South Africa's Top 2% Scientists 2024

South Africa has 901 scientists on the 2024 single-year Top 2% list, up 5.4% from 855 in 2023. That places South Africa 34th in the world by number of listed scientists, down 1 place. University of Cape Town has the most listed scientists (139), followed by University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (118).

Single Year

901

+46 (+5.4%) vs 2023

Career Data

826

+51 (+6.6%) vs 2023

World rank by count

#34

down 1 place vs 2023

Institutes

-22 (-24.7%) vs 2023

Scientists in South Africa on the list, by year

The single-year count has grown 53% 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 list2024

Show the list

1University of Cape Town139
2University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg118
3Stellenbosch University102
4University of Pretoria91
5University of Johannesburg87
6University of KwaZulu-Natal79
7University of South Africa34
8University of the Free State29
9North-West University28
10University of the Western Cape21

All 901 scientists

Single-year list2024

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	101	HM Hamblin, Michael R.	University of Johannesburg	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 4
2	162	SR Sheldon, Roger A.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Organic Chemistry	Rank 1
3	391	AA Atangana, Abdon	University of the Free State	Applied Mathematics	Rank 2
4	494	SD Stein, Dan J.	University of Cape Town	Psychiatry	Rank 13
5	613	SM Sillanpää, Mika	University of Johannesburg	Environmental Sciences	Rank 10
6	1,286	AS Asongu, Simplice A.	University of Johannesburg	Economics	Rank 33
7	1,786	RD Richardson, David M.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 51
8	1,927	BW Bond, William J.	University of Cape Town	Ecology	Rank 58
9	1,972	BO Babalola, Olubukola Oluranti	North-West University	Microbiology	Rank 33
10	2,142	CT Clutton-Brock, Tim H.	University of Pretoria	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 15
11	2,485	Makinde, O. D.	Stellenbosch University	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 24
12	2,731	KA Kausar, Ayesha	Ithemba Laboratory for Accelerator-Based Sciences	Polymers	Rank 13
13	3,085	RP Ryan, Peter G.	University of Cape Town	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 9
14	4,372	RS Ray, Suprakas Sinha	The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research	Polymers	Rank 21
15	4,704	OA Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J.	University of Johannesburg	Education	Rank 49
16	4,806	PK Peltzer, Karl	University of the Free State	Public Health	Rank 47
17	4,833	MA Mbembe, Achille	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Anthropology	Rank 3
18	4,912	DP du Plessis, A.	Stellenbosch University	Materials	Rank 83
19	5,041	JR Jewkes, Rachel	South African Medical Research Council	Public Health	Rank 51
20	5,259	Carranza, Emmanuel John M.	University of the Free State	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 63
21	5,337	FA Forbes, Andrew	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Optics	Rank 28
22	5,421	ON Odhiambo, Nicholas	University of South Africa	Economics	Rank 121
23	5,429	SS Seedat, Soraya	Stellenbosch University	Psychiatry	Rank 133
24	6,311	TD Timothy, Dallen J.	University of Johannesburg	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 31
25	6,648	EJ Eloff, J. N.	University of Pretoria	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 20
26	7,051	EE Ebenso, Eno E.	University of South Africa	Energy	Rank 166
27	7,444	KA Kengne, Andre Pascal	South African Medical Research Council	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 138
28	7,569	AB Aderibigbe, Blessing A.	University of Fort Hare	Polymers	Rank 45
29	7,679	BF Bickelhaupt, F. Matthias	University of Johannesburg	Chemical Physics	Rank 130
30	7,947	JH Jafari, Hossein	University of South Africa	Applied Mathematics	Rank 28
31	8,460	CT Celik, Turgay	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 393
32	8,582	SK Sliwa, Karen	University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 267
33	8,603	GR Gupta, Rangan	University of Pretoria	Economics	Rank 170
34	9,163	PE Pretorius, Etheresia	Stellenbosch University	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 295
35	9,505	BT Baum, Thomas	University of Strathclyde	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 45
36	9,611	HN Haddaway, Neal R.	University of Johannesburg	Ecology	Rank 232
37	10,248	AK Abdool Karim, Salim S.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Virology	Rank 31
38	10,524	WV Watson, Vanessa	University of Cape Town	Urban & Regional Planning	Rank 29
39	10,586	ZH Zar, Heather J.	University of Cape Town	Respiratory System	Rank 54
40	10,619	IR Inglesi-Lotz, Roula	University of Pretoria	Energy	Rank 260
41	10,807	WM Wingfield, Michael J.	University of Pretoria	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 136
42	11,853	WA Whitfield, Alan K.	South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 50
43	12,156	SC Shackleton, C. M.	Rhodes University	Ecology	Rank 280
44	12,214	MS Madhi, Shabir A.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Microbiology	Rank 236
45	12,303	MB Mayosi, Bongani	University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 397
46	12,570	RC Rogerson, Christian M.	University of Johannesburg	Geography	Rank 61
47	13,277	EA Engelbrecht, Andries P.	Stellenbosch University	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 581
48	13,492	EG Ellis, G. F.R.	University of Cape Town	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 145
49	13,541	CC Chi, Christina G.	University of Johannesburg	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 59
50	13,888	Ezugwu, Absalom E.	North-West University	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 607
51	14,656	NT Noakes, Timothy David	Cape Peninsula University of Technology	Sport Sciences	Rank 54
