Spain's Top 2% Scientists 2025

Spain has 4,267 scientists on the 2025 single-year Top 2% list, up 6.5% from 4,008 in 2024. That places Spain 12th in the world by number of listed scientists. Universitat de Barcelona has the most listed scientists (167), followed by Universidad Complutense de Madrid (115).

Single Year

4,267

+259 (+6.5%) vs 2024

Career Data

3,816

+308 (+8.8%) vs 2024

World rank by count

#12

No change vs 2024

Institutes

638

+167 (+35.5%) vs 2024

Scientists in Spain on the list, by year

The single-year count has grown 54% 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%

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%

Top 10 institutes in Spain

By number of listed scientists

Single-year list2025

Show the list

All 4,267 scientists

Single-year list2025

The first 100 are free to browse.

Export CSV

Rank in Spain	World rank	Scientist	Institute	Sub-field	Rank in sub-field
1	139	CA Corma, Avelino	CSIC-UPV - Instituto de Tecnología Química (ITQ)	Physical Chemistry	Rank 2
2	158	Penuelas, Josep	Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas	Ecology	Rank 4
3	352	SM Slater, Mel	Universitat de Barcelona	Software Engineering	Rank 1
4	372	AM Armand, Michel	Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA)	Energy	Rank 13
5	379	NM Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark	Instituto de Salud Global de Barcelona	Toxicology	Rank 1
6	525	LJ Llovet, Josep M.	Universitat de Barcelona	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 10
7	583	EM Esteller, Manel	Universitat de Barcelona	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 15
8	613	HF Herrera, Francisco	Instituto Andaluz Interuniversitario en Data Science and Computational Intelligence	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 41
9	692	AM Arellano, Manuel	Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo, Centro de Estudios Monetarios y Financieros	Econometrics	Rank 5
10	765	VD van Dijk, Teun A.	Centre of Discourse Studies	Languages & Linguistics	Rank 5
11	851	SA Saltelli, Andrea	UPF Barcelona School of Management	Strategic, Defence & Security Studies	Rank 3
12	958	BD Barceló, Damià À.	Universidad de Almería	Analytical Chemistry	Rank 3
13	1,183	BE Brillas, Enric	Universitat de Barcelona	Energy	Rank 33
14	1,252	CL Cabeza, Luisa F.	Universitat de Lleida	Energy	Rank 37
15	1,304	LJ Lorenzo, José Manuel	Fundación Centro Tecnolóxico da Carne	Food Science	Rank 13
16	1,388	PJ Pausas, Juli G.	CSIC-GV-UV - Centro de Investigaciones Sobre Desertificación (CIDE)	Ecology	Rank 34
17	1,459	CA Cruz-Jentoft, Alfonso José	Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 36
18	1,491	DA Díez-Pascual, Ana María	Universidad de Alcalá	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 48
19	1,596	GI García-Sánchez, Isabel María	Universidad de Salamanca	Business & Management	Rank 60
20	1,793	HJ Hickel, Jason E.	ICTA-UAB Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals	International Relations	Rank 1
21	1,846	DM Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel	CSIC - Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiologia de Sevilla (IRNAS)	Ecology	Rank 49
22	1,857	LL Liz-Marzán, Luis M.	CIC biomaGUNE	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 65
23	1,858	MJ Martínez, José Luis	CSIC - Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia (CNB)	Microbiology	Rank 32
24	1,914	Barba, Francisco J.	Universitat de València	Food Science	Rank 16
25	1,971	BJ Bisquert, Juan	CSIC-UPV - Instituto de Tecnología Química (ITQ)	Physical Chemistry	Rank 6
26	2,009	BJ Bruix, Jordi	Universitat de Barcelona	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 28
27	2,084	PD Posada, David Tatis	Universidade de Vigo	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 10
28	2,085	VM Vallet-Regí, María	Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina	Biomedical Engineering	Rank 5
29	2,106	VS Vicente-Serrano, Sergio M.	Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 28
30	2,137	BN Bennett, Nathan J.	Universidade de Santiago de Compostela	Fisheries	Rank 3
31	2,173	TJ Tabernero, Josep Ma	Vall d‘Hebron Institut de Oncologia	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 51
32	2,401	CA Castellanos-Gomez, Andres	Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 90
