South Africa's Top 2% Scientists 2025: Career-Long List

South Africa has 896 scientists on the 2025 career-long Top 2% list, up 8.5% from 826 in 2024. 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 (148), followed by University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (101).

Single Year

975

+74 (+8.2%) vs 2024

Career Data

896

+70 (+8.5%) vs 2024

World rank by count

#32

up 1 place vs 2024

Institutes

109

+28 (+34.6%) vs 2024

Scientists in South Africa on the list, by year

The career-long count has grown 67% 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 list2025

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All 896 scientists

Career-long list2025

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	549	HM Hamblin, Michael R.	University of Johannesburg	Dermatology & Venereal Diseases	Rank 1
2	606	SD Stein, Dan J.	University of Cape Town	Psychiatry	Rank 20
3	649	CT Clutton-Brock, Tim H.	Kalahari Research Centre	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 7
4	2,276	NT Noakes, Timothy D.	Cape Peninsula University of Technology	Sport Sciences	Rank 2
5	2,437	RD Richardson, David M.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 52
6	3,239	AA Atangana, Abdon	University of the Free State	Applied Mathematics	Rank 12
7	4,718	RS Ray, Suprakas Sinha	University of Johannesburg	Polymers	Rank 30
8	5,549	OL Opie, LionelH H.	University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 267
9	5,754	JR Jewkes, R. K.	South African Medical Research Council	Public Health	Rank 48
10	5,993	Makinde, O. D.	Stellenbosch University	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 40
11	6,313	TT Torsvik, Trond H.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 76
12	6,325	PM Pepper, Michael S.	Faculty of Health Sciences	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 276
13	6,328	LT Little, Todd D.	North-West University	Developmental & Child Psychology	Rank 66
14	7,519	GO Gureje, Oye	Stellenbosch University	Psychiatry	Rank 218
15	7,931	SS Shapiro, Samuel M.	Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 133
16	8,156	OA Onwuegbuzie, Anthony John	University of South Africa	Education	Rank 36
17	9,121	MR Maartens, Roy	University of the Western Cape	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 118
18	9,144	MJ Michael, Joseph P.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Organic Chemistry	Rank 188
19	9,222	RP Ryan, Peter G.	University of Cape Town	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 43
20	9,890	BM Burawoy, Michael	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Sociology	Rank 21
21	9,938	EG Ellis, George Francis Rayner	University of Cape Town	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 132
22	11,072	KM Kew, Michael Charles	Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 195
23	11,213	BL Barbour, Leonard J.	Stellenbosch University	Organic Chemistry	Rank 237
24	11,631	EJ Eloff, Jacobus Nicholaas	University of Pretoria	Medicinal & Biomolecular Chemistry	Rank 35
25	11,851	WJ Warner, John Oliver	University of Cape Town	Allergy	Rank 40
26	12,130	EE Ebenso, Eno E.	University of South Africa	Energy	Rank 127
27	12,338	NT Nyokong, Tebello	Rhodes University	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 62
28	12,353	JS Johnson, Steven D.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 140
29	12,481	GJ Gibson, James L.	Stellenbosch University	Political Science & Public Administration	Rank 33
30	12,821	EA Engelbrecht, Andries Petrus	Stellenbosch University	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 280
31	13,076	Carranza, Emmanuel John M.	University of the Free State	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 195
32	13,126	AR Asherson, Ronald A.	School of Pathology	Arthritis & Rheumatology	Rank 121
33	13,569	CR Cowling, Richard Mark	Nelson Mandela University	Ecology	Rank 252
34	14,229	AF Alberício, Fernando	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Organic Chemistry	Rank 309
35	14,433	BE Bateman, E. D.	University of Cape Town	Respiratory System	Rank 139
36	14,948	VS van Staden, Johannes V.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 154
37	15,799	GL Gilson, Lucy	University of Cape Town	Health Policy & Services	Rank 32
38	15,853	SR Scholes, Robert J.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Ecology	Rank 292
39	16,126	RC Rogerson, Christianm M.	University of Johannesburg	Geography	Rank 45
40	16,209	NA Naldrett, Anthony J.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 263
41	16,294	SM Steger, Michael F.	North-West University	Social Psychology	Rank 196
42	16,478	DR Dav́e, Romeel	University of the Western Cape	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 141
43	16,496	DW de Wit, Maarten J.	Nelson Mandela University	Geology	Rank 17
44	16,588	SA S Abdool Karim, Salim Safurdeen S.	Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa	Virology	Rank 107
45	16,851	SS Seedat, Soraya	Stellenbosch University	Psychiatry	Rank 446
46	17,766	WM Wingfield, Michael J.	University of Pretoria	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 186
47	18,684	OR Owen-Smith, R. Norman	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Ecology	Rank 344
48	19,249	MB Mayosi, Bongani M.	University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 830
49	19,605	MA Mbembé, Achille	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Anthropology	Rank 12
50	20,050	ZH Zar, Heather J.	University of Cape Town	Respiratory System	Rank 201
51	20,097	BP Beighton, Peter H.	University of Cape Town	Genetics & Heredity	Rank 96
52	20,186	WA Whitfield, Alan K.	South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 132
