Pakistan's Top 2% Scientists 2021

Pakistan has 380 scientists on the 2021 single-year Top 2% list, up 56.4% from 243 in 2020. That places Pakistan 39th in the world by number of listed scientists, up 2 places. Quaid-i-Azam University has the most listed scientists (30), followed by University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (25).

Single Year

380

+137 (+56.4%) vs 2020

Career Data

127

+46 (+56.8%) vs 2020

World rank by count

#39

up 2 places vs 2020

Institutes

119

+35 (+41.7%) vs 2020

Scientists in Pakistan on the list, by year

The single-year count has grown 56% since 2020.

Single-year list, change on the previous year

2021+56.4%

2022+33.9%

2023+39.3%

2024+18.8%

2025+12.4%

Show the numbers

Year	Single Year	Change	Career Data	Change
2020	243		81
2021	380	+56.4%	127	+56.8%
2022	509	+33.9%	137	+7.9%
2023	709	+39.3%	187	+36.5%
2024	842	+18.8%	223	+19.3%
2025	946	+12.4%	268	+20.2%

Top 10 institutes in Pakistan

By number of listed scientists

Single-year list2021

Show the list

All 380 scientists

Single-year list2021

The first 100 are free to browse.

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Rank in Pakistan	World rank	Scientist	Institute	Sub-field	Rank in sub-field
1	1,331	ER Ellahi, R.	International Islamic University, Islamabad	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 19
2	1,950	AM Ashraf, Muhammad	University of Agriculture, Faisalabad	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 14
3	4,333	TM Tahir, M. Bilal	Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering & Information Technology	Energy	Rank 88
4	4,913	Ashraf, Muhammad	University of Agriculture, Faisalabad	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 50
5	6,454	IM Iqbal, Munawar	University of Lahore	Environmental Sciences	Rank 62
6	7,024	WM Waqas, Muhammad	National University of Technology	Applied Physics	Rank 143
7	7,865	NS Nadeem, Sohail	Quaid-i-Azam University	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 77
8	9,700	WA Wahid, Abdul	University of Agriculture, Faisalabad	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 126
9	10,200	AN Akbar, Noreen Sher	National University of Sciences and Technology Pakistan	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 102
10	10,468	KA Kausar, Ayesha	Quaid-i-Azam University	Polymers	Rank 72
11	13,727	AM Akram, Muhammad	University of the Punjab	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 374
12	14,885	NM Noor, Muhammad Aslam	COMSATS University Islamabad	General Mathematics	Rank 51
13	15,239	Rizwan, Muhammad	Government College University Faisalabad	Environmental Sciences	Rank 172
14	15,801	AH Ali, Hazrat	University of Malakand	Environmental Sciences	Rank 181
15	15,893	MM Mustafa, M.	National University of Sciences and Technology Pakistan	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 154
16	15,985	SS Shehzad, S. A.	COMSATS University Islamabad, Sahiwal Campus	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 156
17	16,323	Javaid, Nadeem	COMSATS University Islamabad	Networking & Telecommunications	Rank 124
18	18,104	KM Khan, M. Ijaz	Riphah International University	Applied Physics	Rank 371
19	18,903	KM Khan, Masood	Quaid-i-Azam University	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 197
20	19,513	AM Akram, Muhammad	Government College University Faisalabad	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 91
21	21,316	AS Ali, Shafaqat	Government College University Faisalabad	Environmental Sciences	Rank 257
22	22,010	BA Baig, Abdul Mannan	The Aga Khan University	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 1,267
23	24,833	AF Anwar, Farooq	University of Sargodha	Food Science	Rank 149
24	25,976	SA Saeed, Aamer	Quaid-i-Azam University	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 102
25	26,702	AM Azam, Muhammad	Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan	Economics	Rank 403
26	27,702	ZK Zaman, Khalid	University of Haripur	Environmental Sciences	Rank 329
27	27,784	SM Shahid, Muhammad	COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari campus	Environmental Sciences	Rank 330
28	27,870	KH Khan, Haroon	Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 146
29	29,157	KS Khan, Sardar	University of Peshawar	Environmental Sciences	Rank 349
