New Zealand's Top 2% Scientists 2025

New Zealand has 954 scientists on the 2025 single-year Top 2% list, up 0.7% from 947 in 2024. That places New Zealand 35th in the world by number of listed scientists, down 2 places. The University of Auckland has the most listed scientists (252), followed by University of Otago (122).

Single Year

954

+7 (+0.7%) vs 2024

Career Data

1,167

+35 (+3.1%) vs 2024

World rank by count

#35

down 2 places vs 2024

Institutes

130

+39 (+42.9%) vs 2024

Scientists in New Zealand on the list, by year

The single-year count has grown 26% since 2020.

Single-year list, change on the previous year

2021+19.2%

2022+0.4%

2023+3.0%

2024+1.6%

2025+0.7%

Show the numbers

Year	Single Year	Change	Career Data	Change
2020	756		803
2021	901	+19.2%	974	+21.3%
2022	905	+0.4%	1,029	+5.6%
2023	932	+3.0%	1,076	+4.6%
2024	947	+1.6%	1,132	+5.2%
2025	954	+0.7%	1,167	+3.1%

Top 10 institutes in New Zealand

By number of listed scientists

Single-year list2025

Show the list

1The University of Auckland252
2University of Otago122
3Victoria University of Wellington62
4University of Canterbury60
5Massey University54
6The University of Waikato41
7Auckland University of Technology34
8University of Otago, Christchurch25
9Plant & Food Research, New Zealand19
10Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences17

All 954 scientists

Single-year list2025

The first 100 are free to browse.

