South Africa's Top 2% Scientists 2023: Career-Long List

South Africa has 775 scientists on the 2023 career-long Top 2% list, up 8.7% from 713 in 2022. That places South Africa 32nd in the world by number of listed scientists, up 1 place. University of Cape Town has the most listed scientists (131), followed by University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (80).

Single Year

855

+52 (+6.5%) vs 2022

Career Data

775

+62 (+8.7%) vs 2022

World rank by count

#32

up 1 place vs 2022

Institutes

+5 (+5.5%) vs 2022

Scientists in South Africa on the list, by year

The career-long count has grown 45% 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 list2023

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All 775 scientists

Career-long list2023

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	176	EM Egger, Matthias	University of Cape Town	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 9
2	191	SR Sheldon, Roger A.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Organic Chemistry	Rank 2
3	600	CT Clutton-Brock, Tim H.	University of Pretoria	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 7
4	786	SD Stein, Daniel	University of Cape Town	Psychiatry	Rank 27
5	1,024	HM Hamblin, Michael R.	University of Johannesburg	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 40
6	2,098	NT Noakes, Timothy D.	Cape Peninsula University of Technology	Sport Sciences	Rank 2
7	2,563	BW Bond, William J.	University of Cape Town	Ecology	Rank 50
8	2,887	RD Richardson, David M.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 59
9	4,791	OL Opie, Lionel H.	Groote Schuur Hospital	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 241
10	5,620	AA Atangana, Abdon	University of the Free State	Applied Mathematics	Rank 18
11	5,908	RS Ray, Suprakas Sinha	The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research	Polymers	Rank 47
12	5,984	SM Sillanpää, Mika	University of Johannesburg	Environmental Sciences	Rank 29
13	6,007	PM Pepper, Michael S.	Faculty of Health Sciences	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 300
14	6,306	JR Jewkes, R.	South African Medical Research Council	Public Health	Rank 51
15	8,001	MJ Michael, Joseph P.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Organic Chemistry	Rank 167
16	8,199	Makinde, O. D.	Stellenbosch University	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 52
17	8,615	MR Maartens, Roy	University of the Western Cape	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 118
18	9,979	EG Ellis, George F.R.	University of Cape Town	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 147
19	10,231	HG Hofmeyr, G. J.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 173
20	10,370	BL Barbour, Leonard J.	Stellenbosch University	Organic Chemistry	Rank 228
21	10,407	KM Kew, Michael	Groote Schuur Hospital	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 183
22	10,478	OA Onwuegbuzie, Anthony John	University of Johannesburg	Education	Rank 38
23	10,656	LS Lawn, S. D.	Faculty of Health Sciences	Microbiology	Rank 254
24	10,722	SM Sirgy, M. Joseph	North-West University	Social Psychology	Rank 139
25	10,815	WJ Warner, John O.	University of Cape Town	Allergy	Rank 35
26	11,195	AR Asherson, Ronald A.	School of Pathology	Arthritis & Rheumatology	Rank 102
27	11,561	HP Hallinger, Phillip	University of Johannesburg	Education	Rank 45
28	12,419	NT Nyokong, Tebello	Rhodes University	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 67
29	12,747	JS Johnson, Steven D.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 157
30	12,887	CR Cowling, Richard M.	Nelson Mandela University	Ecology	Rank 233
31	12,918	RP Ryan, Peter G.	University of Cape Town	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 65
32	13,842	EA Engelbrecht, Andries P.	Stellenbosch University	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 271
33	13,879	EJ Eloff, Jacobus N.	University of Pretoria	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 44
34	15,093	BD Baldwin, David S.	University of Cape Town	Psychiatry	Rank 408
35	15,560	NA Naldrett, Anthony J.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Geology	Rank 15
36	15,881	VS van Staden, J.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 162
37	15,991	DW de Wit, M.	Nelson Mandela University	Geology	Rank 16
38	16,137	EE Ebenso, Eno E.	University of South Africa	Energy	Rank 157
39	16,535	SR Scholes, Robert J.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Ecology	Rank 292
40	16,853	GL Gilson, Lucy	University of Cape Town	Health Policy & Services	Rank 40
41	17,466	Carranza, Emmanuel John M.	University of the Free State	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 266
42	18,605	GD Gursoy, Dogan	University of Johannesburg	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 22
43	18,820	MR Millar, Robert P.	University of Pretoria	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 502
44	18,893	BP Beighton, Peter	University of the Western Cape	Genetics & Heredity	Rank 92
45	19,388	ON Owen-Smith, Norman	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Ecology	Rank 341
46	19,941	RC Rogerson, Christian M.	College of Business and Economics	Geography	Rank 52
47	20,585	MB Mayosi, Bongani	University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 874
48	20,930	TD Thomas, David S.G.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Geography	Rank 55
49	21,251	CJ Clemens, J. D.	Stellenbosch University	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 340
50	21,432	BE Bateman, Eric	University of Cape Town	Respiratory System	Rank 206
