South Africa's Top 2% Scientists 2020: Career-Long List

South Africa has 536 scientists on the 2020 career-long 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 (112), followed by Stellenbosch University (71).

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

Career-long list, change on the previous year

2021+24.8%

2022+6.6%

2023+8.7%

2024+6.6%

2025+8.5%

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

Career-long list2020

Show the list

All 536 scientists

Career-long 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	587	CT Clutton-Brock, Tim	Universiteit van Pretoria	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 8
2	1,120	BL Berkman, Lisa	University of Witwatersrand	Public Health	Rank 6
3	1,314	SD Stein, Dan J.	University of Cape Town	Psychiatry	Rank 44
4	2,028	NT Noakes, Timothy	University of Cape Town	Sport Sciences	Rank 3
5	3,048	BW Bond, William	University of Cape Town	Ecology	Rank 57
6	3,539	RD Richardson, David M.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 67
7	3,897	OL Opie, Lionel H.	University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 202
8	4,061	SS Shapiro, Samuel	University of Cape Town, Faculty of Health Sciences	Epidemiology	Rank 17
9	4,806	VD Van de Peer, Yves	Universiteit van Pretoria	Developmental Biology	Rank 302
10	4,916	PM Pepper, Michael S.	Universiteit van Pretoria	Developmental Biology	Rank 307
11	4,969	KK Klugman, Keith P.	University of Witwatersrand	Microbiology	Rank 114
12	6,888	MJ Michael, Joseph P.	University of Witwatersrand	Organic Chemistry	Rank 160
13	7,127	RS Ray, Suprakash Sinha	The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research	Polymers	Rank 58
14	7,687	JR Jewkes, Rachel	South African Medical Research Council	Public Health	Rank 61
15	9,023	BL Barbour, Leonard J.	Stellenbosch University	Organic Chemistry	Rank 209
16	9,127	KM Kew, Michael	Groote Schuur Hospital	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 155
17	9,217	AR Asherson, Ronald A.	University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Pathology	Arthritis & Rheumatology	Rank 87
18	9,935	EG Ellis, George F.R.	University of Cape Town	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 154
19	10,929	HG Hofmeyr, G. Justus	Eastern Cape Department of Health	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 136
20	12,357	NT Nyokong, Tebello	Rhodes University	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 82
21	12,960	CR Cowling, Richard M.	Nelson Mandela University	Ecology	Rank 233
22	13,703	NA Naldrett, A. J.	University of Witwatersrand	Geology	Rank 14
23	14,381	Makinde, O. D.	Stellenbosch University	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 75
24	14,508	JS Johnson, Steven D.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 172
25	15,187	SS Stewart, Simon	University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 699
26	15,740	DW de Wit, Maarten	Nelson Mandela University	Geology	Rank 15
27	16,612	BD Baldwin, David S.	University of Cape Town	Psychiatry	Rank 440
28	16,745	MR Millar, Robert P.	Universiteit van Pretoria	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 472
29	16,774	MG Mensah, George A.	University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 756
30	16,891	BP Beighton, P.	University of Cape Town	Genetics & Heredity	Rank 96
31	17,033	EA Engelbrecht, Andries P.	Stellenbosch University	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 291
32	18,074	BE Bateman, Eric	University of Cape Town	Respiratory System	Rank 183
33	18,440	SR Scholes, Robert J.	University of Witwatersrand	Ecology	Rank 316
34	18,674	MW Marasas, W. F.O.	Stellenbosch University	Food Science	Rank 47
35	19,064	PK Peltzer, Karl	University of Limpopo	Public Health	Rank 161
36	19,177	EJ Eloff, Jacobus N.	Universiteit van Pretoria	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 71
37	19,372	VS van Staden, J.	University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg Campus	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 199
38	19,906	ON Owen-Smith, Norman	University of Witwatersrand	Ecology	Rank 339
39	20,160	DR Davé, Romeel	University of the Western Cape	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 188
40	20,408	GL Gilson, Lucy	University of Cape Town	Health Policy & Services	Rank 59
41	22,186	CJ Clemens, J. D.	Stellenbosch University	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 339
42	22,467	DP Donald, Peter R.	Stellenbosch University	Microbiology	Rank 542
43	22,760	DB De Blok, W. J.G.	University of Cape Town	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 222
44	23,061	WR Wallis, Robert S.	The Aurum Institute	Microbiology	Rank 554
45	24,447	RP Ryan, Peter G.	University of Cape Town	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 146
46	24,657	GW Getz, Wayne M.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Ecology	Rank 403
47	25,073	DM Dry, M. E.	University of Cape Town	Physical Chemistry	Rank 102
48	25,426	PP Pillay, Pragasen	University of Cape Town	Electrical & Electronic Engineering	Rank 59
49	25,679	MB Mayosi, Bongani M.	Groote Schuur Hospital	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 1,115
50	25,921	WR Wood, Robin	University of Cape Town	Virology	Rank 210
51	25,931	WM Wingfield, Michael J.	Universiteit van Pretoria	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 290
