New Zealand's Top 2% Scientists 2025: Career-Long List

New Zealand has 1,167 scientists on the 2025 career-long Top 2% list, up 3.1% from 1,132 in 2024. That places New Zealand 28th in the world by number of listed scientists, down 2 places. The University of Auckland has the most listed scientists (267), followed by University of Otago (129).

Single Year

954

+7 (+0.7%) vs 2024

Career Data

1,167

+35 (+3.1%) vs 2024

World rank by count

#28

down 2 places vs 2024

Institutes

166

+39 (+30.7%) vs 2024

Scientists in New Zealand on the list, by year

The career-long count has grown 45% since 2020.

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 list2025

Show the list

All 1,167 scientists

Career-long 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	269	TK Trenberth, Kevin E.	The University of Auckland	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 1
2	960	HC Hall, C. Michael	University of Canterbury	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 1
3	1,028	PR Poulin, Robert	University of Otago	Mycology & Parasitology	Rank 2
4	1,038	WC Winterbourn, Christine C.	University of Otago, Christchurch	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 54
5	1,155	RI Reid, Ian R.	The University of Auckland	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 34
6	1,183	WH White, Harvey D.	Auckland City Hospital	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 63
7	1,597	PP Phillips, Peter C.B.	The University of Auckland	Econometrics	Rank 4
8	1,610	AM Anderson, Marti J.	Massey University Auckland	Ecology	Rank 33
9	1,658	FV Feigin, Valery L.	Auckland University of Technology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 159
10	1,692	BV Braun, Virginia	The University of Auckland	Gender Studies	Rank 1
11	1,917	PJ Potter, John D.	Massey University Wellington	Epidemiology	Rank 12
12	2,024	GP Gluckman, Peter David	Liggins Institute	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 67
13	2,045	FD Fergusson, David M.	University of Otago, Christchurch	Developmental & Child Psychology	Rank 23
14	2,641	HP Hulme, Philip E.	Lincoln University	Ecology	Rank 57
15	2,832	SR Sibson, Richard H.	University of Otago	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 23
16	3,587	VM Visser, Matt	Victoria University of Wellington	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 46
17	3,712	ND Nield, D. A.	The University of Auckland	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 25
18	4,598	SB Swinburn, Boyd Anthony	The University of Auckland	Public Health	Rank 35
19	5,162	ZF Zhu, Fan	The University of Auckland	Food Science	Rank 15
20	5,661	SH Singh, Harjinder	Massey University	Food Science	Rank 18
21	6,094	DW Denny, William A.	The University of Auckland	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 16
22	6,633	FC Farquhar, Cindy M.	The University of Auckland	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 110
23	6,713	WT Ward, Tony	Victoria University of Wellington	Criminology	Rank 9
24	7,890	BR Beasley, Richard W.	Medical Research Institute	Respiratory System	Rank 76
25	8,147	GE Gane, Edward John	The University of Auckland	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 140
26	8,192	LT Lumley, Thomas S.	Faculty of Science	Statistics & Probability	Rank 44
27	8,201	XX Xu, Xun William	The University of Auckland	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 65
28	9,230	CM Corballis, Michael C.	The University of Auckland	Experimental Psychology	Rank 154
29	9,457	DM Dragunow, Mike	The University of Auckland	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 777
30	9,702	FL Ferguson, Lynnette R.	Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 426
31	9,863	LP Liu, Ping P.	School of Biomedical Sciences	Materials	Rank 113
32	9,868	CC Crowther, Caroline A.	The University of Auckland	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 162
33	9,880	MJ Miller, Jeff O.	University of Otago	Experimental Psychology	Rank 161
34	10,764	RC Ryan, Chris A.	The University of Waikato	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 14
35	10,788	PG Plosker, Greg L.	Wolters Kluwer Health - Adis	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 63
36	11,179	GK Goa, Karen L.	Wolters Kluwer Health - Adis	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 68
37	12,101	TW Thomson, W. Murray	University of Otago	Dentistry	Rank 44
38	12,248	BA Beautrais, Annette L.	Health New Zealand	Psychiatry	Rank 345
39	13,083	ME Mitchell, Eleanor J.	The University of Auckland	Pediatrics	Rank 43
40	13,259	YG Yeates, Gregor W.	Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 54
41	13,671	WJ Wilson, J. Bastow	University of Otago	Ecology	Rank 256
42	13,837	BE Baker, Edward N.	School of Biological Sciences	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 626
43	14,060	SP Schwerdtfeger, Peter A.	Massey University Auckland	Chemical Physics	Rank 319
44	14,076	BR Brogden, Rex N.	Wolters Kluwer Health - Adis	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 88
45	14,110	AW Abraham, Wickliffe C.	University of Otago	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 1,109
46	14,170	BR Beaglehole, Robert H.	Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 222
47	14,178	CP Callaghan, Paul T.	Victoria University of Wellington	Biophysics	Rank 24
48	14,230	MJ Mann, Jim I.	University of Otago	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 224
49	14,298	WD Walls, Daniel F.	The University of Auckland	General Physics	Rank 79
50	14,414	KM Kirschbaum, Miko Uwe Franz	Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 62
51	14,424	WI Witten, Ian H.	The University of Waikato	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 312
