Spain's Top 2% Scientists 2021

Spain has 3,402 scientists on the 2021 single-year Top 2% list, up 22.9% from 2,767 in 2020. That places Spain 11th in the world by number of listed scientists. Universitat de Barcelona has the most listed scientists (181), followed by Universidad Complutense de Madrid (98).

Single Year

3,402

+635 (+22.9%) vs 2020

Career Data

2,813

+523 (+22.8%) vs 2020

World rank by count

#11

No change vs 2020

Institutes

458

+77 (+20.2%) vs 2020

Scientists in Spain on the list, by year

The single-year count has grown 23% 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 list2021

Show the list

All 3,402 scientists

Single-year list2021

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	63	CA Corma, Avelino	Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas	Physical Chemistry	Rank 1
2	173	EM Esteller, Manel	Universitat de Barcelona	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 8
3	232	AM Armand, Michel	CIC energigune	Energy	Rank 7
4	355	Penuelas, Josep	CREAF - Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals	Ecology	Rank 8
5	365	HF Herrera, Francisco	Universidad de Granada	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 21
6	409	LJ Llovet, Josep M.	Universitat de Barcelona	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 7
7	667	AM Arellano, Manuel	Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo, Centro de Estudios Monetarios y Financieros	Economics	Rank 14
8	788	PD Posada, David	Universidade de Vigo	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 7
9	839	BJ Bisquert, Juan	Universidad Jaume I	Physical Chemistry	Rank 5
10	929	SA Saltelli, Andrea	Universitat Oberta de Catalunya	Strategic, Defence & Security Studies	Rank 4
11	961	GD García de Abajo, F. Javier	Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats	Optics	Rank 6
12	985	SM Slater, Mel	Universitat de Barcelona	Software Engineering	Rank 1
13	1,062	LL Liz-Marzán, Luis M.	Ikerbasque, the Basque Foundation for Science	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 36
14	1,078	BD Barcelò, Damià	CSIC - Instituto de Diagnostico Ambiental y Estudios del Agua (IDAEA)	Analytical Chemistry	Rank 4
15	1,316	DJ Dalmau, Josep	Universitat de Barcelona	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 85
16	1,337	BE Brillas, E.	Universitat de Barcelona	Energy	Rank 32
17	1,411	NM Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark	Instituto de Salud Global de Barcelona	Toxicology	Rank 3
18	1,584	FV Fuster, Valentin	Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 42
19	1,678	VM Vallet-Regí, María	Universidad Complutense de Madrid	Biomedical Engineering	Rank 9
20	1,687	CL Cabeza, Luisa F.	Universitat de Lleida	Energy	Rank 36
21	1,811	CA Castellanos-Gomez, Andres	CSIC - Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (ICMM)	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 66
22	1,861	TJ Tabernero, Josep	Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 56
23	1,888	VD van Dijk, Teun A.	Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona	Languages & Linguistics	Rank 2
24	2,079	MJ Martinez, Jose Luis	CSIC - Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia (CNB)	Microbiology	Rank 36
25	2,107	Domingo, Jose L.	Universitat Rovira i Virgili	Toxicology	Rank 9
26	2,111	BJ Bruix, Jordi	Universitat de Barcelona	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 26
27	2,126	PJ Pausas, Juli G.	CSIC-GV-UV - Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación	Ecology	Rank 69
28	2,130	AM Araújo, Miguel B.	CSIC - Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN)	Ecology	Rank 70
29	2,133	GS Grabowski, Slawomir J.	Ikerbasque, the Basque Foundation for Science	Chemical Physics	Rank 48
30	2,212	NM Nieto, M. Angela	CSIC-UMH - Instituto de Neurociencias (IN)	Developmental Biology	Rank 92
31	2,240	VS Vicente-Serrano, Sergio M.	Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 26
32	2,289	CA Cerda, Artemi	Universitat de València	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 13
33	2,361	JJ Jiménez, Javier	Universidad Politécnica de Madrid	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 18
