South Africa's Top 2% Scientists 2021

South Africa has 752 scientists on the 2021 single-year Top 2% list, up 27.7% from 589 in 2020. That places South Africa 33rd in the world by number of listed scientists, down 1 place. University of Cape Town has the most listed scientists (120), followed by Stellenbosch University (90).

Single Year

752

+163 (+27.7%) vs 2020

Career Data

669

+133 (+24.8%) vs 2020

World rank by count

#33

down 1 place vs 2020

Institutes

+16 (+25.4%) vs 2020

Scientists in South Africa on the list, by year

The single-year count has grown 28% 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 list2021

Show the list

1University of Cape Town120
2Stellenbosch University90
3University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg78
4University of KwaZulu-Natal70
5University of Pretoria70
6University of Johannesburg54
7University of South Africa25
8University of the Free State19
9University of the Western Cape19
10North-West University16

All 752 scientists

Single-year list2021

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	132	HM Hamblin, Michael R.	University of Johannesburg	Dermatology & Venereal Diseases	Rank 1
2	186	AA Atangana, A.	University of the Free State	Applied Mathematics	Rank 1
3	762	SD Stein, Dan J.	University of Cape Town	Psychiatry	Rank 17
4	776	Van der Bruggen, Bart	Tshwane University of Technology	Chemical Engineering	Rank 5
5	1,347	BW Bond, William J.	University of Cape Town	Ecology	Rank 38
6	1,638	HP Hallinger, Philip	University of Johannesburg	Education	Rank 11
7	1,804	RD Richardson, David M.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 59
8	1,980	Makinde, O. D.	Stellenbosch University	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 25
9	2,660	JR Jewkes, Rachel	South African Medical Research Council	Public Health	Rank 27
10	2,672	GD Gursoy, Dogan	University of Johannesburg	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 9
11	2,996	RP Ryan, Peter G.	University of Cape Town	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 10
12	3,252	MP Muris, Peter	Stellenbosch University	Clinical Psychology	Rank 24
13	4,844	Carranza, Emmanuel John M.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 78
14	5,745	RS Ray, Suprakas Sinha	The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research	Polymers	Rank 35
15	7,145	NT Noakes, Tim	Cape Peninsula University of Technology	Sport Sciences	Rank 28
16	7,779	EE Ebenso, Eno E.	University of South Africa	Energy	Rank 158
17	7,787	OK Owolabi, Kolade M.	University of the Free State	Mathematical Physics	Rank 9
18	8,150	KA Kengne, Andre Pascal	South African Medical Research Council	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 120
19	8,156	EJ Eloff, Jacobus N.	University of Pretoria	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 21
20	8,298	EA Engelbrecht, Andries P.	Stellenbosch University	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 237
21	9,043	TD Timothy, Dallen J.	University of Johannesburg	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 34
22	9,309	MN Malhotra, Naresh K.	University of Johannesburg	Marketing	Rank 47
23	10,059	SS Seedat, Soraya	Stellenbosch University	Psychiatry	Rank 225
24	10,350	MJ Michael, Joseph P.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Organic Chemistry	Rank 152
25	10,920	PN Park, Nansook	University of Johannesburg	Social Psychology	Rank 207
26	11,346	SR Scholes, Robert J.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Ecology	Rank 288
27	11,410	CJ Clemens, J. D.	Stellenbosch University	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 197
28	11,499	EG Ellis, George F.R.	University of Cape Town	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 131
29	12,146	MB Mayosi, Bongani	Groote Schuur Hospital	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 400
30	12,523	NT Nyokong, Tebello	Rhodes University	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 45
31	12,568	WV Watson, Vanessa	University of Cape Town	Urban & Regional Planning	Rank 29
32	12,696	JS Johnson, Steven D.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 122
33	13,126	CT Celik, Turgay	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 358
34	13,377	WM Wingfield, Michael J.	University of Pretoria	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 171
35	13,696	GL Gilson, Lucy	University of Cape Town	Health Policy & Services	Rank 37
36	13,771	WA Whitfield, Alan K.	South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 77
37	13,829	ON Odhiambo, Nicholas M.	University of South Africa	Economics	Rank 225
38	13,859	LC Lund, Crick	University of Cape Town	Psychiatry	Rank 315
39	14,396	BO Babalola, Olubukola Oluranti	North-West University	Microbiology	Rank 318
40	15,532	GR Gupta, Rangan	University of Pretoria	Economics	Rank 245
41	15,590	VS van Staden, Johannes	University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg Campus	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 196
42	16,342	MM Mazzola, M.	Stellenbosch University	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 205
43	16,760	SC Shackleton, C. M.	Rhodes University	Ecology	Rank 398
44	16,922	RC Rogerson, Christian M.	University of Johannesburg	Geography	Rank 81
45	17,123	GJ Gaillard, J. C.	The University of Auckland	Strategic, Defence & Security Studies	Rank 35
46	17,453	KJ Knight, Jane	University of Johannesburg	Education	Rank 136
47	17,959	SJ Saarinen, Jarkko	University of Johannesburg	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 64
48	18,128	GJ Gibson, James L.	Stellenbosch University	Political Science & Public Administration	Rank 103
49	18,425	HG Hofmeyr, G. J.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 234
50	18,763	DR Davé, Romeel	University of the Western Cape	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 142