51	21,805	WM Wingfield, Michael J.	University of Pretoria	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 242
52	21,817	MG Mensah, George A.	University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 926
53	21,881	SS Seedat, Soraya	Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences	Psychiatry	Rank 556
54	22,024	MW Marasas, W. F.O.	Stellenbosch University	Food Science	Rank 76
55	22,813	WA Whitfield, Alan K.	South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 162
56	23,040	GW Getz, Wayne M.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Ecology	Rank 388
57	23,798	DP Donald, Peter R.	Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences	Microbiology	Rank 590
58	24,179	SC Shackleton, Charlie M.	Rhodes University	Ecology	Rank 412
59	24,215	WR Wallis, Robert	The Aurum Institute	Microbiology	Rank 606
60	24,535	SM Samways, Michael J.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 420
61	25,569	MC Marean, Curtis W.	Nelson Mandela University	Paleontology	Rank 64
62	25,580	ZH Zar, Heather	University of Cape Town	Respiratory System	Rank 252
63	25,762	CD Cowan, Don A.	University of Pretoria	Microbiology	Rank 644
64	26,180	OS Oehninger, Sergio	Stellenbosch University	Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine	Rank 209
65	26,691	DD Dorrell, David	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Electrical & Electronic Engineering	Rank 61
66	26,939	MA Mbembé, Achille	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Anthropology	Rank 18
67	27,477	SG Shephard, Gordon S.	South African Medical Research Council	Food Science	Rank 108
68	27,766	WR Wood, R.	Durban University of Technology	Virology	Rank 191
69	28,071	HG Harrison, Glenn W.	University of Cape Town	Economics	Rank 232
70	28,867	DM Dry, M. E.	University of Cape Town	Physical Chemistry	Rank 103
71	30,557	VW van Wilgen, Brian W.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 535
72	30,671	LJ Lutjeharms, Johann R.E.	University of Cape Town	Oceanography	Rank 31
73	31,124	ER Emsley, Robin	Stellenbosch University	Psychiatry	Rank 705
74	31,313	KJ Kramers, J.	University of Johannesburg	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 516
75	32,481	SK Sliwa, Karen	Groote Schuur Hospital	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 1,315
76	32,673	MD Martin, Darren	University of Cape Town	Virology	Rank 230
77	32,911	WL Wadley, Lyn	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Archaeology	Rank 20
78	33,341	CT Celik, Turgay	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 669
79	33,354	MM Mazzola, Mark	Stellenbosch University	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 402
80	34,067	BT Baum, Tom	University of Johannesburg	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 38
81	34,592	GB Guo, Bao Zhu	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 270
82	34,877	CH Coovadia, Hoosen M.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 471
83	35,238	BN Beukes, Nicolas J.	University of Johannesburg	Geology	Rank 38
84	35,339	JS Jacobson, Sandra W.	Faculty of Health Sciences	Substance Abuse	Rank 104
85	35,712	RU Ripamonti, Ugo	Bone Research Laboratory	Dentistry	Rank 167
86	35,726	CJ Cleymans, J.	University of Cape Town	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 542
87	36,785	LC Lance, Charles E.	University of the Western Cape	Business & Management	Rank 355
88	37,016	NM New, Mark	University of Cape Town	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 541
89	37,629	TI Turok, Ivan	Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa	Urban & Regional Planning	Rank 39
90	38,147	MS Madhi, Shabir A.	University of the Witwatersrand Faculty of Health Sciences	Microbiology	Rank 963
91	38,817	SR Smith, Roger M.H.	Iziko South African Museum	Paleontology	Rank 117
92	38,819	OJ Ojewole, J. A.O.	University of KwaZulu-Natal, Faculty of Health Sciences	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 110
93	39,143	NS Nicolson, Susan W.	University of Pretoria	Entomology	Rank 60
94	39,187	LT Letcher, Trevor M.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Chemical Engineering	Rank 144
95	39,404	KJ Kerres, Jochen	North-West University	Energy	Rank 435
96	39,823	PD Pillay, Deenan	Africa Health Research Institute	Virology	Rank 286
97	39,824	RC Reason, Chris J.C.	University of Cape Town	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 585
98	39,940	BS Benatar, Solomon	University of Cape Town	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 533
99	40,797	ZC Zlotnick, Caron	University of Cape Town	Psychiatry	Rank 866
100	40,957	CA Cooper, Andrew	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Oceanography	Rank 55
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Countries with a similar count

Career-long list2023

Singapore956 scientistsin 2023

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Career-long list2023

Egypt416 scientistsin 2023

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Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from South Africa are in the 2023 Stanford Top 2% list?

855 scientists affiliated with South Africa are on the 2023 single-year list, and 775 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2023 career-long list, University of Cape Town has the most listed scientists from South Africa, with 131. It is followed by University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg with 80.

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 775 in 2023, a change of +44.6%.

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.