34	2,691	VA Verkhratsky, Alexei	Ikerbasque, the Basque Foundation for Science	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 164
35	2,725	BM Blasco, María A.	Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas	Developmental Biology	Rank 108
36	2,948	ER Estruch, Ramon	Universitat de Barcelona	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 19
37	3,082	RJ Reboredo, Juan C.	Universidad de Santiago de Compostela	Economics	Rank 63
38	3,108	OS Odintsov, S. D.	Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 25
39	3,176	MM Malumbres, Marcos	Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas	Developmental Biology	Rank 121
40	3,227	JP Jordano, Pedro	CSIC- Estación Biológica de Doñana EBD	Ecology	Rank 104
41	3,265	GE Garfield, Eugene	Universitat de Barcelona	Information & Library Sciences	Rank 7
42	3,269	KM Khayet, Mohamed	Universidad Complutense de Madrid	Chemical Engineering	Rank 18
43	3,415	BA Baselga, Andrés	Universidad de Santiago de Compostela	Ecology	Rank 111
44	3,458	GF Guinea, F.	Donostia International Physics Center	Applied Physics	Rank 86
45	3,518	Xiao, Jianbo	Universidade de Vigo	Food Science	Rank 17
46	3,679	CE Coronado, Eugenio	Universitat de València	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 17
47	3,763	HE Herrera-Viedma, Enrique	Universidad de Granada	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 115
48	3,838	AA Agusti, Alvar	Universitat de Barcelona	Respiratory System	Rank 20
49	4,041	FR Fernandez-Lafuente, Roberto	CSIC - Instituto de Catálisis y Petroleoquímica (ICP)	Biotechnology	Rank 14
50	4,258	MF Maestre, Fernando T.	Universitat d'Alacant	Ecology	Rank 128
51	4,391	FG Frühbeck, Gema	Universidad de Navarra	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 89
52	4,406	GJ Galí, Jordi	Barcelona Graduate School of Economics	Economics	Rank 81
53	4,436	CA Cruz-Jentoft, Alfonso J.	Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigación Sanitaria	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 70
54	4,442	AJ Alonso, Jordi	Hospital del Mar	Psychiatry	Rank 114
55	4,448	EE Estrada, Ernesto	Universidad de Zaragoza	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 32
56	4,577	SM Serrano, M.	IRB Barcelona - Institute for Research in Biomedicine	Developmental Biology	Rank 179
57	4,661	ZJ Zamorano, José Luis	Hospital Ramon y Cajal	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 152
58	4,662	VE Vieta, Eduard	Universitat de Barcelona	Psychiatry	Rank 120
59	4,723	KG Konstantatos, Gerasimos	Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 140
60	4,991	ÁS Álvarez, Santiago	Universitat de Barcelona	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 19
61	5,077	RE Ros, Emilio	Universitat de Barcelona	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 38
62	5,234	SF Saura-Calixto, Fulgencio	CSIC - Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Alimentos y Nutricion (ICTAN)	Food Science	Rank 27
63	5,301	CR Cervera, Ricard	Hospital Clinic Barcelona	Arthritis & Rheumatology	Rank 38
64	5,370	MS Munné-Bosch, Sergi	Universitat de Barcelona	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 61
65	5,376	BJ Bosch, Jaime	Universitat de Barcelona	Gastroenterology & Hepatology	Rank 71
66	5,500	LR Luque, Rafael	Universidad de Córdoba	Organic Chemistry	Rank 83
67	5,532	VD van den Bergh, Jeroen	Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats	Agricultural Economics & Policy	Rank 5
68	5,578	LJ Lorenzo, Jose Manuel	Fundación Centro Tecnolóxico da Carne	Food Science	Rank 30
69	5,623	HM Huarte, Maite	The Cima Universidad de Navarra	Developmental Biology	Rank 214
70	5,755	EM Estévez, M.	Universidad de Extremadura	Food Science	Rank 34
71	5,859	SJ Sunyer, Jordi	Instituto de Salud Global de Barcelona	Respiratory System	Rank 33
72	5,883	PY Picó, Yolanda	Universitat de València	Analytical Chemistry	Rank 21
73	5,941	PJ Prat, Jaime	Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona	Pathology	Rank 6
74	5,962	Khan, Khalid S.	Universidad de Granada	Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine	Rank 19
