South Africa's Top 2% Scientists 2025

South Africa has 975 scientists on the 2025 single-year Top 2% list, up 8.2% from 901 in 2024. That places South Africa 33rd in the world by number of listed scientists, up 1 place. University of Cape Town has the most listed scientists (121), followed by University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (99).

Single Year

975

+74 (+8.2%) vs 2024

Career Data

896

+70 (+8.5%) vs 2024

World rank by count

#33

up 1 place vs 2024

Institutes

+24 (+35.8%) vs 2024

Scientists in South Africa on the list, by year

The single-year count has grown 66% since 2020.

Single-year list, change on the previous year

2021+27.7%

2022+6.8%

2023+6.5%

2024+5.4%

2025+8.2%

Show the numbers

Year	Single Year	Change	Career Data	Change
2020	589		536
2021	752	+27.7%	669	+24.8%
2022	803	+6.8%	713	+6.6%
2023	855	+6.5%	775	+8.7%
2024	901	+5.4%	826	+6.6%
2025	975	+8.2%	896	+8.5%

Top 10 institutes in South Africa

By number of listed scientists

Single-year list2025

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All 975 scientists

Single-year list2025

The first 100 are free to browse.

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Rank in South Africa	World rank	Scientist	Institute	Sub-field	Rank in sub-field
1	78	HM Hamblin, Michael R.	University of Johannesburg	Dermatology & Venereal Diseases	Rank 1
2	475	SD Stein, Dan J.	University of Cape Town	Psychiatry	Rank 12
3	709	AA Atangana, Abdon	University of the Free State	Applied Mathematics	Rank 2
4	1,463	BO Babalola, Olubukola Oluranti	North-West University	Microbiology	Rank 24
5	1,550	PG Prayag, Girish	University of Johannesburg	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 8
6	2,152	SM Steger, Michael F.	North-West University	Social Psychology	Rank 78
7	2,259	RD Richardson, David M.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 62
8	2,388	Makinde, O. D.	Stellenbosch University	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 24
9	2,591	FA Forbes, Andrew	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Optoelectronics & Photonics	Rank 3
10	2,662	CT Clutton-Brock, Tim H.	Kalahari Research Centre	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 16
11	2,921	RP Ryan, Peter G.	University of Cape Town	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 7
12	3,301	LT Little, Todd D.	North-West University	Developmental & Child Psychology	Rank 30
13	3,497	RS Ray, Suprakas Sinha	University of Johannesburg	Polymers	Rank 17
14	3,948	OA Onwuegbuzie, Anthony John	University of South Africa	Education	Rank 45
15	4,161	MA Mbembé, Achille	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Anthropology	Rank 2
16	4,872	Ezugwu, Absalom E.	North-West University	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 256
17	4,891	Carranza, Emmanuel John M.	University of the Free State	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 62
18	5,198	JR Jewkes, R. K.	South African Medical Research Council	Public Health	Rank 52
19	5,546	TT Torsvik, Trond H.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 72
20	5,826	MD Mhlanga, David	College of Business and Economics	Education	Rank 68
21	5,858	EE Ebenso, Eno E.	University of South Africa	Energy	Rank 158
22	6,259	ON Odhiambo, Nicholas M.	University of South Africa	Economics	Rank 131
23	6,350	GO Gureje, Oye	Stellenbosch University	Psychiatry	Rank 149
24	6,662	SS Seedat, Soraya	Stellenbosch University	Psychiatry	Rank 156
25	6,700	AB Aderibigbe, Blessing Atim A.	University of Fort Hare	Polymers	Rank 38
26	6,868	OU Opara, Umezuruike Linus	Stellenbosch University	Food Science	Rank 47
27	7,266	ÇT Çelik, Turgay	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 364
28	8,889	BM Burawoy, Michael	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Sociology	Rank 44
29	9,003	LC Lund, Crick	University of Cape Town	Psychiatry	Rank 200
30	9,353	GR Gupta, Rangan	University of Pretoria	Economics	Rank 173
31	9,568	WV Watson, Vanessa J.	University of Cape Town	Urban & Regional Planning	Rank 26
32	9,726	KP Kaur, Puneet	North-West University	Marketing	Rank 66
33	9,767	DR Dav́e, Romeel	University of the Western Cape	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 86
34	9,787	SK Sliwa, Karen S.	Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 293
35	9,970	KA Kengne, A. P.	South African Medical Research Council	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 172
36	10,531	EG Ellis, George Francis Rayner	University of Cape Town	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 132
37	10,988	EJ Eloff, Jacobus Nicholaas	University of Pretoria	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 36
38	11,065	MM Mǎaza, Maalik M.	University of South Africa	Applied Physics	Rank 218
39	11,070	SR Scholes, Robert J.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Ecology	Rank 259
40	11,962	ZH Zar, Heather J.	University of Cape Town	Respiratory System	Rank 65
41	12,090	DL Dicks, Leon Milner Theodore	Stellenbosch University	Microbiology	Rank 203
42	12,180	WM Wingfield, Michael J.	University of Pretoria	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 153
43	12,241	AH Abrahamse, Heidi	University of Johannesburg	Dermatology & Venereal Diseases	Rank 40
44	12,369	IR Inglesi-Lotz, Roula	University of Pretoria	Energy	Rank 330
45	12,489	HR Henkel, Ralf Reinhold	University of the Western Cape	Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine	Rank 39
46	12,666	GF Ganda, Fortune	Walter Sisulu University	Environmental Sciences	Rank 274
47	13,499	KK Kaviyarasu, K.	University of South Africa	Applied Physics	Rank 263
48	13,518	SC Shackleton, Charlie M.	Rhodes University	Ecology	Rank 301
49	14,155	EA Engelbrecht, Andries Petrus	Stellenbosch University	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 683
50	15,122	GJ Gibson, James L.	Stellenbosch University	Political Science & Public Administration	Rank 123
51	15,693	MP Moons, Philip	University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 477
52	15,715	MS Madhi, Shabir A.	University of the Witwatersrand Faculty of Health Sciences	Microbiology	Rank 280
