New Zealand's Top 2% Scientists 2020: Career-Long List

New Zealand has 803 scientists on the 2020 career-long Top 2% list. That places New Zealand 24th in the world by number of listed scientists. University of Auckland has the most listed scientists (192), followed by University of Otago (110).

Single Year

756

First year listed

Career Data

803

First year listed

World rank by count

#24

First year listed

Institutes

106

First year listed

Scientists in New Zealand on the list, by year

Career-long list, change on the previous year

2021+21.3%

2022+5.6%

2023+4.6%

2024+5.2%

2025+3.1%

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

Career-long list2020

Show the list

1University of Auckland192
2University of Otago110
3University of Canterbury64
4Victoria University of Wellington57
5Massey University Manawatu45
6University of Waikato31
7Auckland University of Technology19
8Lincoln University, New Zealand19
9National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, New Zealand15
10Springer Nature13

All 803 scientists

Career-long list2020

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	922	WH White, Harvey D.	Auckland City Hospital	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 56
2	1,051	RI Reid, I. R.	University of Auckland	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 36
3	1,052	WC Winterbourn, Christine C.	University of Otago	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 51
4	1,214	PJ Potter, J. D.	Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University	Epidemiology	Rank 7
5	1,267	PR Poulin, Robert	University of Otago	Mycology & Parasitology	Rank 2
6	1,554	FD Fergusson, David M.	University of Otago	Psychiatry	Rank 57
7	1,562	CY Chisti, Yusuf	Massey University Manawatu	Biotechnology	Rank 3
8	2,131	AM Anderson, Marti J.	Massey University Auckland	Ecology	Rank 35
9	2,896	SR Sibson, Richard H.	University of Otago	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 25
10	3,812	ND Nield, D. A.	University of Auckland	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 20
11	4,533	HP Hulme, Philip E.	Lincoln University, New Zealand	Ecology	Rank 81
12	4,784	DW Denny, William A.	Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 14
13	5,106	VM Visser, Matt	Victoria University of Wellington	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 72
14	5,141	HA Herbison, Allan E.	University of Otago School of Biomedical Sciences	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 172
15	5,384	KG Keating, Gillian M.	Springer Nature	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 43
16	5,635	FV Feigin, Valery	Auckland University of Technology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 536
17	6,335	SB Swinburn, Boyd	School of Population Health, University of Auckland	Public Health	Rank 53
18	6,695	BR Beasley, Richard	Medical Research Institute of New Zealand	Respiratory System	Rank 63
19	7,102	DM Dragunow, Michael	University of Auckland	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 652
20	7,734	BV Braun, Virginia	University of Auckland	Gender Studies	Rank 1
21	7,927	SL Scott, Lesley J.	Springer Nature	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 56
22	8,204	FC Farquhar, C. M.	University of Auckland	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 110
23	8,299	WT Ward, Tony	Victoria University of Wellington	Criminology	Rank 8
24	8,370	MJ Miller, Jeff	University of Otago	Experimental Psychology	Rank 118
25	8,602	GE Gane, Edward John	Auckland City Hospital	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 145
26	8,603	RA Richards, A. Mark	University of Otago	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 436
27	9,151	CM Corballis, Michael C.	University of Auckland	Experimental Psychology	Rank 130
28	9,233	SH Singh, Harjinder	Massey University Manawatu	Food Science	Rank 20
29	9,283	FL Ferguson, Lynnette R.	University of Auckland	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 74
30	9,829	BA Beautrais, Annette	University of Canterbury	Psychiatry	Rank 267
31	9,997	PG Plosker, Greg L.	Adis	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 74
32	10,462	BE Baker, Edward N.	University of Auckland, School of Biological Sciences	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 463
33	10,612	CP Callaghan, P. T.	Victoria University of Wellington	Biophysics	Rank 36
34	10,878	WD Walls, D. F.	University of Auckland	General Physics	Rank 75
35	11,382	LT Lumley, Thomas	University of Auckland	Statistics & Probability	Rank 43
36	11,511	MJ Mann, J. I.	University of Otago	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 149
37	11,570	WJ Wilson, J. Bastow	University of Otago	Ecology	Rank 216
38	11,878	YG Yeates, Gregor W.	Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 34
39	11,947	CC Crowther, Caroline	University of Auckland, Liggins Institute	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 152
40	12,432	BR Brogden, R. N.	Wolters Kluwer Health - Adis	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 96
41	12,874	GW Giggenbach, W. F.	GNS Science	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 181
42	12,985	BR Beaglehole, Robert	University of Auckland	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 162
43	13,232	TC Townsend, Colin R.	University of Otago	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 60
44	13,261	AW Abraham, Wickliffe C.	University of Otago	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 1,164
45	13,477	RC Ryan, Chris	University of Waikato	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 7
46	13,660	TG Tannock, Gerald W.	University of Otago	Microbiology	Rank 321
47	13,697	SP Schwerdtfeger, P.	Massey University Auckland	Chemical Physics	Rank 329
48	13,758	ME Mitchell, Edwin A.	University of Auckland	Pediatrics	Rank 42
49	14,101	YP Yip, Paul S.F.	University of Auckland	Psychiatry	Rank 392