30	29,170	KM Khan, M. Imran	CECOS University of IT & Emerging Sciences	Chemical Physics	Rank 514
31	31,284	AM Ali, Muhammad Irfan	Islamabad Model College for Girls	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 759
32	34,791	QS Qureshi, Sania	Mehran University of Engineering & Technology	Mathematical Physics	Rank 18
33	34,846	KN Khan, Najeeb Alam	University of Karachi	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 339
34	35,819	Afsar, Bilal	Hazara University Pakistan	Business & Management	Rank 760
35	36,228	SM Shaikh, Masood Ali	Independent Consultant	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 447
36	36,422	ZA Zeeshan, Ahmed	International Islamic University, Islamabad	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 354
37	37,604	KM Khan, Majid	Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 904
38	38,355	BH Bhatti, Haq Nawaz	University of Agriculture, Faisalabad	Chemical Engineering	Rank 241
39	40,012	SM Sharif, M.	University of the Punjab	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 479
40	40,196	MG Murtaza, Ghulam	COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Lahore	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 221
41	42,271	HA Haq, Abdul	Quaid-i-Azam University	Statistics & Probability	Rank 228
42	42,595	AM Ahmad, Mahtab	Quaid-i-Azam University	Environmental Sciences	Rank 503
43	43,498	YZ Yousaf, Z.	University of the Punjab	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 535
44	45,183	AM Ashraf, Muhammad Arslan	Government College University Faisalabad	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 295
45	47,003	CM Choudhary, M. Iqbal	University of Karachi	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 139
46	49,122	BR Briddon, R. W.	National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Pakistan	Virology	Rank 270
47	49,476	Nizami, Abdul Sattar	Government College University Lahore	Energy	Rank 1,033
48	49,757	GA Gilani, Anwar Hassan	The Aga Khan University Medical College	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 147
49	50,091	AS Akhtar, Saeed	Bahauddin Zakariya University	Food Science	Rank 357
50	50,321	RM Ramzan, Muhammad	Bahria University	Applied Physics	Rank 1,021
51	52,211	AK Ahmed, Khalid	Sukkur IBA University	Environmental Sciences	Rank 630
52	52,389	KR Khan, Rifat Ullah	The University of Agriculture, Peshawar	Dairy & Animal Science	Rank 128
53	54,137	KT Khan, Tahir M.	University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 337
54	55,080	Haq, Rizwan Ul	Bahria University	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 538
55	55,549	RS Raza, Syed Ali	Iqra University	Business & Management	Rank 1,123
56	56,039	HI Hanif, Imran	University of Management and Technology Lahore	Environmental Sciences	Rank 685
57	58,081	AK Ayub, Khurshid	COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus	Chemical Physics	Rank 918
58	59,718	CZ Chohan, Zahid H.	Institute of Southern Punjab	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 266
59	59,831	MS Mohyud-Din, Syed Tauseef	University of Multan	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 585
60	60,719	NS Nishtar, Sania	Government of Pakistan	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 701
61	61,241	SJ Syed, Jawad	Suleman Dawood School of Business	Business & Management	Rank 1,220
62	61,980	NN Niazi, Nabeel Khan	University of Agriculture, Faisalabad	Environmental Sciences	Rank 764
63	63,632	MR Malik, Riffat Naseem	Quaid-i-Azam University	Environmental Sciences	Rank 792
64	65,290	DJ Das, Jai K.	The Aga Khan University	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 736
65	65,300	SK Shah, Kamal	University of Malakand	Applied Mathematics	Rank 178
66	67,510	HS Hussain, Saddam	University of Agriculture, Faisalabad	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 1,019
67	68,852	AS Anjum, Shakeel Ahmad	University of Agriculture, Faisalabad	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 1,039
68	69,816	Shah, Afzal	Quaid-i-Azam University	Energy	Rank 1,475
69	69,926	WM Waqas, Muhammad	Quaid-i-Azam University	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 863
70	70,365	QM Qasim, M.	COMSATS University Islamabad	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 667
71	72,479	Zia, Khalid Mahmood	Government College University Faisalabad	Polymers	Rank 696