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Rank in New Zealand	World rank	Scientist	Institute	Sub-field	Rank in sub-field
1	140	BV Braun, Virginia	The University of Auckland	Gender Studies	Rank 1
2	183	TK Trenberth, Kevin E.	The University of Auckland	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 1
3	199	HC Hall, C. Michael	University of Canterbury	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 2
4	207	FV Feigin, Valery L.	Auckland University of Technology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 11
5	367	ZF Zhu, Fan	The University of Auckland	Food Science	Rank 3
6	857	AM Anderson, Marti J.	Massey University Auckland	Ecology	Rank 19
7	1,036	PP Phillips, Peter C.B.	The University of Auckland	Econometrics	Rank 8
8	1,153	VM Visser, Matt	Victoria University of Wellington	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 12
9	1,169	HP Hulme, Philip E.	Lincoln University	Ecology	Rank 27
10	1,483	BA Boretti, Alberto A.	Independent Scientist	Energy	Rank 42
11	1,578	WC Winterbourn, Christine C.	University of Otago, Christchurch	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 21
12	1,626	XX Xu, Xun William	The University of Auckland	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 14
13	1,935	PR Poulin, Robert	University of Otago	Mycology & Parasitology	Rank 3
14	3,009	SR Sibson, Richard H.	University of Otago	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 36
15	3,706	RI Reid, Ian R.	The University of Auckland	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 57
16	4,587	ND Nield, D. A.	The University of Auckland	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 46
17	5,023	SH Singh, Harjinder	Massey University	Food Science	Rank 33
18	5,049	BR Bouckaert, Remco R.	The University of Auckland	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 262
19	5,423	LT Lumley, Thomas S.	Faculty of Science	Statistics & Probability	Rank 39
20	5,970	GP Gluckman, Peter David	Liggins Institute	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 100
21	6,061	WH White, Harvey D.	Auckland City Hospital	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 179
22	6,137	ZD Zhao, Dan	University of Canterbury	Energy	Rank 161
23	6,187	SB Swinburn, Boyd Anthony	The University of Auckland	Public Health	Rank 58
24	6,260	Milfont, Taciano L.	The University of Waikato	Social Psychology	Rank 164
25	6,801	MD Mellor, David J.	Massey University	Veterinary Sciences	Rank 1
26	6,907	BE Broadbent, Elizabeth A.	The University of Auckland	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 78
27	7,060	GD Gabauer, David	Lincoln University	Finance	Rank 40
28	7,245	Zhang, Lawrence Jun	The University of Auckland	Languages & Linguistics	Rank 44
29	7,427	CJ Crump, John A.	University of Otago	Microbiology	Rank 112
30	7,658	DJ Duckitt, John H.	The University of Auckland	Social Psychology	Rank 187
31	7,741	SR Scheyvens, Regina A.	Massey University	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 41
32	8,408	WG Waterhouse, Geoffrey I. N.	The University of Auckland	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 294
33	9,129	BJ Butcher, John C.	The University of Auckland	Numerical & Computational Mathematics	Rank 12
34	9,424	FC Farquhar, Cindy M.	The University of Auckland	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 165
35	9,506	HA Habib, Ahsan	Massey University Auckland	Accounting	Rank 23
36	9,709	TF Thabtah, F. Abdeljaber	Manukau Institute of Technology	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 473
37	9,834	Brown, Gavin T.L.	The University of Auckland	Education	Rank 137
38	9,904	BA Bekhit, Alaa El Din Ahmed	University of Otago	Food Science	Rank 86
39	10,007	DA Drummond, Alexei J.	The University of Auckland	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 77
40	10,024	CG Cheung, Gordon W.	The University of Auckland Business School	Business & Management	Rank 294
41	10,146	DM Dutta-Bergman, Mohan Jyoti	Massey University	Communication & Media Studies	Rank 44
42	10,227	KM Kah, Melanie	The University of Auckland	Environmental Sciences	Rank 224
43	10,639	SC Sibley, Chris G.	The University of Auckland	Social Psychology	Rank 236
44	10,649	BB Bradley, Brendon A.	University of Canterbury	Strategic, Defence & Security Studies	Rank 16
45	10,651	DL Day, Li	AgResearch Grasslands	Food Science	Rank 96
46	10,800	AD Addis, Donna Rose	The University of Auckland	Experimental Psychology	Rank 178
47	10,886	TW Thomson, W. Murray	University of Otago	Dentistry	Rank 31
48	11,122	WT Ward, Tony	Victoria University of Wellington	Criminology	Rank 16
49	11,164	WM Wetherell, Margaret S.	The University of Auckland	Social Psychology	Rank 245
50	11,489	BS Barker-Collo, Suzanne Lyn	The University of Auckland	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 186
51	11,710	DN Dalbeth, Nicola D.	The University of Auckland	Arthritis & Rheumatology	Rank 69
52	11,809	KT Kjellström, Tord E.	Health and Environment International Trust	Toxicology	Rank 39
53	11,981	FH Fathabadi, Hassan Salehi	HFAT Private Technical Co. Ltd.	Energy	Rank 317
54	12,331	KM Kirschbaum, Miko Uwe Franz	Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 78
55	12,768	RV Ravindran, Velmurugu	Massey University	Dairy & Animal Science	Rank 18
56	12,903	MB Melville, Bruce W.	The University of Auckland	Environmental Engineering	Rank 62
57	13,035	RC Ryan, Chris A.	The University of Waikato	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 73