50	14,210	KM Kirschbaum, Miko U.F.	Landcare Research, Palmerston North	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 45
51	14,841	PC Perry, Caroline M.	Adis	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 111
52	15,401	BR Bonita, Ruth	University of Auckland	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 174
53	15,840	HN Holford, Nick	University of Auckland	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 122
54	16,007	BB Baguley, Bruce C.	University of Auckland	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 766
55	16,403	WS Williams, Sheila M.	University of Otago	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 466
56	16,465	AI Asher, Innes	University of Auckland	Allergy	Rank 52
57	17,262	EM Elwood, Mark	University of Auckland	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 847
58	17,329	JP Janssen, Peter H.	AgResearch Grasslands Research Centre	Microbiology	Rank 423
59	17,330	PD Parry, David A.D.	Massey University Manawatu	Biophysics	Rank 53
60	17,374	TW Thomson, W. Murray	University of Otago	Dentistry	Rank 62
61	17,550	WI Witten, Ian H.	University of Waikato	Information & Library Sciences	Rank 10
62	18,233	JR Jackson, Rod	University of Auckland	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 198
63	18,483	LD Lloyd, David G.	University of Canterbury	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 204
64	18,786	BM Bhatia, Madhav	University of Otago	Immunology	Rank 680
65	19,131	PJ Paton, Julian F.R.	University of Auckland	Physiology	Rank 72
66	19,394	GC Gardiner, C. W.	University of Otago	General Physics	Rank 127
67	19,452	JP Joyce, Peter R.	University of Otago	Psychiatry	Rank 504
68	19,566	SM Steel, Mike	University of Canterbury	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 211
69	20,071	TJ Tallon, Jeffery L.	Victoria University of Wellington	Applied Physics	Rank 474
70	20,533	SR Scragg, Robert	School of Population Health, University of Auckland	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 219
71	20,588	GR Gibson, Rosalind S.	University of Otago	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 178
72	20,748	HJ Holmes, Janet	Victoria University of Wellington	Languages & Linguistics	Rank 11
73	21,811	FM Farid, Mohammed	University of Auckland	Energy	Rank 180
74	21,889	WC Wilson, C. J.N.	Victoria University of Wellington	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 334
75	22,077	PR Parfitt, R.	Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 82
76	22,618	GA Grey, Andrew	University of Auckland	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 612
77	23,202	MP Molan, Peter	University of Waikato	Nursing	Rank 27
78	23,252	BB Biggs, Barry	National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, New Zealand	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 138
79	23,847	WD Williams, David E.	University of Auckland	Analytical Chemistry	Rank 156
80	24,010	PD Penny, David	Massey University Manawatu	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 243
81	24,171	AB Anderson, Brian J.	University of Auckland	Anesthesiology	Rank 75
82	24,642	MR Mcdowall, Robert M.	National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, New Zealand	Fisheries	Rank 37
83	24,651	SG Sparling, G. P.	University of Waikato	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 93
84	24,711	BJ Butcher, J. C.	University of Auckland	Numerical & Computational Mathematics	Rank 30
85	24,893	DJ Duckitt, John	University of Auckland	Social Psychology	Rank 221
86	25,691	XX Xu, Xun	University of Auckland	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 179
87	25,734	TS Thrush, Simon F.	University of Auckland	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 155
88	26,310	KN Kasabov, Nikola	Auckland University of Technology	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 441
89	26,386	WM Wetherell, Margaret	University of Auckland	Social Psychology	Rank 234
90	26,388	CM Costello, Mark J.	University of Auckland	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 163
91	26,661	SP Steel, Peter J.	University of Canterbury	Organic Chemistry	Rank 541
92	26,688	HJ Harding, Jane E.	University of Auckland, Liggins Institute	Pediatrics	Rank 107
93	26,728	WC Ward, Colleen	Victoria University of Wellington	Social Psychology	Rank 237
94	26,822	MD Murdoch, David R.	University of Otago	Microbiology	Rank 654
95	26,971	MR Mulder, Roger	University of Otago	Psychiatry	Rank 644
96	27,013	LG Liggins, G. C.	University of Auckland	Physiology	Rank 107
97	27,102	SM Stringer, Mark D.	Wellington Hospital, New Zealand	Pediatrics	Rank 111
98	28,081	RB Robinson, Brett H.	University of Canterbury	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 108
99	28,210	RV Ravindran, V.	Institute of Agriculture and Environment	Dairy & Animal Science	Rank 47
100	29,200	KR Kearns, Robin	University of Auckland	Geography	Rank 63
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Countries with a similar count

Career-long list2020

Austria962 scientistsin 2020

Norway947 scientistsin 2020

Hong Kong878 scientistsin 2020

Singapore757 scientistsin 2020

Poland726 scientistsin 2020

Russia709 scientistsin 2020

Explore other countries

Career-long list2020

Australia5,441 scientistsin 2020

Malaysia163 scientistsin 2020

Thailand136 scientistsin 2020

Vietnam34 scientistsin 2020

Fiji4 scientistsin 2020

New Caledonia3 scientistsin 2020

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Frequently asked questions

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

756 scientists affiliated with New Zealand are on the 2020 single-year list, and 803 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2020 career-long list, University of Auckland has the most listed scientists from New Zealand, with 192. It is followed by University of Otago with 110.

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.