33	2,402	OS Odintsov, Sergei D.	Instituto de Estudios Espaciales de Cataluña	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 27
34	2,535	OA Ortíz-Arduan, Alberto Arduan	Hospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz	Urology & Nephrology	Rank 10
35	2,604	JJ Jiménez, Javier	Universidad Politécnica de Madrid	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 18
36	2,624	DJ Dalmau, Josep O.	Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer - IDIBAPS	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 137
37	2,667	MF Maestre, Fernando T.	Universitat d'Alacant	Ecology	Rank 77
38	2,773	BB Bernevig, Bogdan Andrei	Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science	Applied Physics	Rank 73
39	2,783	GD García de Abajo, F. Javier	Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 106
40	2,796	CJ Cenoz, Jasone	Universidad del Pais Vasco	Languages & Linguistics	Rank 14
41	2,865	AM Araújo, Miguel B.	CSIC - Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN)	Ecology	Rank 79
42	3,006	RJ Reboredo, Juan C.	Universidade de Santiago de Compostela	Economics	Rank 69
43	3,037	AC Alonso Caballero, J. L.	Hospital del Mar	Psychiatry	Rank 69
44	3,451	MM Martínez-González, Miguel Ángel	Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red-Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 14
45	3,481	DJ Domingo, J. L.	Universitat Rovira i Virgili	Toxicology	Rank 11
46	3,556	BA Baselga, Andrés	Universidade de Santiago de Compostela	Ecology	Rank 96
47	3,683	FD Fernández De Las Peñas, César	Universidad Rey Juan Carlos	Orthopedics	Rank 8
48	3,705	PJ Perez-Gisbert, Javier P.	Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Hospital Universitario de La Princesa	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 49
49	3,817	VE Vieta, Eduard	Universitat de Barcelona	Psychiatry	Rank 94
50	3,871	AC Andrade, Carmen	Centre Internacional de Mètodes Numèrics en Enginyeria (CIMNE)	Building & Construction	Rank 34
51	3,891	CA Cerdà, A.	Universitat de València	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 25
52	3,907	SJ Soriano, Joan B.	Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid	Respiratory System	Rank 15
53	3,939	GD Gil de Zúñiga, Homero	Universidad de Salamanca	Communication & Media Studies	Rank 15
54	3,967	HE Herrera-Viedma, Enrique Enrique	Universidad de Granada	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 213
55	3,979	AI Anguelovski, Isabelle	Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona	Urban & Regional Planning	Rank 10
56	4,053	LC Lopez-Otin, Carlos Ló	Universidad de Oviedo	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 69
57	4,054	ER Estruch Riba, Ramón Sarrate	Universitat de Barcelona	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 21
58	4,079	MS Munné-Bosch, Sergi	Universitat de Barcelona	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 34
59	4,082	VD van den Bergh, Jeroen C.J.Mvan	ICTA-UAB Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals	Agricultural Economics & Policy	Rank 5
60	4,085	GD Gorter, Durk	Universidad del Pais Vasco	Languages & Linguistics	Rank 27
61	4,217	BD Balsalobre-Lorente, Daniel	Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha	Environmental Sciences	Rank 92
62	4,239	LF Liñán, Francisco	Universidad de Sevilla	Business & Management	Rank 133
63	4,508	RE ROS, EMILIO Peña	Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red-Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 22
64	4,514	BM Blasco, M. Angeles	CSIC-UAM - Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CBM)	Developmental Biology	Rank 113
65	4,582	Khan, Khalid S.	Universidad de Granada, Facultad de Medicina	Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine	Rank 11
66	4,592	KG Konstantatos, Gerasimos	Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 169
67	4,771	FG Frühbeck, Gema	Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red-Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 72
68	4,921	GJ Gali, Jordi	Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional	Economics	Rank 105
69	4,968	PL Paz-Ares, Luís G.	Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 128
70	5,065	GF Graus, Francesc	Hospital Clínic de Barcelona	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 262