53	20,389	SC Shackleton, Charlie M.	Rhodes University	Ecology	Rank 372
54	21,175	CJ Clemens, J. D.	Stellenbosch University	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 347
55	22,192	PG Prayag, Girish	University of Johannesburg	Sport, Leisure & Tourism	Rank 30
56	22,212	DD Dorrell, David G.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Electrical & Electronic Engineering	Rank 57
57	22,443	SM Samways, Michael J.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 411
58	22,757	GW Getz, Wayne Marcus	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Ecology	Rank 417
59	22,879	CD Cowan, Don A.	University of Pretoria	Microbiology	Rank 579
60	24,243	MW Marasas, W. F. O. Friedrich Otto	Stellenbosch University	Food Science	Rank 104
61	24,547	BO Babalola, Olubukola Oluranti	North-West University	Microbiology	Rank 618
62	24,638	DP Donald, Peter Roderick	Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences	Microbiology	Rank 621
63	25,970	SK Sliwa, Karen S.	Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 1,053
64	26,538	FM Fine, Michelle	University of South Africa	Social Psychology	Rank 304
65	26,639	ÇT Çelik, Turgay	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 577
66	26,947	LE Lesaffre, Emmanuel M.E.H.	Stellenbosch University	Statistics & Probability	Rank 126
67	27,180	LM Levin, Michael E.	Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital	Pediatrics	Rank 108
68	28,022	SG Shephard, Gordon Seymour	South African Medical Research Council	Food Science	Rank 124
69	29,003	OS Oehninger, Sergio Carlos	Stellenbosch University	Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine	Rank 233
70	29,224	VW Van Wilgen, Brian W.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 524
71	29,345	KG Kaplan, Gilla	University of Cape Town	Microbiology	Rank 750
72	29,472	GR Gosselink, Rik A.A.M.	Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences	Respiratory System	Rank 285
73	29,511	WR Wood, Robin Y.	Desmond Tutu Health Foundation	Virology	Rank 197
74	30,224	MD Martin, Darren Patrick	University of Cape Town	Virology	Rank 200
75	30,629	ER Emsley, Robin Alexander	Stellenbosch University	Psychiatry	Rank 702
76	30,745	FA Forbes, Andrew	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Optoelectronics & Photonics	Rank 64
77	31,075	LJ Lutjeharms, Johann R.E.	University of Cape Town	Oceanography	Rank 29
78	31,102	ON Odhiambo, Nicholas M.	University of South Africa	Economics	Rank 283
79	31,278	DM Dry, Mark E.	University of Cape Town	Physical Chemistry	Rank 111
80	31,495	MS Madhi, Shabir A.	University of the Witwatersrand Faculty of Health Sciences	Microbiology	Rank 808
81	31,696	KA Kengne, A. P.	South African Medical Research Council	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 441
82	31,699	WL Wadley, Lyn	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Archaeology	Rank 21
83	32,243	MM Mazzola, Mark	Stellenbosch University	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 387
84	32,499	TI Turok, Ivan Nicholas	University of the Free State	Urban & Regional Planning	Rank 38
85	32,813	KJ Kramers, Jan Dirk	University of Johannesburg	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 557
86	33,510	DL Dicks, Leon Milner Theodore	Stellenbosch University	Microbiology	Rank 854
87	33,605	LT Letcher, Trevor M.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Chemical Engineering	Rank 131
88	34,727	BN Beukes, Nicholas Johannes	University of Johannesburg	Geology	Rank 39
89	35,154	NS Nicolson, Susan Wendy	University of Pretoria	Entomology	Rank 53
90	35,256	RC Reason, Christopher J.C.	University of Cape Town	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 532
91	35,261	RF Raal, Frederick Johan	University of the Witwatersrand Faculty of Health Sciences	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 1,394
92	35,517	CJ Cleymans, Jean Willy Andre	University of Cape Town	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 519
93	35,687	ML Manderson, Lenore H.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Public Health	Rank 343
94	36,128	BA Bayat, Ardeshir	Groote Schuur Hospital	Dermatology & Venereal Diseases	Rank 198
95	37,135	NM New, Mark G.	University of Cape Town	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 570
96	38,128	SR Smith, R. M.H.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Paleontology	Rank 108
97	38,724	CH Coovadia, Hoosen Mahomed	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 523
98	38,860	DL Denny, Lynette A.	Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 1,702
99	38,907	MR Moritz, Robin F.A.	University of Pretoria	Entomology	Rank 64
100	39,894	RL Richter, Linda M.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Public Health	Rank 381
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Countries with a similar count

Career-long list2025

Greece1,161 scientists

Singapore1,090 scientists

Russia1,069 scientists

Ireland881 scientists

Saudi Arabia850 scientists

Portugal711 scientists

Explore other countries

Career-long list2025

Egypt579 scientists

Nigeria142 scientists

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Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from South Africa are in the 2025 Stanford Top 2% list?

975 scientists affiliated with South Africa are on the 2025 single-year list, and 896 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2025 career-long list, University of Cape Town has the most listed scientists from South Africa, with 148. It is followed by University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg with 101.

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 896 in 2025, a change of +67.2%.

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.