58	13,234	FM Farid, Mohammed M.	The University of Auckland	Energy	Rank 357
59	13,367	PM Petrov, Maxim S.	School of Medicine	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 157
60	13,858	BG Barkhuizen, Gary P.	The University of Auckland	Languages & Linguistics	Rank 79
61	13,873	JP Janssen, Peter H.	AgResearch Grasslands	Microbiology	Rank 232
62	13,964	PK Pickering, Kim Louise	The University of Waikato	Materials	Rank 260
63	14,745	FD Fergusson, David M.	University of Otago, Christchurch	Developmental & Child Psychology	Rank 124
64	14,759	WC Ward, Colleen A.	Victoria University of Wellington	Social Psychology	Rank 304
65	14,897	BR Brodie, Roderick J.	The University of Auckland	Marketing	Rank 104
66	16,699	KH Koh, Hwee Ling Joyce	University of Otago	Education	Rank 218
67	16,911	PR Poulton, Richie G.	University of Otago	Psychiatry	Rank 332
68	16,988	DP Denny, Paul C.	The University of Auckland	Education	Rank 222
69	17,224	YA Ye, Aiqian M.	Massey University	Food Science	Rank 159
70	17,235	Derraik, José G.B.	The University of Auckland	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 266
71	17,253	MS Muthukumaraswamy, Suresh D.	The University of Auckland	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 820
72	17,404	BC Bartneck, Christoph	University of Canterbury	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 192
73	17,891	VC Villiers, Charl De	The University of Auckland Business School	Accounting	Rank 47
74	18,156	HJ Holmes, Janet	Victoria University of Wellington	Languages & Linguistics	Rank 104
75	18,490	MJ Miller, Jeff O.	University of Otago	Experimental Psychology	Rank 276
76	18,513	GJ Gaillard, J. C.	The University of Auckland	Strategic, Defence & Security Studies	Rank 31
77	18,618	SC Stinear, Cathy M.	The University of Auckland	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 865
78	18,887	AW Abrahamse, Wokje	Victoria University of Wellington	Social Psychology	Rank 374
79	19,007	MD Mackenzie, Darryl I.	Proteus	Ecology	Rank 412
80	19,397	SA Sarmah, Ajit K.	The University of Auckland	Environmental Sciences	Rank 425
81	19,444	CF Collins, Francis L.	The University of Auckland	Geography	Rank 93
82	19,492	RB Robinson, Brett Harvey	University of Canterbury	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 132
83	19,535	KN Kasabov, N. Kirilov	Auckland University of Technology	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 929
84	20,059	GW Giggenbach, Werner F.	GNS Science	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 295
85	20,137	BP Boxall, Peter F.	The University of Auckland Business School	Industrial Relations	Rank 3
86	20,378	XB Xue, Bing	Victoria University of Wellington	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 959
87	20,563	PS Pang, S.	University of Canterbury	Energy	Rank 563
88	20,934	VS Vashist, Sandeep Kumar	Pictor Pvt. Ltd.	Analytical Chemistry	Rank 91
89	21,018	SM Sellbom, Martin	University of Otago	Clinical Psychology	Rank 103
90	21,184	CM Corballis, Michael C.	The University of Auckland	Experimental Psychology	Rank 308
91	21,254	BJ Brown, Judy A.	Victoria University of Wellington	Accounting	Rank 53
92	21,463	AW Abraham, Wickliffe C.	University of Otago	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 998
93	22,084	MW Ma, Wanglin	Lincoln University	Economics	Rank 331
94	22,225	TD Thomas, David R.	The University of Auckland	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 319
95	22,454	GE Gane, Edward John	The University of Auckland	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 263
96	22,499	LY Lu, Yuqian	The University of Auckland	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 238
97	22,929	KE Kahu, Ella R.	Massey University	Education	Rank 280
98	23,031	TH Thorpe, Holly	The University of Waikato	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 130
99	23,107	WI Witten, Ian H.	The University of Waikato	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 1,078
100	23,304	AS Anema, Skelte G.	Massey University	Dairy & Animal Science	Rank 35
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You are seeing the first 100. 854 more are on the 2025 single-year list.

Ranks 101 to 954The whole list, not only the top 100.

Every year since 2020Single Year and Career Data.

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Countries with a similar count

Single-year list2025

Portugal984 scientists

South Africa975 scientists

Russia962 scientists

Pakistan946 scientists

Ireland925 scientists

Malaysia879 scientists

Explore other countries

Single-year list2025

Australia8,555 scientists

Singapore1,362 scientists

Thailand454 scientists

Vietnam239 scientists

Indonesia209 scientists

Philippines69 scientists

All countries on the world map

Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from New Zealand are in the 2025 Stanford Top 2% list?

954 scientists affiliated with New Zealand are on the 2025 single-year list, and 1,167 are on the career-long list.

Which institute in New Zealand has the most Top 2% scientists?

On the 2025 single-year list, The University of Auckland has the most listed scientists from New Zealand, with 252. It is followed by University of Otago with 122.

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

On the single-year list, New Zealand went from 756 scientists in 2020 to 954 in 2025, a change of +26.2%.

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.