51	19,443	DD Dorrell, David G.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Electrical & Electronic Engineering	Rank 62
52	19,450	DM Dry, M. E.	University of Cape Town	Physical Chemistry	Rank 102
53	19,539	CF Crundwell, F. K.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Mining & Metallurgy	Rank 5
54	19,893	MC Marean, Curtis W.	Nelson Mandela University	Anthropology	Rank 19
55	20,325	PE Pretorius, Etheresia	Stellenbosch University	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 648
56	20,394	RJ Raelin, Joe	University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business	Business & Management	Rank 467
57	20,542	FA Forbes, Andrew	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Optics	Rank 91
58	21,033	TI Turok, Ivan	University of the Free State	Urban & Regional Planning	Rank 46
59	21,074	BD Baldwin, David S.	University of Cape Town	Psychiatry	Rank 457
60	21,201	AS Archibald, Sally	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Ecology	Rank 487
61	21,285	BL Barbour, Leonard J.	Stellenbosch University	Organic Chemistry	Rank 313
62	21,324	CR Cowling, Richard M.	Nelson Mandela University	Ecology	Rank 492
63	21,374	NA Naldrett, Anthony J.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Geology	Rank 31
64	21,880	OA Ofomaja, A. E.	Vaal University of Technology	Chemical Engineering	Rank 126
65	22,034	DB De Blok, W. J.G.	University of Cape Town	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 175
66	22,474	CV Chaplot, Vincent	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 133
67	22,483	ZH Zar, Heather J.	University of Cape Town	Respiratory System	Rank 164
68	22,594	CA Cooper, Andrew	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Oceanography	Rank 23
69	22,698	OU Opara, Umezuruike Linus	Stellenbosch University	Food Science	Rank 129
70	22,755	WL Wadley, Lyn	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Archaeology	Rank 16
71	23,612	ON Owen-Smith, Norman	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Ecology	Rank 536
72	23,676	MM Maaza, Malik	University of South Africa	Applied Physics	Rank 494
73	23,716	IR Inglesi-Lotz, Roula	University of Pretoria	Energy	Rank 496
74	23,921	HG Harrison, Glenn W.	University of Cape Town	Economics	Rank 354
75	23,947	GW Getz, Wayne M.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Ecology	Rank 545
76	24,038	VW Van Wyk, Ben Erik	University of Johannesburg	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 306
77	24,203	AH Abrahamse, Heidi	University of Johannesburg	Dermatology & Venereal Diseases	Rank 79
78	24,606	DL Denny, Lynette	Groote Schuur Hospital	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 895
79	25,008	KM Kew, Michael	Groote Schuur Hospital	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 285
80	25,216	XX Xia, Xiaohua	University of Pretoria	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 246
81	25,282	JH Jafari, H.	University of South Africa	Numerical & Computational Mathematics	Rank 57
82	25,578	VW van Wilgen, Brian W.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 583
83	26,231	SG Sileshi, Gudeta W.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 163
84	26,258	NS Nicolson, Susan W.	University of Pretoria	Entomology	Rank 43
85	26,519	SM Samways, Michael J.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 601
86	26,938	AK Abdool Karim, Salim S.	Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa	Virology	Rank 135
87	27,105	DP du Plessis, A.	Stellenbosch University	Materials	Rank 494
88	27,267	PM Pepper, Michael S.	University of Pretoria	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 635
89	27,282	DW de Wit, Maarten	Nelson Mandela University	Geology	Rank 43
90	27,517	HW Heiss, W. D.	Stellenbosch University	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 325
91	27,574	RL Richter, Linda	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Public Health	Rank 274
92	27,627	LA Lindgreen, Adam	Gordon Institute of Business Science	Marketing	Rank 151
93	27,654	KK Kusakana, Kanzumba	Central University of Technology, Free State	Energy	Rank 574
94	27,773	PS Parnell, Susan	University of Cape Town	Geography	Rank 130
95	27,997	OA Okoh, Anthony Ifeanyi	University of Fort Hare	Environmental Sciences	Rank 335
96	28,350	RF Raal, Frederick J.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 860
97	28,858	NM New, Mark G.	University of Cape Town	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 547
98	29,258	LC Lance, Charles E.	University of the Western Cape	Business & Management	Rank 626
99	29,861	BT Baker, Ted	University of Cape Town	Business & Management	Rank 636
100	30,090	OL Opie, Lionel H.	Groote Schuur Hospital	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 911
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Ranks 101 to 752The 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 list2021

New Zealand901 scientistsin 2021

Saudi Arabia870 scientistsin 2021

Greece846 scientistsin 2021

Ireland710 scientistsin 2021

Portugal703 scientistsin 2021

Egypt605 scientistsin 2021

Explore other countries

Single-year list2021

Nigeria121 scientistsin 2021

Ethiopia68 scientistsin 2021

Tunisia52 scientistsin 2021

Algeria47 scientistsin 2021

Morocco45 scientistsin 2021

Kenya39 scientistsin 2021

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Frequently asked questions

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

752 scientists affiliated with South Africa are on the 2021 single-year list, and 669 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2021 single-year list, University of Cape Town has the most listed scientists from South Africa, with 120. It is followed by Stellenbosch University with 90.

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 752 in 2021, a change of +27.7%.

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.