South Africa's Top 2% Scientists 2022: Career-Long List

South Africa has 713 scientists on the 2022 career-long Top 2% list, up 6.6% from 669 in 2021. That places South Africa 33rd in the world by number of listed scientists, down 2 places. University of Cape Town has the most listed scientists (130), followed by Stellenbosch University (79).

Single Year

803

+51 (+6.8%) vs 2021

Career Data

713

+44 (+6.6%) vs 2021

World rank by count

#33

down 2 places vs 2021

Institutes

+8 (+9.6%) vs 2021

Scientists in South Africa on the list, by year

The career-long count has grown 33% since 2020.

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 list2022

Show the list

1University of Cape Town130
2Stellenbosch University79
3University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg71
4University of Pretoria57
5University of KwaZulu-Natal51
6University of Johannesburg48
7University of the Free State20
8Faculty of Health Sciences16
9North-West University16
10Rhodes University14

All 713 scientists

Career-long list2022

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	194	SR Sheldon, Roger A.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Organic Chemistry	Rank 3
2	922	SD Stein, Dan J.	University of Cape Town	Psychiatry	Rank 29
3	1,638	HM Hamblin, Michael R.	University of Johannesburg	Dermatology & Venereal Diseases	Rank 2
4	2,044	NT Noakes, Timothy D.	Cape Peninsula University of Technology	Sport Sciences	Rank 2
5	2,690	BW Bond, William J.	University of Cape Town	Ecology	Rank 52
6	3,063	RD Richardson, David M.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 59
7	4,334	WA Wagner, Andreas	Stellenbosch University	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 54
8	4,344	OL Opie, Lionel H.	Groote Schuur Hospital	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 218
9	4,707	SS Shapiro, Samuel	Faculty of Health Sciences	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 87
10	5,579	PM Pepper, Michael S.	Faculty of Health Sciences	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 289
11	6,321	RS Ray, Suprakas Sinha	The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research	Polymers	Rank 50
12	6,603	CC Chapman, Colin A.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Ecology	Rank 115
13	7,185	JR Jewkes, Rachel	South African Medical Research Council	Public Health	Rank 57
14	7,329	MJ Michael, Joseph P.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Organic Chemistry	Rank 157
15	8,002	SM Sillanpää, Mika	University of Johannesburg	Environmental Sciences	Rank 35
16	8,974	AA Atangana, Abdon	University of the Free State	Applied Mathematics	Rank 23
17	9,721	KM Kew, Michael	Groote Schuur Hospital	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 165
18	9,899	Makinde, O. D.	Stellenbosch University	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 64
19	9,926	BL Barbour, Leonard J.	Stellenbosch University	Organic Chemistry	Rank 218
20	10,010	EG Ellis, G. F.R.	University of Cape Town	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 151
21	10,324	AR Asherson, Ronald A.	School of Pathology	Arthritis & Rheumatology	Rank 95
22	11,781	PJ Pitout, Johann	University of Pretoria	Microbiology	Rank 276
23	12,488	NT Nyokong, Tebello	Rhodes University	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 74
24	12,647	CR Cowling, R. M.	Nelson Mandela University	Ecology	Rank 229
25	12,812	JS Johnson, Steven D.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 164
26	13,994	NA Naldrett, Anthony J.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 209
27	14,168	PK Peltzer, Karl	University of Limpopo	Public Health	Rank 112
28	14,940	EA Engelbrecht, Andries Petrus	Stellenbosch University	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 275
29	14,994	HP Hallinger, Philip	University of Johannesburg	Education	Rank 54
30	15,459	EJ Eloff, J. N.	University of Pretoria	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 47
31	15,921	RP Ryan, Peter G.	University of Cape Town	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 87
32	16,002	DM deWit, Maarten J.	Nelson Mandela University	Geology	Rank 14
33	16,307	BD Baldwin, David S.	University of Cape Town	Psychiatry	Rank 443
34	16,837	VS Van Staden, Johannes	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 170
35	17,288	SR Scholes, Robert J.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Ecology	Rank 298
36	17,925	MR Millar, Robert P.	Faculty of Health Sciences	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 479
37	18,122	GL Gilson, Lucy	University of Cape Town	Health Policy & Services	Rank 45
38	18,170	BP Beighton, Peter	University of the Western Cape	Genetics & Heredity	Rank 95
39	18,583	EE Ebenso, Eno E.	University of South Africa	Energy	Rank 168
40	19,202	BE Bateman, Eric D.	University of Cape Town	Respiratory System	Rank 201
41	19,748	ON Owen-Smith, Norman	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Ecology	Rank 339
42	19,979	TD Timothy, Dallen J.	University of Johannesburg	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 19
43	20,426	MW Marasas, W. F.O.	Stellenbosch University	Food Science	Rank 61
44	20,660	MG Mensah, George A.	University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 892
45	20,773	Carranza, Emmanuel John M.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 334
46	22,062	WM Wingfield, Michael J	University of Pretoria	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 249
47	22,267	CJ Clemens, J. D.	Stellenbosch University	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 364
48	22,456	DB De Blok, W. J.G.	University of Cape Town	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 215