52	25,958	SG Shephard, Gordon	Cape Peninsula University of Technology	Food Science	Rank 83
53	26,304	WA Whitfield, A. K.	South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 162
54	26,503	EE Ebenso, E. E.	North-West University	Energy	Rank 224
55	26,647	Carranza, Emmanuel John M.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 413
56	27,326	KJ Kramers, J. D.	University of Johannesburg	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 425
57	28,030	TD Timothy, Dallen J.	University of Johannesburg	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 20
58	28,344	SS Seedat, Soraya	Stellenbosch University	Psychiatry	Rank 675
59	28,378	SM Samways, Michael J.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 474
60	29,310	LJ Lutjeharms, Johann R.E.	University of Cape Town	Oceanography	Rank 40
61	29,356	AA Atangana, Abdon	University of the Free State	Applied Mathematics	Rank 60
62	29,381	CD Cowan, Donald	Universiteit van Pretoria	Microbiology	Rank 718
63	29,859	ER Emsley, Robin A.	Stellenbosch University	Psychiatry	Rank 696
64	30,228	RU Ripamonti, U.	University of Witwatersrand	Dentistry	Rank 128
65	30,449	RC Rogerson, Christian M.	University of Johannesburg	Urban & Regional Planning	Rank 25
66	30,546	CH Coovadia, Hoosen M.	University of Witwatersrand	Virology	Rank 261
67	30,641	MJ Meng, Jie	Stellenbosch University	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 475
68	30,914	SC Shackleton, C. M.	Rhodes University	Ecology	Rank 514
69	31,142	JS Jacobson, Sandra W.	University of Cape Town	Substance Abuse	Rank 102
70	31,843	DD Dorrell, David G.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Electrical & Electronic Engineering	Rank 70
71	34,303	PD Pillay, Deenan	Africa Health Research Institute	Virology	Rank 291
72	34,315	PT Pal, Tarasankar	University of Johannesburg	Chemical Physics	Rank 767
73	35,406	VW van Wilgen, Brian W.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 596
74	35,583	WL Wadley, Lyn	University of Witwatersrand	Archaeology	Rank 17
75	36,079	BN Beukes, N.	University of Johannesburg	Geology	Rank 44
76	37,045	ZH Zar, Heather J.	University of Cape Town	Respiratory System	Rank 377
77	37,640	NM New, Mark	University of Cape Town	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 508
78	38,180	LC Lance, Charles E.	University of the Western Cape	Business & Management	Rank 340
79	38,916	KG Kaplan, Gilla	University of Cape Town	Microbiology	Rank 948
80	39,051	NF Nabarro, F. R.N.	University of Witwatersrand	Materials	Rank 473
81	39,156	SR Smith, Roger M.H.	Iziko South African Museum	Paleontology	Rank 134
82	39,260	CJ Cleymans, J.	University of Cape Town	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 639
83	39,639	WQ Wang, Qing Guo	University of Johannesburg	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 279
84	39,741	ET Egan, Timothy J.	University of Cape Town	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 134
85	40,682	WB Williams, Brian G.	Stellenbosch University	Virology	Rank 365
86	42,587	NS Nicolson, Susan W.	Universiteit van Pretoria	Physiology	Rank 188
87	43,327	MS Milton, Suzanne J.	University of Cape Town	Ecology	Rank 729
88	43,947	BR Blumenschine, Robert J.	Palaeontological Scientific Trust	Anthropology	Rank 49
89	44,156	ZM Znojil, Miloslav	Durban University of Technology	Mathematical Physics	Rank 38
90	44,157	OJ Ojewole, J. A.O.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 379
91	44,978	MA McLachlan, Anton	Nelson Mandela University	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 315
92	45,245	CT Celik, Turgay	University of Witwatersrand	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 778
93	45,288	JM James, Michael F.M.	University of Cape Town	Anesthesiology	Rank 160
94	45,553	FC Feldman, Charles	University of Witwatersrand	Microbiology	Rank 1,115
95	45,684	RC Reason, Chris J.C.	University of Cape Town	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 626
96	46,143	AP Andersson, Pher G.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Organic Chemistry	Rank 896
97	47,613	ML Manderson, Lenore	University of Witwatersrand	Public Health	Rank 451
98	47,750	RD Rawlings, Douglas E.	Stellenbosch University	Microbiology	Rank 1,169
99	47,754	VF Verheest, Frank	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 468
100	47,800	DL Denny, Lynette	University of Cape Town	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 2,176
No scientists match this filter.

Showing 1 to 100 of the first 100 Show

Paid plans

See all 536 scientists in South Africa

You are seeing the first 100. 436 more are on the 2020 career-long list.

Ranks 101 to 536The 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

Career-long list2020

Turkey614 scientistsin 2020

Brazil600 scientistsin 2020

Ireland547 scientistsin 2020

Iran433 scientistsin 2020

Portugal385 scientistsin 2020

Czech Republic335 scientistsin 2020

Explore other countries

Career-long list2020

Egypt219 scientistsin 2020

Nigeria42 scientistsin 2020

Kenya34 scientistsin 2020

Israel1,630 scientistsin 2020

Saudi Arabia321 scientistsin 2020

United Arab Emirates114 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 career-long list, University of Cape Town has the most listed scientists from South Africa, with 112. It is followed by Stellenbosch University with 71.

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.