Spain's Top 2% Scientists 2026

Spain has 4,408 scientists on the 2026 single-year Top 2% list, up 3.3% from 4,267 in 2025. That places Spain 12th in the world by number of listed scientists. Universitat de Barcelona has the most listed scientists (165), followed by Universitat de València (124).

Single Year

4,408

+141 (+3.3%) vs 2025

Career Data

4,103

+287 (+7.5%) vs 2025

World rank by count

#12

No change vs 2025

Institutes

670

+32 (+5.0%) vs 2025

Scientists in Spain on the list, by year

The single-year count has grown 59% since 2020.

Single-year list, change on the previous year

2021+22.9%

2022+9.1%

2023+0.6%

2024+7.3%

2025+6.5%

2026+3.3%

Show the numbers

Year	Single Year	Change	Career Data	Change
2020	2,767		2,290
2021	3,402	+22.9%	2,813	+22.8%
2022	3,712	+9.1%	3,030	+7.7%
2023	3,736	+0.6%	3,230	+6.6%
2024	4,008	+7.3%	3,508	+8.6%
2025	4,267	+6.5%	3,816	+8.8%
2026	4,408	+3.3%	4,103	+7.5%

Top 10 institutes in Spain

By number of listed scientists

Single-year list2026

Show the list

All 4,408 scientists

Single-year list2026

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

The first 100 are free to browse.