53	15,868	NT Noakes, Timothy D.	Cape Peninsula University of Technology	Sport Sciences	Rank 64
54	15,974	WA Whitfield, Alan K.	South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 71
55	16,089	DD Dorrell, David G.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Electrical & Electronic Engineering	Rank 50
56	16,316	MA Maroyi, Alfred	University of Fort Hare	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 51
57	16,328	SM Schuld, Maria	University of Johannesburg	General Physics	Rank 122
58	16,427	RC Rogerson, Christianm M.	University of Johannesburg	Geography	Rank 79
59	16,706	RF Raal, Frederick Johan	University of the Witwatersrand Faculty of Health Sciences	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 504
60	17,383	OD Onwudiwe, Damian C.	School of Agricultural Sciences	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 42
61	17,561	AS Archibald, Sally A.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Ecology	Rank 377
62	17,908	FM Fine, Michelle	University of South Africa	Social Psychology	Rank 360
63	18,003	JM John, Maya Jacob	The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research	Polymers	Rank 127
64	18,041	WC Wiysonge, Charles Shey	South African Medical Research Council	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 265
65	18,896	SM Samways, Michael J.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 410
66	19,162	SA S Abdool Karim, Salim Safurdeen S.	Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa	Virology	Rank 42
67	19,216	GL Gilson, Lucy	University of Cape Town	Health Policy & Services	Rank 31
68	19,248	VD van der Heijden, Béatrice Isabella Johanna Maria	University of the Free State	Business & Management	Rank 556
69	19,602	OA Okoh, Anthony I.	University of Fort Hare	Microbiology	Rank 361
70	20,252	JS Johnson, Steven D.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 131
71	20,346	BL Bekker, Linda-Gail Gail	University of Cape Town	Virology	Rank 46
72	20,448	BA Bayat, Ardeshir	Groote Schuur Hospital	Dermatology & Venereal Diseases	Rank 64
73	20,886	AF Alberício, Fernando	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Organic Chemistry	Rank 245
74	21,634	MR Maartens, Roy	University of the Western Cape	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 276
75	21,792	CC Coetzee, Corné J.	Stellenbosch University	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 149
76	22,616	MB Mayosi, Bongani M.	University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 663
77	22,735	DK Dzobo, Kevin	University of Cape Town	Bioinformatics	Rank 66
78	22,837	RL Richter, Linda M.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Public Health	Rank 225
79	22,931	VS van Staden, Johannes V.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 308
80	23,255	CD Cowan, Don A.	University of Pretoria	Microbiology	Rank 431
81	23,375	AO Adebo, Oluwafemi Ayodeji	University of Johannesburg	Food Science	Rank 221
82	23,435	NT Nyokong, Tebello	Rhodes University	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 62
83	23,550	MM Manley, Marena	Stellenbosch University	Food Science	Rank 226
84	23,839	CJ Clemens, J. D.	Stellenbosch University	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 344
85	23,858	VW Van Wyk, Ben Erik	University of Johannesburg	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 323
86	24,174	NS Nicolson, Susan Wendy	University of Pretoria	Entomology	Rank 28
87	24,605	AP Adom, Philip Kofi	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Energy	Rank 656
88	25,340	BF Baker, Fiona C.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 1,168
89	25,674	MJ Meyer, J. P.	Stellenbosch University	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 254
90	25,880	DK Dube, Kaitano	Vaal University of Technology	Energy	Rank 697
91	25,930	ML Madikizela, Lawrence Mzukisi	University of South Africa	Environmental Sciences	Rank 558
92	26,567	BM Boettcher, M.	North-West University	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 316
93	27,000	TI Turok, Ivan Nicholas	University of the Free State	Urban & Regional Planning	Rank 90
94	27,080	CV Chaplot, Vincent A.M.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 191
95	27,485	SM Solms, Mark Leonard	University of Cape Town	Experimental Psychology	Rank 370
96	27,685	LT Letcher, Trevor M.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Chemical Engineering	Rank 183
97	28,010	NS Nkomo, Stella M.	University of Pretoria	Business & Management	Rank 771
98	28,314	LS Lewin, Simon A.	South African Medical Research Council	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 406
99	28,634	OR Owen-Smith, R. Norman	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Ecology	Rank 563
100	29,193	BA Bekker, Andrey Yu	University of Johannesburg	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 439
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Ranks 101 to 975The 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

Egypt1,106 scientists

Greece1,074 scientists

Portugal984 scientists

Russia962 scientists

New Zealand954 scientists

Pakistan946 scientists

Explore other countries

Single-year list2025

Nigeria291 scientists

Ethiopia194 scientists

Morocco134 scientists

Tunisia81 scientists

Algeria80 scientists

Ghana70 scientists

All countries on the world map

Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from South Africa are in the 2025 Stanford Top 2% list?

975 scientists affiliated with South Africa are on the 2025 single-year list, and 896 are on the career-long list.

Which institute in South Africa has the most Top 2% scientists?

On the 2025 single-year list, University of Cape Town has the most listed scientists from South Africa, with 121. It is followed by University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg with 99.

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

On the single-year list, South Africa went from 589 scientists in 2020 to 975 in 2025, a change of +65.5%.

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.