Pakistan's Top 2% Scientists 2023: Career-Long List

Pakistan has 187 scientists on the 2023 career-long Top 2% list, up 36.5% from 137 in 2022. That places Pakistan 45th in the world by number of listed scientists, up 2 places. Quaid-i-Azam University has the most listed scientists (18), followed by University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (11).

Single Year

709

+200 (+39.3%) vs 2022

Career Data

187

+50 (+36.5%) vs 2022

World rank by count

#45

up 2 places vs 2022

Institutes

+23 (+38.3%) vs 2022

Scientists in Pakistan on the list, by year

The career-long count has more than doubled since 2020.

Career-long list, change on the previous year

2021+56.8%

2022+7.9%

2023+36.5%

2024+19.3%

2025+20.2%

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

Career-long list2023

Show the list

All 187 scientists

Career-long list2023

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	598	BZ Bhutta, Zulfiqar A.	The Aga Khan University	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 17
2	1,204	Ashraf, Muhammad	University of Lahore	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 6
3	3,547	HT Hayat, Tasawar	Quaid-i-Azam University	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 22
4	8,196	Ellahi, Rahmat	International Islamic University, Islamabad	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 51
5	11,985	NM Noor, Muhammad Aslam	COMSATS University Islamabad	General Mathematics	Rank 28
6	17,656	AK Asif Khan, M.	Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology	Applied Physics	Rank 427
7	22,275	NS Nadeem, Sohail	Quaid-i-Azam University	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 129
8	23,638	AN Akbar, Noreen Sher	National University of Sciences and Technology Pakistan	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 136
9	24,679	VS Virani, Salim S.	Baylor College of Medicine	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 1,032
10	28,486	WA Wahid, Abdul	Bahauddin Zakariya University	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 333
11	41,533	AF Atta-Ur-rahman, F. R.S.	University of Karachi	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 120
12	42,757	GA Gilani, Anwar H.	The Aga Khan University Medical College	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 124
13	49,975	CZ Chohan, Zahid H.	Institute of Southern Punjab Multan	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 297
14	51,307	AM Ahmad, Mushtaq	Quaid-i-Azam University	Microscopy	Rank 16
15	51,608	KM Khan, Masood	Quaid-i-Azam University	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 319
16	53,354	KM Khan, M. Ijaz	Riphah International University	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 331
17	53,561	AM Ashraf, M. A.	Government College University Faisalabad	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 246
18	54,664	AM Akram, Muhammad	University of the Punjab	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 1,056
19	55,185	BR Briddon, R. W.	National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Pakistan	Virology	Rank 423
20	57,755	SM Sharif, M.	University of Lahore	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 942
21	58,477	TM Tahir, M. B.	Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering & Information Technology	Energy	Rank 691
22	61,686	CM Choudhary, Muhammad I.	University of Karachi	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 187
23	62,655	AM Akhtar, Masood	Bahauddin Zakariya University	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 2,232
24	62,687	IM Iqbal, Munawar	University of Education	Chemical Physics	Rank 1,300
25	63,822	MM Mustafa, M.	National University of Sciences and Technology Pakistan	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 404
26	64,796	JM Jamil, Mubasher	National University of Sciences and Technology Pakistan	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 1,058
27	68,529	AJ Ali, J.	Quaid-i-Azam University	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 618
28	68,925	SM Shahid, M.	University of Agriculture, Faisalabad	Environmental Sciences	Rank 392
29	74,970	SA Saeed, Aamer	Quaid-i-Azam University	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 451
30	76,990	HA Haider, Adil H.	The Aga Khan University Medical College	Surgery	Rank 682
31	78,091	WM Waqas, Muhammad	National University of Technology	Applied Physics	Rank 2,066
32	90,575	Javaid, Nadeem	COMSATS University Islamabad	Networking & Telecommunications	Rank 792
33	91,247	BC Broelsch, Christoph E.	Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences	Surgery	Rank 813
34	93,120	MS Mohyud-Din, Syed Tauseef	University Multan	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 619
35	94,352	AF Anwar, Farooq	University of Sargodha	Food Science	Rank 462
36	95,135	SS Shehzad, S. A.	COMSATS University Islamabad, Sahiwal Campus	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 630
37	95,171	AM Akram, Muhammad	Government College University Faisalabad	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 882
38	102,257	NS Nishtar, Sania	Senate of Pakistan	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 1,312
39	102,981	KH Khan, H.	Gomal University	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 971
40	104,011	AH Ali, H.	University of Malakand	Environmental Sciences	Rank 644
41	109,671	MG Murtaza, G.	COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Lahore	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 1,036
42	117,145	IJ Iqbal, Javed	University of Sahiwal	Organic Chemistry	Rank 2,084
43	118,293	SM Sarfraz, Muhammad	University of Gujrat	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 2,260
44	121,450	Rizwan, Muhammad	Government College University Faisalabad	Environmental Sciences	Rank 776
45	124,080	SZ Shinwari, Zabta Khan	Quaid-i-Azam University	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 1,769
46	125,235	AM Ali, Muhammad Irfan	Islamabad Model College for Boys	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 2,390
47	128,798	AS Ali, Shafaqat	Government College University Faisalabad	Environmental Sciences	Rank 823
48	129,345	HI Hussain, Irshad	Lahore University of Management Sciences	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 1,294
49	131,052	SM Sajid, M.	International Islamic University, Islamabad	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 915