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Rank in Spain	World rank	Scientist	Institute	Sub-field	Rank in sub-field
1	138	PJ Penuelas, Josep J.	Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas	Ecology	Rank 4
2	222	CA Corma, Avelino	CSIC-UPV - Instituto de Tecnología Química (ITQ)	Physical Chemistry	Rank 2
3	317	NM Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J.	Instituto de Salud Global de Barcelona	Toxicology	Rank 1
4	411	SM Slater, Mel	Universitat de Barcelona	Software Engineering	Rank 1
5	472	HF Herrera, Francisco P.	Instituto Andaluz Interuniversitario en Data Science and Computational Intelligence	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 32
6	499	RJ Robins, James M.	Glovo	Statistics & Probability	Rank 14
7	506	AM Armand, Michel B.	CIC energigune	Energy	Rank 15
8	510	DV Dijk van, Teun A.	Centre of Discourse Studies	Languages & Linguistics	Rank 4
9	528	LJ Llovet, Josep M.	Universitat de Barcelona	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 10
10	603	EM Esteller, Manel B.	Universitat de Barcelona	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 13
11	724	AM Arellano, Manuel	Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo, Centro de Estudios Monetarios y Financieros	Econometrics	Rank 3
12	828	LJ Lorenzo, Josè Manuel	Fundación Centro Tecnolóxico da Carne	Food Science	Rank 9
13	897	SA Saltelli, Andrea	UPF Barcelona School of Management	Statistics & Probability	Rank 18
14	943	PJ Pausas, Juli G.	CSIC-GV-UV - Centro de Investigaciones Sobre Desertificación (CIDE)	Ecology	Rank 25
15	1,010	DM Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel	CSIC - Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiologia de Sevilla (IRNAS)	Ecology	Rank 26
16	1,054	CL Cabeza, Luisa F.	Universitat de Lleida	Energy	Rank 27
17	1,058	BE Brillas, Enric	Universitat de Barcelona	Energy	Rank 28
18	1,186	CA Cruz-Jentoft, Alfonso José	Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 34
19	1,250	DA Díez-Pascual, Ana María	Universidad de Alcalá	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 39
20	1,327	LR Lozano, Rodrigo	Universidade da Coruña	Environmental Sciences	Rank 26
21	1,350	BD Barceló, Damià À.	Universidad de Almería	Analytical Chemistry	Rank 4
22	1,656	OA Ortiz, Alberto Arduan	Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de la Fundación Jiménez Díaz	Urology & Nephrology	Rank 5
23	1,809	GI García-Sánchez, Isabel María	Universidad de Salamanca	Business & Management	Rank 68
24	1,844	LL Liz-Marzán, Luis M.	CIC biomaGUNE	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 53
25	1,933	VS Vicente-Serrano, Sergio M.	CSIC - Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (IPE)	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 30
26	1,936	TJ Tabernero, Josep Ma	Vall d‘Hebron Institut de Oncologia	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 39
27	2,046	BJ Bisquert, Juan	CSIC-UPV - Instituto de Tecnología Química (ITQ)	Physical Chemistry	Rank 7
28	2,059	VM Vallet-Regí, María	Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina	Biomedical Engineering	Rank 5
29	2,111	MJ Martínez, José Luis	CSIC - Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia (CNB)	Microbiology	Rank 30
30	2,279	OS Odintsov, Sergei D.	Instituto de Estudios Espaciales de Cataluña	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 26
31	2,321	CJ Cenoz, Jasone	Universidad del Pais Vasco	Languages & Linguistics	Rank 18
32	2,356	PD Posada, D. Tatis	Universidade de Vigo	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 11
33	2,359	Barba, Francisco J.	Universitat de València	Food Science	Rank 19
34	2,522	KG Kallis, Giorgos	Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona	Environmental Sciences	Rank 51
35	2,553	Khan, Khalid S.	Universidad de Granada, Facultad de Medicina	Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine	Rank 7
36	2,562	BJ Bruix, Jordi	Universitat de Barcelona	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 35
37	2,639	BB Bernevig, Bogdan Andrei	Donostia International Physics Center	Applied Physics	Rank 64
38	2,686	AM Araújo, Miguel B.	CSIC - Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN)	Ecology	Rank 80
39	2,720	GD García de Abajo, F. Javier	Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 94
40	2,724	HW Hopkins, Will G.	Health	Sport Sciences	Rank 8
41	2,798	AI Anguelovski, Isabelle	Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona	Urban & Regional Planning	Rank 9
42	3,057	GD Gorter, Durk	Universidad del Pais Vasco	Languages & Linguistics	Rank 23
43	3,301	LC Lopez-Otin, Carlos Ló	Universidad de Oviedo	Developmental Biology	Rank 86
44	3,309	DJ Domingo, J. L.	Universitat Rovira i Virgili	Toxicology	Rank 13
45	3,432	RJ Reboredo, Juan C.	Universidade de Santiago de Compostela	Economics	Rank 79
46	3,462	VD van den Bergh, Jeroen C.J.Mvan	ICTA-UAB Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals	Agricultural Economics & Policy	Rank 5
47	3,478	CA Castellanos‑Gomez, Andres	CSIC - Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (ICMM)	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 119
48	3,581	CG Camps-Valls, Gustau	Universitat de València	Geological & Geomatics Engineering	Rank 35
49	3,613	KA Koyanagi, Ai	Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu	Psychiatry	Rank 87
50	3,618	PL Paz-Ares, Luís G.	Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 86
51	3,754	PA Plaza, Antonio J.	Universidad de Extremadura	Geological & Geomatics Engineering	Rank 37
52	3,912	PJ Perez-Gisbert, Javier P.	Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Hospital Universitario de La Princesa	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 51
53	3,961	SJ Soriano, Joan B.	Universitat de les Illes Balears	Respiratory System	Rank 16
54	4,003	JP Jordano, Pedro	CSIC - Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD)	Ecology	Rank 112
55	4,066	SM Sanz, Mariano B.	Universidad Complutense de Madrid	Dentistry	Rank 7