49	22,829	GW Getz, Wayne M.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Ecology	Rank 385
50	23,024	RC Rogerson, Christian M.	College of Business and Economics	Geography	Rank 58
51	23,343	DP Donald, Peter	Stellenbosch University	Microbiology	Rank 568
52	23,352	WR Wallis, Robert S.	The Aurum Institute	Microbiology	Rank 569
53	23,967	WA Whitfield, Alan K.	South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 165
54	24,173	SS Seedat, Soraya	Stellenbosch University	Psychiatry	Rank 602
55	24,262	MB Mayosi, Bongani M.	Groote Schuur Hospital	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 1,028
56	24,880	OS Oehninger, Sergio	Stellenbosch University	Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine	Rank 197
57	25,264	SM Samways, M. J.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 431
58	25,972	MC Marean, Curtis W.	Nelson Mandela University	Paleontology	Rank 68
59	26,841	SC Shackleton, Charlie M.	Rhodes University	Ecology	Rank 457
60	27,089	DM Dry, M. E.	University of Cape Town	Physical Chemistry	Rank 98
61	27,346	SG Shephard, Gordon S.	Cape Peninsula University of Technology	Food Science	Rank 92
62	27,414	WR Wood, Robin	University of Cape Town	Virology	Rank 196
63	27,783	CD Cowan, Don	University of Pretoria	Microbiology	Rank 691
64	28,257	DD Dorrell, David G.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Electrical & Electronic Engineering	Rank 67
65	28,782	HG Harrison, Glenn W.	University of Cape Town	Economics	Rank 234
66	30,018	KJ Kramers, Jan D.	University of Johannesburg	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 498
67	30,122	LJ Lutjeharms, Johann R.E.	University of Cape Town	Oceanography	Rank 34
68	30,671	ZH Zar, Heather J.	University of Cape Town	Respiratory System	Rank 307
69	30,839	ER Emsley, Robin	Stellenbosch University	Psychiatry	Rank 703
70	31,604	MA Mbembé, Achille	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Anthropology	Rank 28
71	32,308	VW van Wilgen, Brian W.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 556
72	33,198	RU Ripamonti, Ugo	Bone Research Laboratory	Dentistry	Rank 149
73	33,565	CH Coovadia, Hoosen M.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 453
74	33,790	JS Jacobson, Sandra W.	Faculty of Health Sciences	Substance Abuse	Rank 101
75	34,215	WL Wadley, Lyn	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Archaeology	Rank 19
76	35,152	MM Mazzola, M.	Stellenbosch University	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 423
77	35,819	LC Lance, Charles E.	University of the Western Cape	Business & Management	Rank 327
78	35,872	BN Beukes, Nicolas J.	University of Johannesburg	Geology	Rank 37
79	36,619	CJ Cleymans, J.	University of Cape Town	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 575
80	37,481	PD Pillay, Deenan	University College London	Virology	Rank 283
81	37,490	NM New, Mark G.	University of Cape Town	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 531
82	38,035	SR Smith, Roger M.H.	Iziko South African Museum	Paleontology	Rank 116
83	38,041	BT Baum, Tom	University of Johannesburg	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 36
84	38,259	MD Martin, Darren P.	University of Cape Town	Virology	Rank 288
85	39,114	CT Celik, Turgay	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 727
86	39,143	NS Nicolson, Susan W.	University of Pretoria	Entomology	Rank 63
87	40,362	WQ Wang, Qing Guo	University of Johannesburg	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 300
88	40,461	RC Reason, C. J.C.	University of Cape Town	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 573
89	40,590	SK Sliwa, Karen	University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 1,589
90	40,809	TI Turok, Ivan	University of the Free State	Urban & Regional Planning	Rank 40
91	40,817	NF Nabarro, F. R.N.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Materials	Rank 496
92	40,850	BS Benatar, Solomon	University of Cape Town	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 547
93	41,397	PN Park, Nansook	University of Johannesburg	Social Psychology	Rank 386
94	41,815	ET Egan, Timothy J.	University of Cape Town	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 112
95	42,430	DA Daar, Abdallah S.	Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study	Surgery	Rank 346
96	42,673	DL Denny, Lynette	University of Cape Town	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 1,895
97	43,624	RE Rybicki, Edward P.	University of Cape Town	Virology	Rank 341
98	44,250	WB Williams, Brian	Centre of Excellence in Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis	Virology	Rank 349
99	44,346	BM Boettcher, M.	North-West University	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 522
100	44,695	FC Feldman, Charles	University of the Witwatersrand Faculty of Health Sciences	Respiratory System	Rank 456
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Countries with a similar count

Career-long list2022

Greece879 scientistsin 2022

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Career-long list2022

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Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from South Africa are in the 2022 Stanford Top 2% list?

803 scientists affiliated with South Africa are on the 2022 single-year list, and 713 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2022 career-long list, University of Cape Town has the most listed scientists from South Africa, with 130. It is followed by Stellenbosch University with 79.

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

On the career-long list, South Africa went from 536 scientists in 2020 to 713 in 2022, a change of +33.0%.

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.