50	132,279	IM Imran, M.	Islamia College, Peshawar	Networking & Telecommunications	Rank 1,211
51	132,374	ZK Zaman, Khalid	The University of Haripur	Environmental Sciences	Rank 850
52	132,602	BH Bhatti, Haq Nawaz	University of Agriculture, Faisalabad	Chemical Engineering	Rank 626
53	138,007	NK Noor, Khalida Inayat	COMSATS University Islamabad	General Mathematics	Rank 795
54	141,546	FS Fahad, Shah	Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 2,009
55	142,715	AM Abbas, Mujahid	Government College University Lahore	General Mathematics	Rank 830
56	142,972	MT Mahmood, T.	Quaid-i-Azam University	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 2,035
57	143,408	WG Walraven, Gijs	The Aga Khan University	Tropical Medicine	Rank 345
58	143,429	JA Javaid, Arshad	University of the Punjab	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 2,043
59	144,260	KM Khan, M. Ajmal	Bahauddin Zakariya University	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 2,055
60	145,055	SM Shaikh, Masood Ali	Independent Consultant	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 1,876
61	145,767	SB Sener, Bilge	University of Karachi	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 530
62	147,616	AS Akhtar, Saeed	Bahauddin Zakariya University	Food Science	Rank 762
63	148,673	KS Khan, Sardar	University of Peshawar	Environmental Sciences	Rank 988
64	149,075	BA Bano, Asghari	University of Wah	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 2,130
65	151,523	KA Khan, Abdul G.	Quaid-i-Azam University	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 2,175
66	154,518	AS Asghar, Saleem	COMSATS University Islamabad	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 1,092
67	157,126	KK Khan, Khalid Mohammed	University of Karachi	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 585
68	158,276	HD Haleem, Darakhshan Jabeen	University of Karachi	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 1,546
69	158,542	AM Ahmad, Munir	PMAS-Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 2,285
70	159,567	DK Damji, Karim F.	The Aga Khan University	Ophthalmology & Optometry	Rank 1,205
71	159,611	KT Kazi, Tasneem Gul	University of Sindh	Analytical Chemistry	Rank 1,241
72	163,864	KM Khan, Majid	Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 3,149
73	164,400	MK Mahmood, Khalid	University of the Punjab	Information & Library Sciences	Rank 103
74	166,421	Shah, Afzal	Quaid-i-Azam University	Energy	Rank 2,241
75	168,388	KT Khan, Tahir Mehmood	University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 1,653
76	169,392	AK Ahmad, Khabir	The Aga Khan University Hospital	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 2,193
77	170,197	AM Arshad, Muhammad	University of Sargodha	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 2,453
78	177,915	UM Usman, Muhammad	University of Agriculture, Faisalabad	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 2,583
79	177,948	Nizami, Abdul Sattar	Government College University Lahore	Energy	Rank 2,409
80	178,092	QM Qasim, Muhammad	COMSATS University Islamabad	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 1,271
81	178,511	Iqbal, Muhammad Javed	University of Sialkot	Materials	Rank 2,436
82	179,468	SF Shafait, Faisal	School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 3,495
83	179,990	Afzal, Adeel	University of the Punjab	Analytical Chemistry	Rank 1,455
84	181,794	ZA Zeb, Alam	University of Malakand	Food Science	Rank 973
85	182,012	SM Sarwar, Muhammad	University of Agriculture, Faisalabad	Dairy & Animal Science	Rank 564
86	183,460	IJ Iqbal, Jamshed	COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus	Organic Chemistry	Rank 3,191
87	184,532	AS Ahmad, Saeed	The Islamia University of Bahawalpur	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 1,181
88	191,390	Khan, A.	Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 3,719
89	192,614	ZA Zeeshan, Ahmed	International Islamic University, Islamabad	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 1,380
90	195,031	AR Ahmad, Rashid	University of Malakand	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 2,823
91	196,474	RM Ramzan, Muhammad	Bahria University	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 1,418
92	202,084	MR Malik, Riffat Naseem	Quaid-i-Azam University	Environmental Sciences	Rank 1,444
93	202,392	MA Maqsood, Asghari	Air University Islamabad	Materials	Rank 2,810
94	204,755	Haq, Rizwan Ul	National University of Sciences and Technology Pakistan	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 1,494
95	205,328	KR Khan, Rifat Ullah	The University of Agriculture, Peshawar	Dairy & Animal Science	Rank 658
96	207,601	BI Beg, Ismat	Lahore School of Economics	General Mathematics	Rank 1,405
97	211,072	AK Ayub, Khurshid	COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus	Chemical Physics	Rank 3,722
98	213,009	Ahmad, Khuram Shahzad	Fatima Jinnah Women University	Energy	Rank 2,992
99	213,968	TY Tsuda, Yoshisuke	University of Karachi	General Chemistry	Rank 576
100	214,571	AE Ahmed, Ejaz	University of the Punjab	Networking & Telecommunications	Rank 2,087
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Countries with a similar count

Career-long list2023

Thailand230 scientistsin 2023

Argentina226 scientistsin 2023

Chile192 scientistsin 2023

Slovenia172 scientistsin 2023

Romania169 scientistsin 2023

Qatar124 scientistsin 2023

Explore other countries

Career-long list2023

India2,578 scientistsin 2023

Iran871 scientistsin 2023

Bangladesh58 scientistsin 2023

Sri Lanka24 scientistsin 2023

China9,013 scientistsin 2023

Japan8,126 scientistsin 2023

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Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from Pakistan are in the 2023 Stanford Top 2% list?

709 scientists affiliated with Pakistan are on the 2023 single-year list, and 187 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2023 career-long list, Quaid-i-Azam University has the most listed scientists from Pakistan, with 18. It is followed by University of Agriculture, Faisalabad with 11.

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

On the career-long list, Pakistan went from 81 scientists in 2020 to 187 in 2023, a change of +130.9%.

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.