South Africa's Top 2% Scientists 2020

South Africa has 589 scientists on the 2020 single-year Top 2% list. That places South Africa 32nd in the world by number of listed scientists. University of Cape Town has the most listed scientists (111), followed by Stellenbosch University (81).

Single Year

589

First year listed

Career Data

536

First year listed

World rank by count

#32

First year listed

Institutes

First year listed

Scientists in South Africa on the list, by year

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 list2020

Show the list

All 589 scientists

Single-year list2020

The first 100 are free to browse.

Export CSV

Rank in South Africa	World rank	Scientist	Institute	Sub-field	Rank in sub-field
1	703	AA Atangana, Abdon	University of the Free State	Applied Mathematics	Rank 3
2	1,058	SD Stein, Dan J.	University of Cape Town	Psychiatry	Rank 27
3	1,081	CT Clutton-Brock, Tim	Universiteit van Pretoria	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 15
4	1,518	BW Bond, William	University of Cape Town	Ecology	Rank 47
5	1,663	RD Richardson, David M.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 54
6	2,046	BL Berkman, Lisa	University of Witwatersrand	Public Health	Rank 23
7	2,594	JR Jewkes, Rachel	South African Medical Research Council	Public Health	Rank 28
8	3,253	Makinde, O. D.	Stellenbosch University	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 36
9	4,522	Carranza, Emmanuel John M.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 72
10	4,596	RS Ray, Suprakash Sinha	The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research	Polymers	Rank 36
11	4,960	NT Noakes, Timothy	University of Cape Town	Sport Sciences	Rank 12
12	5,183	PK Peltzer, Karl	University of Limpopo	Public Health	Rank 55
13	6,010	VD Van de Peer, Yves	Universiteit van Pretoria	Developmental Biology	Rank 236
14	6,325	MJ Michael, Joseph P.	University of Witwatersrand	Organic Chemistry	Rank 105
15	7,099	EA Engelbrecht, Andries P.	Stellenbosch University	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 237
16	7,515	EE Ebenso, E. E.	North-West University	Energy	Rank 145
17	8,902	RP Ryan, Peter G.	University of Cape Town	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 41
18	9,023	CT Celik, Turgay	University of Witwatersrand	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 289
19	9,624	SS Seedat, Soraya	Stellenbosch University	Psychiatry	Rank 221
20	11,303	MB Mayosi, Bongani M.	Groote Schuur Hospital	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 347
21	11,755	EJ Eloff, Jacobus N.	Universiteit van Pretoria	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 26
22	11,799	MJ Meng, Jie	Stellenbosch University	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 118
23	12,021	KA Kengne, André Pascal	South African Medical Research Council	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 155
24	12,028	NT Nyokong, Tebello	Rhodes University	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 41
25	12,159	SR Scholes, Robert J.	University of Witwatersrand	Ecology	Rank 313
26	12,709	TD Timothy, Dallen J.	University of Johannesburg	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 38
27	12,784	DD Dorrell, David G.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Electrical & Electronic Engineering	Rank 45
28	12,887	WM Wingfield, Michael J.	Universiteit van Pretoria	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 152
29	13,026	EG Ellis, George F.R.	University of Cape Town	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 123
30	15,027	HG Hofmeyr, G. Justus	Eastern Cape Department of Health	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 179
31	15,085	AS Asongu, Simplice	University of South Africa	Economics	Rank 239
32	15,197	CJ Clemens, J. D.	Stellenbosch University	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 289
33	15,478	WV Watson, Vanessa	University of Cape Town	Urban & Regional Planning	Rank 38
34	15,624	JS Johnson, Steven D.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 162
35	15,894	RC Rogerson, Christian M.	University of Johannesburg	Urban & Regional Planning	Rank 40
36	16,161	GL Gilson, Lucy	University of Cape Town	Health Policy & Services	Rank 41
37	16,675	PP Pillay, Pragasen	University of Cape Town	Electrical & Electronic Engineering	Rank 65
38	17,752	KM Kew, Michael	Groote Schuur Hospital	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 199
39	17,851	BT Baum, Tom	University of Johannesburg	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 57
40	17,880	WA Whitfield, A. K.	South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 103
41	18,197	BD Baldwin, David S.	University of Cape Town	Psychiatry	Rank 413
42	18,200	CV Chaplot, Vincent	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 91
43	18,397	TH Touchette, Hugo	Stellenbosch University	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 163
44	18,464	DK Dheda, Keertan	University of Cape Town	Microbiology	Rank 379
45	18,556	ON Owen-Smith, Norman	University of Witwatersrand	Ecology	Rank 447
46	18,688	OA Ofomaja, Augustine E.	Vaal University of Technology	Chemical Engineering	Rank 109
47	18,708	XX Xia, Xiaohua	Universiteit van Pretoria	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 213
48	18,866	DR Davé, Romeel	University of the Western Cape	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 118
49	18,930	SJ Saarinen, Jarkko	University of Johannesburg	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 60
50	19,145	VS van Staden, J.	University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg Campus	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 219
51	19,345	SC Shackleton, C. M.	Rhodes University	Ecology	Rank 464
52	19,803	HW Heiss, Walter Dieter	Stellenbosch University	General Physics	Rank 121
53	19,867	BL Barbour, Leonard J.	Stellenbosch University	Organic Chemistry	Rank 327