56	4,105	MS Munné-Bosch, Sergi	Universitat de Barcelona	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 37
57	4,111	BA Baselga, Andrés	Centro de Investigación Interdisciplinar en Tecnoloxías Ambientais (CRETUS)	Ecology	Rank 113
58	4,290	IB Ibáñez, Borja	Hospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 127
59	4,374	AC Andrade, Carmen	Centre Internacional de Mètodes Numèrics en Enginyeria (CIMNE)	Building & Construction	Rank 35
60	4,381	FG Frühbeck, Gema	Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red-Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 74
61	4,426	ER Estruch Riba, Ramón Sarrate	Universitat de Barcelona	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 21
62	4,518	AC Alonso Caballero, J. L.	Hospital del Mar	Psychiatry	Rank 105
63	4,571	RE ROS, EMILIO Peña	Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red-Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 24
64	4,627	CA Cerdà, A.	Universitat de València	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 35
65	4,630	MM Martínez-González, Miguel Ángel	Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 25
66	4,642	DJ Dalmau, Josep O.	Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer - IDIBAPS	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 230
67	4,716	IM Izquierdo, Mikel	Universidad Pública de Navarra (UPNA)	Sport Sciences	Rank 17
68	4,765	GT Gabaldón, Toni	Centro Nacional de Supercomputación	Developmental Biology	Rank 116
69	4,818	VE Vieta, Eduard	Universitat de Barcelona	Psychiatry	Rank 112
70	4,881	BD Balsalobre-Lorente, Daniel	Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha	Environmental Sciences	Rank 105
71	5,009	JJ Jiménez, Javier	Universidad Politécnica de Madrid	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 29
72	5,108	ZJ Zamorano, José Luis	Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 151
73	5,176	GJ Gali, Jordi	Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional	Economics	Rank 108
74	5,221	CJ Corteś, Javier	Hospital Beata María Ana	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 131
75	5,459	KG Konstantatos, Gerasimos	Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 193
76	5,524	AÀ Agusti, Àlvar A.	Universitat de Barcelona	Respiratory System	Rank 24
77	5,661	CJ Cifuentes-Faura, Javier	Universidad de Murcia	Environmental Sciences	Rank 118
78	5,717	DL Domingo, Luis R.	Universitat de València	Organic Chemistry	Rank 70
79	5,734	CE Coronado, Eugenio	Universitat de València	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 12
80	5,771	GP Galle, Peter Robert	Universitat de Barcelona	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 72
81	5,781	FD Fernández De Las Peñas, César	Universidad Rey Juan Carlos	Orthopedics	Rank 11
82	5,840	Escobar-Morreale, Héctor F.	Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 97
83	5,873	RE Rodríguez-Merchán, Emerito Carlos	Hospital Universitario La Paz	Orthopedics	Rank 12
84	5,883	LF Liñán, Francisco	Universidad de Sevilla	Business & Management	Rank 179
85	6,174	EA Estrada-Peña, Agustin	Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Zaragoza	Microbiology	Rank 94
86	6,236	LR Lamuela-Raventos, R. M.	Universitat de Barcelona	Food Science	Rank 52
87	6,257	ÁS Álvarez, Santiago	Universitat de Barcelona	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 15
88	6,282	Poveda, Jorge	Universidad de Valladolid	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 63
89	6,286	LJ Lazarus, J. V.	Instituto de Salud Global de Barcelona	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 79
90	6,302	FJ Flexas, Jaume	Universitat de les Illes Balears	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 64
91	6,323	BM Blasco, M. Angeles	CSIC-UAM - Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CBM)	Developmental Biology	Rank 150
92	6,363	RJ Radua, Joaquim	Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer - IDIBAPS	Psychiatry	Rank 142
93	6,405	HE Herrera-Viedma, Enrique Enrique	Universidad de Granada	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 349
94	6,424	MA Maydeu-Olivares, Alberto	Universitat de Barcelona	Social Sciences Methods	Rank 23
95	6,506	SM Serrano, Manuel	IRB Barcelona - Institute for Research in Biomedicine	Developmental Biology	Rank 155
96	6,532	PY Picó, Yolanda	Universitat de València	Analytical Chemistry	Rank 25
97	6,561	EM Estévez, M.	Universidad de Extremadura	Food Science	Rank 55
98	6,690	RM Romero-Gómez, Manuel Pérez	CSIC-JA-USE - Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBIS)	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 85
99	6,702	GF García-Peñalvo, Francisco José	Universidad de Salamanca	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 367
100	6,724	Flavián, Carlos	Facultad de Economía y Empresa, Universidad de Zaragoza	Marketing	Rank 52
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Countries with a similar count

Single-year list2026

France5,914 scientists

Japan5,739 scientists

Netherlands4,889 scientists

South Korea4,001 scientists

Switzerland3,595 scientists

Sweden2,728 scientists

Explore other countries

Single-year list2026

Italy8,537 scientists

Greece1,184 scientists

Portugal1,060 scientists

Slovenia240 scientists

Serbia163 scientists

Croatia149 scientists

All countries on the world map

Frequently asked questions

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

4,408 scientists affiliated with Spain are on the 2026 single-year list, and 4,103 are on the career-long list.

Which institute in Spain has the most Top 2% scientists?

On the 2026 single-year list, Universitat de Barcelona has the most listed scientists from Spain, with 165. It is followed by Universitat de València with 124.

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

On the single-year list, Spain went from 2,767 scientists in 2020 to 4,408 in 2026, a change of +59.3%.

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.