South Africa's Top 2% Scientists 2026: Career-Long List

South Africa has 963 scientists on the 2026 career-long Top 2% list, up 7.5% from 896 in 2025. 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 (154), followed by University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (101).

Single Year

1,033

+58 (+5.9%) vs 2025

Career Data

963

+67 (+7.5%) vs 2025

World rank by count

#33

down 1 place vs 2025

Institutes

119

+10 (+9.2%) vs 2025

Scientists in South Africa on the list, by year

The career-long count has grown 80% 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%

2026+7.5%

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%
2026	1,033	+5.9%	963	+7.5%

Top 10 institutes in South Africa

By number of listed scientists

Career-long list2026

Show the list

1University of Cape Town154
2University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg101
3Stellenbosch University86
4University of Pretoria83
5University of KwaZulu-Natal67
6University of Johannesburg65
7University of South Africa30
8University of the Free State29
9University of the Western Cape28
10North-West University26

All 963 scientists

Career-long list2026

Showing the 2026 career-long list. Looking for single-year rankings? See the single-year list

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	148	EM Egger, Matthias	Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 8
2	460	HM Hamblin, Michael R.	University of Johannesburg	Dermatology & Venereal Diseases	Rank 1
3	541	SD Stein, Dan J.	University of Cape Town	Psychiatry	Rank 18
4	2,212	SM Sillanpää, Mika E.T.	University of Johannesburg	Environmental Sciences	Rank 10
5	2,283	RD Richardson, David M.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 48
6	2,356	NT Noakes, Timothy D.	University of Cape Town	Sport Sciences	Rank 2
7	2,420	BW Bond, William J.	University of Cape Town	Ecology	Rank 53
8	2,809	AA Atangana, Abdon	University of the Free State	Applied Mathematics	Rank 11
9	4,215	RS Ray, Suprakas Sinha	University of Johannesburg	Polymers	Rank 24
10	5,601	JR Jewkes, R. K.	South African Medical Research Council	Public Health	Rank 48
11	5,759	Makinde, O. D.	Stellenbosch University	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 40
12	5,975	OL Opie, LionelH H.	University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 288
13	6,624	TT Torsvik, Trond H.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 78
14	6,797	PM Pepper, Michael S.	University of Pretoria	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 283
15	7,719	OA Onwuegbuzie, Anthony John	University of Johannesburg	Education	Rank 38
16	8,592	RP Ryan, Peter G.	University of Cape Town	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 40
17	8,932	SS Shapiro, Samuel M.	Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 150
18	9,416	MR Maartens, Roy	University of the Western Cape	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 123
19	9,737	EG Ellis, George Francis Rayner	University of Cape Town	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 127
20	9,845	MJ Michael, Joseph P.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Organic Chemistry	Rank 197
21	10,105	BM Burawoy, Michael	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Sociology	Rank 23
22	10,961	EJ Eloff, Jacobus Nicholaas	University of Pretoria	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 105
23	11,038	EE Ebenso, Eno E.	University of South Africa	Energy	Rank 127
24	11,471	KM Kew, Michael Charles	Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 199
25	11,596	Carranza, Emmanuel John M.	University of the Free State	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 157
26	12,048	JS Johnson, Steven D.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 132
27	12,323	NT Nyokong, Tebello	University of South Africa	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 56
28	12,619	WJ Warner, John Oliver	University of Cape Town	Allergy	Rank 43
29	12,977	EA Engelbrecht, Andries Petrus	Stellenbosch University	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 297
30	13,514	SM Steger, Michael F.	North-West University	Social Psychology	Rank 175
31	13,521	AF Alberício, Fernando	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Organic Chemistry	Rank 287
32	13,891	CR Cowling, Richard Mark	Nelson Mandela University	Ecology	Rank 264
33	14,208	AR Asherson, Ronald A.	School of Pathology	Arthritis & Rheumatology	Rank 128
34	14,483	SR Scholes, Robert J.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Ecology	Rank 271
35	14,843	VS van Staden, Johannes V.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 153
36	15,170	LN Lancaster, N.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Geography	Rank 47
37	15,239	MA Mbembé, Achille	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Anthropology	Rank 9
38	15,419	GL Gilson, Lucy	University of Cape Town	Health Policy & Services	Rank 32
39	15,517	BE Bateman, E. D.	University of Cape Town	Respiratory System	Rank 148
40	15,541	DR Dav́e, Romeel	South African Astronomical Observatories	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 134
41	15,648	RC Rogerson, Christianm M.	University of Johannesburg	Geography	Rank 48
42	15,889	SS Seedat, Soraya	Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences	Psychiatry	Rank 427
43	16,793	BO Babalola, Olubukola Oluranti	North-West University	Microbiology	Rank 405
44	16,892	NA Naldrett, Anthony J.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 264
45	17,026	SA S Abdool Karim, Salim Safurdeen S.	Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa	Virology	Rank 107
46	17,238	DW de Wit, Maarten J.	Nelson Mandela University	Geology	Rank 17
47	17,436	CC Chua, Chee Kai	Singapore University of Technology and Design	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 129
48	17,473	ZH Zar, Heather J.	University of Cape Town	Respiratory System	Rank 165
49	17,549	WM Wingfield, Michael J.	University of Pretoria	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 184