71	5,217	MM Malumbres, Marcos	Vall d‘Hebron Institut de Oncologia	Developmental Biology	Rank 130
72	5,273	IM Izquierdo, Mikel	Universidad Pública de Navarra	Sport Sciences	Rank 15
73	5,307	GT Gabaldón, Toni	Centro Nacional de Supercomputación	Developmental Biology	Rank 131
74	5,334	PY Picó, Yolanda	Universitat de València	Analytical Chemistry	Rank 19
75	5,460	Escobar-Morreale, Héctor F.	Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 94
76	5,480	GF García-Peñalvo, Francisco José	Universidad de Salamanca	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 283
77	5,566	PA Plaza, Antonio J.	Universidad de Extremadura	Geological & Geomatics Engineering	Rank 51
78	5,718	JP Jordano, Pedro	CSIC - Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD)	Ecology	Rank 151
79	5,762	IB Ibáñez, Borja	Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 164
80	5,830	CE Campo, Elías	Hospital Clínic de Barcelona	Immunology	Rank 130
81	5,873	KA Koyanagi, Ai	Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu	Psychiatry	Rank 138
82	5,939	GJ García-Bellido, Juan	Universidad Autónoma de Madrid	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 40
83	6,010	CE Coronado, Eugenio	Universitat de València	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 13
84	6,016	ZJ Zamorano, José Luis	Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 174
85	6,023	MA Maydeu-Olivares, Alberto	Universitat de Barcelona	Social Sciences Methods	Rank 21
86	6,129	Saura, Jose Ramon	Universidad Rey Juan Carlos	Business & Management	Rank 189
87	6,150	NM Nieto, M. Angela	CSIC-UMH - Instituto de Neurociencias (IN)	Developmental Biology	Rank 158
88	6,386	KG Kallis, Giorgos	Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona	Environmental Sciences	Rank 131
89	6,422	SM Sanz, Mariano Belén	Universidad Complutense de Madrid	Dentistry	Rank 14
90	6,444	CG Camps-Valls, Gustau	Universitat de València	Geological & Geomatics Engineering	Rank 61
91	6,457	FR Fernandez-Lafuente, Roberto	CSIC - Instituto de Catálisis y Petroleoquímica (ICP)	Biotechnology	Rank 20
92	6,564	CF Calle-Vallejo, Federico	Universidad del Pais Vasco	Organic Chemistry	Rank 86
93	6,638	DL Domingo, Luis R.	Universitat de València	Organic Chemistry	Rank 88
94	6,644	AM Arnao, M. B.	Universidad de Murcia	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 66
95	6,685	CR Cervera, Ricard	Hospital Clínic de Barcelona	Arthritis & Rheumatology	Rank 40
96	6,857	GF Guinea, Francisco	Donostia International Physics Center	Applied Physics	Rank 150
97	6,918	PR Palacín, Rosa Rosa	CSIC - Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Barcelona (ICMAB)	Energy	Rank 173
98	7,076	EE Estrada, Ernesto G.	Universidad de Zaragoza	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 40
99	7,087	VM Vrijheid, M.	Instituto de Salud Global de Barcelona	Toxicology	Rank 25
100	7,160	EM Estévez, M.	Universidad de Extremadura	Food Science	Rank 51
No scientists match this filter.

Showing 1 to 100 of the first 100 Show

Paid plans

See all 4,267 scientists in Spain

You are seeing the first 100. 4,167 more are on the 2025 single-year list.

Ranks 101 to 4,267The whole list, not only the top 100.

Every year since 2020Single Year and Career Data.

Search the full listBy name, institute or sub-field.

CSV exportDownload the list for your own work.

View Plans & Upgrade Compare plans

Cancel anytime · Secure billing

Countries with a similar count

Single-year list2025

France5,886 scientists

Japan5,713 scientists

Netherlands4,727 scientists

South Korea3,695 scientists

Switzerland3,549 scientists

Sweden2,666 scientists

Explore other countries

Single-year list2025

Italy7,991 scientists

Greece1,074 scientists

Portugal984 scientists

Slovenia204 scientists

Serbia152 scientists

Croatia129 scientists

All countries on the world map

Frequently asked questions

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

4,267 scientists affiliated with Spain are on the 2025 single-year list, and 3,816 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2025 single-year list, Universitat de Barcelona has the most listed scientists from Spain, with 167. It is followed by Universidad Complutense de Madrid with 115.

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 4,267 in 2025, a change of +54.2%.

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.