52	14,815	SR Scholes, Robert J.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Ecology	Rank 334
53	15,079	MD Martin, Darren	University of Cape Town	Virology	Rank 47
54	15,126	GL Gilson, Lucy	University of Cape Town	Health Policy & Services	Rank 27
55	15,181	GF Ganda, Fortune	Walter Sisulu University	Environmental Sciences	Rank 294
56	15,390	BB Büscher, Bram	University of Johannesburg	Ecology	Rank 343
57	15,772	JM John, Maya Jacob	The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research	Polymers	Rank 105
58	16,737	SM Scholz, Miklas	University of Johannesburg	Environmental Engineering	Rank 78
59	17,067	RF Raal, Frederick J.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 529
60	17,391	AH Abrahamse, Heidi	University of Johannesburg	Dermatology & Venereal Diseases	Rank 51
61	17,681	MM Maaza, Malik	University of South Africa	Applied Physics	Rank 343
62	17,743	DD Dorrell, David George	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Electrical & Electronic Engineering	Rank 66
63	17,922	JS Johnson, Steven D.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 135
64	18,290	OU Opara, Umezuruike Linus	Stellenbosch University	Food Science	Rank 148
65	18,400	CJ Clemens, John D.	Stellenbosch University	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 255
66	18,517	AF Albericio, Fernando	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Organic Chemistry	Rank 220
67	18,662	MA Maroyi, Alfred	University of Fort Hare	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 94
68	18,801	CJ Condon, James J.	South African Radio Astronomy Observatory	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 150
69	18,894	DL Dicks, Leon Milner Theodore	Stellenbosch University	Microbiology	Rank 387
70	19,130	SJ Saarinen, Jarkko	University of Johannesburg	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 95
71	19,328	AS Archibald, Sally	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Ecology	Rank 421
72	19,455	BL Bekker, Linda Gail	Desmond Tutu Health Foundation	Virology	Rank 55
73	19,551	MJ Michael, Joseph P.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Organic Chemistry	Rank 234
74	19,830	BA Bayat, Ardeshir	University of Cape Town	Dermatology & Venereal Diseases	Rank 60
75	19,870	VS van Staden, Johannes	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 272
76	19,957	BT Baker, Ted	University of Cape Town	Business & Management	Rank 570
77	20,293	CC Coetzee, C.	Stellenbosch University	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 132
78	20,510	OD Onwudiwe, Damian C.	North-West University	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 59
79	22,243	MW Maroun, Warren	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Accounting	Rank 53
80	22,298	SM Samways, Michael J.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 477
81	22,555	VW Van Wyk, B. E.	University of Johannesburg	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 311
82	22,642	OA Okoh, Anthony Ifeanyi	University of Fort Hare	Microbiology	Rank 470
83	22,738	NT Nyokong, Tebello	Rhodes University	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 68
84	23,035	Khan, Muhammad Altaf	University of the Free State	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 229
85	23,042	SA Salisu, Afees A.	University of Pretoria	Economics	Rank 366
86	23,079	MT Metz, Thaddeus	University of Pretoria	Philosophy	Rank 37
87	23,351	TI Turok, Ivan	Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa	Urban & Regional Planning	Rank 76
88	23,397	CM Carter, Michael R.	University of Cape Town	Development Studies	Rank 26
89	23,604	NS Nicolson, Susan W.	University of Pretoria	Entomology	Rank 34
90	24,145	HW Heiss, W. D.	Stellenbosch University	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 277
91	25,144	MR Maartens, Roy	University of the Western Cape	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 288
92	25,462	MN Maldonado-Torres, Nelson	University of South Africa	Political Science & Public Administration	Rank 197
93	25,564	GJ Gibson, James L.	Stellenbosch University	Political Science & Public Administration	Rank 199
94	25,610	KK Kaviyarasu, K.	University of South Africa	Applied Physics	Rank 496
95	25,645	MJ Meyer, Josua P.	Stellenbosch University	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 254
96	26,404	AP Adom, Philip Kofi	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Energy	Rank 661
97	26,410	HG Hofmeyr, G. Justus	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 384
98	26,927	LT Letcher, Trevor M.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Chemical Engineering	Rank 166
99	27,992	NS Nkomo, Stella	University of Pretoria	Business & Management	Rank 758
100	28,080	DI Dinaharan, Isaac	University of Johannesburg	Materials	Rank 503
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Countries with a similar count

Single-year list2024

Egypt1,000 scientistsin 2024

Russia968 scientistsin 2024

New Zealand947 scientistsin 2024

Portugal889 scientistsin 2024

Pakistan842 scientistsin 2024

Ireland841 scientistsin 2024

Explore other countries

Single-year list2024

Nigeria233 scientistsin 2024

Ethiopia149 scientistsin 2024

Morocco97 scientistsin 2024

Tunisia78 scientistsin 2024

Algeria68 scientistsin 2024

Ghana62 scientistsin 2024

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Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from South Africa are in the 2024 Stanford Top 2% list?

901 scientists affiliated with South Africa are on the 2024 single-year list, and 826 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2024 single-year list, University of Cape Town has the most listed scientists from South Africa, with 139. It is followed by University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg with 118.

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 901 in 2024, a change of +53.0%.

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.