | International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) | Plant Biology & Botany | Rank 3,868 | |
| 40 | 260,827 | Kenya Medical Research Institute | Tropical Medicine | Rank 601 | |
| 41 | 277,804 | International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology Nairobi | Tropical Medicine | Rank 655 | |
| 42 | 288,180 | National Museums of Kenya | General & Internal Medicine | Rank 3,778 | |
| 43 | 305,212 | International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi | Tropical Medicine | Rank 713 | |
| 44 | 315,043 |
MS
|
International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology Nairobi | Tropical Medicine | Rank 734 |
| 45 | 321,844 | Institute for People Innovation and Change in Organizations (PICO) | Dairy & Animal Science | Rank 1,203 | |
| 46 | 336,441 | Technical University of Kenya | Information & Library Sciences | Rank 241 | |
| 47 | 346,243 | African Population and Health Research Center | General & Internal Medicine | Rank 4,634 | |
| 48 | 390,530 | African Academy of Sciences | Materials | Rank 6,332 | |
| 49 | 440,665 | Nairobi | Zoology | Rank 364 | |
| 50 | 484,287 | Kenya Medical Research Institute | General & Internal Medicine | Rank 6,565 | |
| 51 | 510,642 | African Population and Health Research Center | General & Internal Medicine | Rank 6,968 | |
| No scientists match this filter. | |||||
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Frequently asked questions
How many scientists from Kenya are in the 2025 Stanford Top 2% list?
69 scientists affiliated with Kenya are on the 2025 single-year list, and 51 are on the career-long list.
Which institute in Kenya has the most Top 2% scientists?
On the 2025 career-long list, International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi has the most listed scientists from Kenya, with 7. It is followed by Wellcome Trust Research Laboratories Nairobi with 6.
How has the number of Top 2% scientists in Kenya changed since 2020?
On the career-long list, Kenya went from 34 scientists in 2020 to 51 in 2025, a change of +50.0%.
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.