52	14,703	FM Farid, Mohammed M.	The University of Auckland	Energy	Rank 161
53	14,760	HJ Holmes, Janet	Victoria University of Wellington	Languages & Linguistics	Rank 19
54	14,876	JP Janssen, Peter H.	AgResearch Grasslands	Microbiology	Rank 363
55	15,377	TG Tannock, Gerald W.	University of Otago	Microbiology	Rank 376
56	15,478	GW Giggenbach, Werner F.	GNS Science	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 249
57	15,673	HN Holford, Nicholas H.G.	School of Medicine	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 101
58	15,988	BB Baguley, Bruce C.	Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 695
59	16,032	CJ Crump, John A.	University of Otago	Microbiology	Rank 392
60	16,570	PC Perry, Caroline M.	Springer	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 110
61	16,811	TC Townsend, Colin R.	University of Otago	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 89
62	16,912	MM McCormick, Mark Ian	The University of Waikato	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 90
63	18,615	MD Mellor, David J.	Massey University	Veterinary Sciences	Rank 12
64	19,086	GR Gibson, Rosalind Susan	University of Otago	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 142
65	19,362	DJ Duckitt, John H.	The University of Auckland	Social Psychology	Rank 230
66	19,406	WS Williams, Sheila M.	University of Otago	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 502
67	19,493	BR Bonita, Ruth	The University of Auckland	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 293
68	19,551	RV Ravindran, Velmurugu	Massey University	Dairy & Animal Science	Rank 22
69	19,560	AI Asher, Innes Innes	Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences	Respiratory System	Rank 195
70	19,667	SR Scragg, Robert	The University of Auckland	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 297
71	19,762	WM Wetherell, Margaret S.	The University of Auckland	Social Psychology	Rank 232
72	20,089	WC Ward, Colleen A.	Victoria University of Wellington	Social Psychology	Rank 238
73	20,350	PJ Paton, Julian F.R.	The University of Auckland	Physiology	Rank 75
74	20,416	JR Jackson, Rod T.	The University of Auckland	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 305
75	20,417	DM Dutta-Bergman, Mohan Jyoti	Massey University	Communication & Media Studies	Rank 20
76	21,070	MD Murdoch, David Roger	University of Otago, Christchurch	Microbiology	Rank 521
77	21,216	BM Bhatia, Madhav	University of Otago, Christchurch	Immunology	Rank 733
78	21,388	KN Kasabov, N. Kirilov	Auckland University of Technology	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 463
79	21,448	BJ Butcher, John C.	The University of Auckland	Numerical & Computational Mathematics	Rank 28
80	22,340	KD Kelly, Deirdre Anne K.	Boston Children’s Hospital	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 346
81	22,363	AB Anderson, Brian J.	The University of Auckland	Anesthesiology	Rank 74
82	22,370	WC Wilson, Colin J.N.	Victoria University of Wellington	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 375
83	22,742	EM Elwood, Mark Mark	The University of Auckland	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 997
84	23,311	PD Parry, David A.D.	Massey University	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 999
85	23,766	SM Steel, Mike A.	University of Canterbury	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 221
86	23,773	MR Mulder, Roger T.	University of Otago, Christchurch	Psychiatry	Rank 582
87	23,839	RB Robinson, Brett Harvey	University of Canterbury	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 97
88	23,866	BA Boretti, Alberto A.	Independent Scientist	Energy	Rank 273
89	24,285	WD Williams, D. E.	Mote Limited	Energy	Rank 281
90	24,442	PR Parfitt, Roger L.	Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 104
91	24,591	GA Grey, Andrew B.	The University of Auckland	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 611
92	24,824	SM Stringer, Mark David	University of Otago	Pediatrics	Rank 96
93	25,224	GC Gardiner, C. W.	University of Otago	General Physics	Rank 141
94	25,873	CJ Carcillo, Joseph A.	Children’s Hospital Pittsburgh	Pediatrics	Rank 104
95	26,214	MP Molan, Peter Charles	The University of Waikato	Entomology	Rank 35
96	26,352	BS Barker-Collo, Suzanne Lyn	The University of Auckland	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 381
97	26,641	JP Joyce, Peter R.	University of Otago, Christchurch	Psychiatry	Rank 630
98	26,673	DB Delahunt, Brett	University of Otago	Pathology	Rank 83
99	27,143	KR Kearns, Robin A.	The University of Auckland	Geography	Rank 86
100	27,536	TS Thrush, Simon F.	The University of Auckland	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 189
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Countries with a similar count

Career-long list2025

Turkey1,308 scientists

Iran1,201 scientists

Brazil1,195 scientists

Greece1,161 scientists

Singapore1,090 scientists

Russia1,069 scientists

Explore other countries

Career-long list2025

Australia8,025 scientists

Malaysia460 scientists

Thailand302 scientists

Vietnam94 scientists

Indonesia57 scientists

Philippines44 scientists

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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 career-long list, The University of Auckland has the most listed scientists from New Zealand, with 267. It is followed by University of Otago with 129.

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

On the career-long list, New Zealand went from 803 scientists in 2020 to 1,167 in 2025, a change of +45.3%.

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.