54	20,358	DM Dry, M. E.	University of Cape Town	Physical Chemistry	Rank 116
55	20,488	RH Ramkissoon, Haywantee	University of Johannesburg	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 66
56	21,382	CR Cowling, Richard M.	Nelson Mandela University	Ecology	Rank 517
57	22,050	NM New, Mark	University of Cape Town	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 409
58	22,260	KK Klugman, Keith P.	University of Witwatersrand	Microbiology	Rank 472
59	22,368	KK Kaviyarasu, K.	National Research Foundation	Applied Physics	Rank 484
60	22,481	ON Odhiambo, Nicholas M.	University of South Africa	Economics	Rank 340
61	23,058	LC Lance, Charles E.	University of the Western Cape	Business & Management	Rank 541
62	23,577	LC Lund, Crick	University of Cape Town	Psychiatry	Rank 504
63	23,884	MG Mensah, George A.	University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 708
64	24,607	DW de Wit, Maarten	Nelson Mandela University	Geology	Rank 35
65	24,654	NS Nicolson, Susan W.	Universiteit van Pretoria	Physiology	Rank 57
66	25,097	DB De Blok, W. J.G.	University of Cape Town	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 180
67	25,243	OL Opie, Lionel H.	University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 736
68	25,428	CD Cowan, Donald	Universiteit van Pretoria	Microbiology	Rank 530
69	25,699	GJ Gaillard, J. C.	University of Auckland	Strategic, Defence & Security Studies	Rank 52
70	25,970	SK Sliwa, Karen	University of Cape Town, Faculty of Health Sciences	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 764
71	26,504	RL Richter, Linda M.	University of Witwatersrand	Public Health	Rank 278
72	27,022	CF Crundwell, Frank K.	University of Witwatersrand, School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering	Mining & Metallurgy	Rank 12
73	27,346	MS Madhi, Shabir A.	University of Witwatersrand	Microbiology	Rank 568
74	27,480	MG Midgley, Guy F.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 605
75	27,576	MJ Meyer, Josua P.	Universiteit van Pretoria	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 273
76	27,854	TI Turok, Ivan Nicholas	Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa	Urban & Regional Planning	Rank 69
77	27,861	DL Denny, Lynette	University of Cape Town	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 989
78	27,875	LA Lindgreen, Adam	Universiteit van Pretoria	Marketing	Rank 145
79	28,059	VW van Wilgen, Brian W.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 622
80	28,679	SS Stewart, Simon	University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 840
81	28,916	WL Wadley, Lyn	University of Witwatersrand	Archaeology	Rank 20
82	29,331	AS Archibald, Sally	University of Witwatersrand	Ecology	Rank 647
83	29,724	OU Opara, Umezuruike Obia	Stellenbosch University	Food Science	Rank 164
84	29,929	SG Shephard, Gordon	Cape Peninsula University of Technology	Food Science	Rank 168
85	30,751	CC Chi, Christina G.	University of Johannesburg	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 98
86	30,932	BH Binswanger-Mkhize, Hans Peter	Universiteit van Pretoria	Agricultural Economics & Policy	Rank 43
87	30,962	GR Gupta, Rangan	Universiteit van Pretoria	Economics	Rank 454
88	31,446	BR Blumenschine, Robert J.	Palaeontological Scientific Trust	Anthropology	Rank 38
89	31,626	GW Getz, Wayne M.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Ecology	Rank 693
90	31,680	HD Harlov, Daniel E.	University of Johannesburg	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 628
91	31,954	HM Henning, Michael A.	University of Johannesburg	Computation Theory & Mathematics	Rank 69
92	32,137	SM Samways, Michael J.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 704
93	32,215	FA Forbes, Andrew	University of Witwatersrand	Optoelectronics & Photonics	Rank 80
94	32,670	RF Raal, Frederick J.	University of Witwatersrand	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 948
95	33,029	BN Beukes, N.	University of Johannesburg	Geology	Rank 48
96	33,162	PT Pal, Tarasankar	University of Johannesburg	Chemical Physics	Rank 590
97	33,574	LN Levitt, N.	University of Cape Town	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 639
98	33,664	SM Scholz, M.	University of Johannesburg	Environmental Engineering	Rank 185
99	34,032	ZH Zar, Heather J.	University of Cape Town	Respiratory System	Rank 216
100	34,290	MR Millar, Robert P.	Universiteit van Pretoria	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 648
No scientists match this filter.

Showing 1 to 100 of the first 100 Show

Paid plans

See all 589 scientists in South Africa

You are seeing the first 100. 489 more are on the 2020 single-year list.

Ranks 101 to 589The whole list, not only the top 100.

Every year since 2020Single Year and Career Data.

Search the full listBy name, institute or sub-field.

CSV exportDownload the list for your own work.

View Plans & Upgrade Compare plans

Cancel anytime · Secure billing

Countries with a similar count

Single-year list2020

New Zealand756 scientistsin 2020

Russia751 scientistsin 2020

Greece666 scientistsin 2020

Ireland586 scientistsin 2020

Saudi Arabia557 scientistsin 2020

Portugal552 scientistsin 2020

Explore other countries

Single-year list2020

Egypt397 scientistsin 2020

Nigeria71 scientistsin 2020

Tunisia39 scientistsin 2020

Kenya34 scientistsin 2020

Algeria30 scientistsin 2020

Ethiopia28 scientistsin 2020

All countries on the world map

Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from South Africa are in the 2020 Stanford Top 2% list?

589 scientists affiliated with South Africa are on the 2020 single-year list, and 536 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2020 single-year list, University of Cape Town has the most listed scientists from South Africa, with 111. It is followed by Stellenbosch University with 81.

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.