72	72,855	AS Arshed, Saima	University of the Punjab	Optics	Rank 310
73	72,883	IK Ishaque, Kashif	Capital University of Science & Technology	Electrical & Electronic Engineering	Rank 203
74	73,200	Shahzad, Faisal	Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 1,935
75	73,666	ZA Zeb, Alam	University of Malakand	Food Science	Rank 555
76	75,169	RA Rauf, Abdur	University of Swabi	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 243
77	76,800	Akram, Nudrat Aisha	Government College University Faisalabad	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 1,179
78	77,266	IJ Iqbal, Javed	Quaid-i-Azam University	Applied Physics	Rank 1,613
79	77,478	UI Ullah, I.	The University of Agriculture, Peshawar	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 861
80	77,804	IJ Iqbal, Jamshed	COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus	Organic Chemistry	Rank 1,110
81	78,429	KK Khan, Khalid Mohammed	University of Karachi	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 256
82	78,876	SM Sharif, Muhammad	COMSATS University Islamabad, Wah Campus	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 1,790
83	79,354	SZ Shah, Zahir	University of Lakki Marwat	Applied Physics	Rank 1,662
84	79,414	KT Kazi, Tasneem Gul	University of Sindh	Analytical Chemistry	Rank 542
85	79,646	AM Akash, Muhammad Sajid Hamid	Government College University Faisalabad	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 511
86	80,954	SZ Shinwari, Zabta Khan	Quaid-i-Azam University	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 1,245
87	81,324	HS Hussain, Shafqat	Capital University of Science & Technology	Applied Physics	Rank 1,697
88	81,728	KA Khan, Asifullah	Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 1,846
89	82,485	RK Rehman, Kanwal	University of Agriculture, Faisalabad	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 1,855
90	83,187	HM Hussain, Mubshar	Bahauddin Zakariya University	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 1,279
91	83,247	AM Ashraf, M. Yasin	University of Lahore	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 1,282
92	83,461	Waheed, Yasir	Foundation University Medical College	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 923
93	83,914	SM Shamir, M. Farasat	National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences Islamabad	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 1,043
94	84,518	AK Abro, Kashif Ali	Mehran University of Engineering & Technology	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 1,053
95	84,790	KM Khan, Minhaj Ahmad	Bahauddin Zakariya University	Distributed Computing	Rank 18
96	85,173	AM Asgher, Muhammad	University of Agriculture, Faisalabad	Biotechnology	Rank 326
97	85,185	ZZ Zahir, Zahir Ahmad	University of Agriculture, Faisalabad	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 1,314
98	85,615	ZG Zaman, Gul	University of Malakand	General Mathematics	Rank 472
99	86,085	JA Jalil, Abdul	Pakistan Institute of Development Economics	Economics	Rank 1,051
100	86,673	IK Ijaz Khan, M.	Riphah International University	Medical Informatics	Rank 98
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Countries with a similar count

Single-year list2021

Egypt605 scientistsin 2021

Malaysia549 scientistsin 2021

Czech Republic458 scientistsin 2021

Mexico364 scientistsin 2021

Hungary285 scientistsin 2021

United Arab Emirates274 scientistsin 2021

Explore other countries

Single-year list2021

India3,352 scientistsin 2021

Iran1,701 scientistsin 2021

Bangladesh97 scientistsin 2021

Sri Lanka24 scientistsin 2021

China16,611 scientistsin 2021

Japan5,416 scientistsin 2021

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Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from Pakistan are in the 2021 Stanford Top 2% list?

380 scientists affiliated with Pakistan are on the 2021 single-year list, and 127 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2021 single-year list, Quaid-i-Azam University has the most listed scientists from Pakistan, with 30. It is followed by University of Agriculture, Faisalabad with 25.

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

On the single-year list, Pakistan went from 243 scientists in 2020 to 380 in 2021, a change of +56.4%.

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.