50	17,762	SC Shackleton, Charlie M.	Rhodes University	Ecology	Rank 338
51	18,467	OR Owen-Smith, R. Norman	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Ecology	Rank 347
52	19,049	WA Whitfield, Alan K.	South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 114
53	19,399	MB Mayosi, Bongani M.	University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 839
54	20,599	BE Bennett, Elena M.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 383
55	20,802	BP Beighton, Peter H.	University of Cape Town	Genetics & Heredity	Rank 96
56	20,982	MR Millar, Robert P.	Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 525
57	21,333	CJ Clemens, J. D.	Stellenbosch University	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 345
58	21,647	SM Samways, Michael J.	University of Sellenbosch	Ecology	Rank 408
59	22,038	CD Cowan, Don A.	University of Pretoria	Microbiology	Rank 544
60	22,714	GW Getz, Wayne Marcus	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Ecology	Rank 424
61	23,407	DB de Blök, Willem J.G.	University of Cape Town	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 238
62	23,599	FA Forbes, Andrew	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Optoelectronics & Photonics	Rank 47
63	23,630	ÇT Çelik, Turgay	School of Electrical and Information Engineering	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 551
64	24,192	SK Sliwa, Karen S.	Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 978
65	24,757	DP Donald, Peter Roderick	Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences	Microbiology	Rank 616
66	24,760	DL Dicks, Leon Milner Theodore	Stellenbosch University	Microbiology	Rank 617
67	25,596	MW Marasas, W. F. O.	Stellenbosch University	Food Science	Rank 115
68	26,725	WR Wallis, Robert S.	The Aurum Institute	Microbiology	Rank 666
69	27,004	ON Odhiambo, Nicholas M.	University of South Africa	Economics	Rank 248
70	27,344	LE Lesaffre, Emmanuel M.E.H.	Stellenbosch University	Statistics & Probability	Rank 129
71	28,247	VW Van Wilgen, Brian W.	Stellenbosch University	Ecology	Rank 512
72	28,856	MM Masson, Michael E.J.	University of Victoria	Experimental Psychology	Rank 396
73	28,933	KA Kengne, A. P.	South African Medical Research Council	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 418
74	29,300	MS Madhi, Shabir A.	University of the Witwatersrand Faculty of Health Sciences	Microbiology	Rank 744
75	29,614	SG Shephard, Gordon Seymour	South African Medical Research Council	Food Science	Rank 139
76	30,059	ER Emsley, Robin Alexander	Stellenbosch University	Psychiatry	Rank 687
77	30,216	TI Turok, Ivan Nicholas	University of the Free State	Urban & Regional Planning	Rank 35
78	30,360	GR Gosselink, Rik A.A.M.	Stellenbosch University	Respiratory System	Rank 284
79	30,362	OS Oehninger, Sergio Carlos	Stellenbosch University	Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine	Rank 244
80	30,572	MD Martin, Darren Patrick	University of Cape Town	Virology	Rank 197
81	30,907	LT Letcher, Trevor M.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Chemical Engineering	Rank 124
82	30,935	MM Mazzola, Mark	Stellenbosch University	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 367
83	30,992	SM Scholz, Miklas	University of Johannesburg	Environmental Engineering	Rank 113
84	31,131	DM Dry, Mark E.	University of Cape Town	Physical Chemistry	Rank 109
85	31,229	WL Wadley, Lyn	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Archaeology	Rank 22
86	31,456	WR Wood, Robin Y.	Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town	Virology	Rank 199
87	31,862	KG Kaplan, Gilla	University of Cape Town	Microbiology	Rank 802
88	32,062	LJ Lutjeharms, Johann R.E.	University of Cape Town	Oceanography	Rank 29
89	33,001	LC Lund, Crick	University of Cape Town	Psychiatry	Rank 745
90	33,856	BS Blaber, Stephen J.M.	University of KwaZulu-Natal	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 236
91	34,177	RC Reason, Christopher J.C.	University of Cape Town	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 514
92	34,192	BA Bayat, Ardeshir	Groote Schuur Hospital	Dermatology & Venereal Diseases	Rank 184
93	34,286	NS Nicolson, Susan Wendy	University of Pretoria	Entomology	Rank 54
94	34,398	BN Beukes, Nicholas Johannes	University of Johannesburg	Geology	Rank 39
95	34,691	KJ Kramers, Jan Dirk	University of Johannesburg	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 586
96	34,953	RF Raal, Frederick Johan	University of the Witwatersrand Faculty of Health Sciences	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 1,372
97	35,160	ML Manderson, Lenore H.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Public Health	Rank 340
98	36,041	CJ Cleymans, Jean Willy Andre	University of Cape Town	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 524
99	36,306	RL Richter, Linda M.	University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg	Public Health	Rank 347
100	37,227	NM New, Mark G.	University of Cape Town	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 569
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Ranks 101 to 963The whole list, not only the top 100.

Every year since 2020Single Year and Career Data.

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Countries with a similar count

Career-long list2026

Russia1,133 scientists

Saudi Arabia1,071 scientists

Ireland963 scientists

Portugal787 scientists

Egypt676 scientists

Czech Republic622 scientists

Explore other countries

Career-long list2026

Nigeria164 scientists

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Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from South Africa are in the 2026 Stanford Top 2% list?

1,033 scientists affiliated with South Africa are on the 2026 single-year list, and 963 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2026 career-long list, University of Cape Town has the most listed scientists from South Africa, with 154. 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 963 in 2026, a change of +79.7%.

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.