75	5,980	FJ Flexas, Jaume	Universitat de les Illes Balears	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 74
76	6,033	GI García-Sánchez, Isabel María	Universidad de Salamanca	Business & Management	Rank 145
77	6,055	QX Querol, Xavier	CSIC - Instituto de Diagnostico Ambiental y Estudios del Agua (IDAEA)	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 112
78	6,071	RF Rodríguez-Reinoso, Francisco	Universitat d'Alacant	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 168
79	6,482	LC Lopez-Otin, Carlos	Instituto Universitario de Oncologia del Principado de Asturias	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 143
80	6,630	TF Toldrá, Fidel	CSIC - Instituto de Agroquimica y Tecnologia de los Alimentos (IATA)	Food Science	Rank 40
81	6,665	Barba, Francisco J.	Universitat de València	Food Science	Rank 41
82	6,805	CG Catalan, Gustau	Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats	Applied Physics	Rank 137
83	6,881	TR Tauler, Romà	CSIC - Instituto de Diagnostico Ambiental y Estudios del Agua (IDAEA)	Analytical Chemistry	Rank 22
84	6,897	PM Palacín, M. Rosa	CSIC - Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Barcelona (ICMAB)	Energy	Rank 140
85	6,979	BS Beguería, Santiago	CSIC - Estacion Experimental de Aula Dei EEAD	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 136
86	6,983	DL Domingo, Luis R.	Universitat de València	Organic Chemistry	Rank 100
87	7,028	BM Barbacid, Mariano	Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 260
88	7,036	CA Cuadrado, Antonio	Instituto de Investigación Hospital Universitario La Paz (IdiPAZ)	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 156
89	7,250	GT Gabaldón, Toni	Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats	Developmental Biology	Rank 270
90	7,324	BÁ Borja, Ángel	AZTI Fundazioa	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 39
91	7,361	TT Tadros, T.	CIBER Bioingenieria, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina	Chemical Physics	Rank 138
92	7,386	VM Vrijheid, Martine	Instituto de Salud Global de Barcelona	Toxicology	Rank 34
93	7,529	PE Panadero, Ernesto	Universidad de Deusto	Education	Rank 60
94	7,544	RJ Rozas, Julio	Universitat de Barcelona	Developmental Biology	Rank 283
95	7,569	FA Fuertes, Antonio B.	CSIC-Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología del Carbono, (INCAR)	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 207
96	7,603	CJ Castresana, Jose	CSIC-UPF - Instituto de Biologia Evolutiva (IBE)	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 86
97	7,630	AC Andrade, Carmen	Centre Internacional de Mètodes Numèrics en Enginyeria(CIMNE)	Building & Construction	Rank 37
98	7,984	MJ Martinez-Alier, Joan	UAB Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Ambientales	Geography	Rank 34
99	8,064	FJ Fierro, José Luis G.	CSIC - Instituto de Catálisis y Petroleoquímica (ICP)	Physical Chemistry	Rank 41
100	8,169	TB Tomás Barberán, Francisco A.	CEBAS- CSIC, Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura	Food Science	Rank 45
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Countries with a similar count

Single-year list2021

Japan5,416 scientistsin 2021

France5,274 scientistsin 2021

Netherlands3,945 scientistsin 2021

India3,352 scientistsin 2021

Switzerland3,016 scientistsin 2021

South Korea2,715 scientistsin 2021

Explore other countries

Single-year list2021

Italy6,126 scientistsin 2021

Greece846 scientistsin 2021

Portugal703 scientistsin 2021

Slovenia165 scientistsin 2021

Serbia90 scientistsin 2021

Croatia77 scientistsin 2021

All countries on the world map

Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from Spain are in the 2021 Stanford Top 2% list?

3,402 scientists affiliated with Spain are on the 2021 single-year list, and 2,813 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2021 single-year list, Universitat de Barcelona has the most listed scientists from Spain, with 181. It is followed by Universidad Complutense de Madrid with 98.

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 3,402 in 2021, a change of +22.9%.

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.