Switzerland's Top 2% Scientists 2020: Career-Long List

Switzerland has 2,546 scientists on the 2020 career-long Top 2% list. That places Switzerland 11th in the world by number of listed scientists. ETH Zürich has the most listed scientists (405), followed by University of Zurich (250).

Single Year

2,622

First year listed

Career Data

2,546

First year listed

World rank by count

#11

First year listed

Institutes

325

First year listed

Scientists in Switzerland on the list, by year

Career-long list, change on the previous year

2021+16.8%

2022+5.6%

2023+3.8%

2024+5.2%

2025+6.6%

Show the numbers

Year	Single Year	Change	Career Data	Change
2020	2,622		2,546
2021	3,016	+15.0%	2,974	+16.8%
2022	3,233	+7.2%	3,141	+5.6%
2023	3,311	+2.4%	3,261	+3.8%
2024	3,404	+2.8%	3,431	+5.2%
2025	3,549	+4.3%	3,659	+6.6%

Top 10 institutes in Switzerland

By number of listed scientists

Career-long list2020

Show the list

1ETH Zürich405
2University of Zurich250
3Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne229
4Université de Genève158
5University of Bern150
6Universitat Basel101
7Université de Lausanne (UNIL)86
8Hôpitaux universitaires de Genève70
9UniversitatsSpital Zurich69
10Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois67

All 2,546 scientists

Career-long list2020

The first 100 are free to browse.

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Rank in Switzerland	World rank	Scientist	Institute	Sub-field	Rank in sub-field
1	1	GM Grätzel, Michael	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 1
2	45	LU Laemmli, Ulrich K.	Université de Genève	Developmental Biology	Rank 4
3	91	HD Hanahan, Douglas	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 8
4	189	EM Egger, Matthias	Institut fur Sozial- und Praventivmedizin	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 6
5	455	SC Szabo, Csaba	University of Fribourg	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 6
6	511	AR Aebersold, Ruedi	University of Zurich	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 33
7	579	SD Seebach, Dieter	ETH Zürich	General Chemistry	Rank 8
8	618	LT Lüscher, Thomas F.	University of Zurich	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 37
9	641	LA Lanzavecchia, Antonio	Istituto di Ricerca in Biomedicina, Bellinzona	Immunology	Rank 31
10	699	NE Nigg, Erich A.	Biozentrum, Universität Basel	Developmental Biology	Rank 63
11	722	KC Körner, Christian	Universitat Basel	Ecology	Rank 15
12	727	AJ Auwerx, Johan	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Developmental Biology	Rank 66
13	759	GN Gisin, Nicolas	Université de Genève	General Physics	Rank 5
14	800	DB Delley, Bernard	Paul Scherrer Institut	Applied Physics	Rank 26
15	852	PM Parrinello, Michele	Università della Svizzera italiana	Chemical Physics	Rank 31
16	902	ZR Zinkernagel, Rolf M.	UniversitatsSpital Zurich	Immunology	Rank 41
17	987	BM Büttiker, Markus	Université de Genève	Applied Physics	Rank 32
18	1,084	UM Unser, Michael	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 24
19	1,135	TJ Tschopp, Jürg	Université de Lausanne (UNIL)	Immunology	Rank 48
20	1,201	HA Helenius, Ari	ETH Zürich	Developmental Biology	Rank 102
21	1,343	SJ Schmidhuber, Jürgen	Istituto Dalle Molle Di Studi Sull'intelligenza Artificiale	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 30
22	1,352	DF Diederich, François	ETH Zürich	Organic Chemistry	Rank 39
23	1,382	AJ Angst, Jules	University of Zurich	Psychiatry	Rank 50
24	1,429	LM Lüscher, Martin	European Organization for Nuclear Research	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 15
25	1,510	BM Baggiolini, Marco	Theodor Kocher Institute of University of Bern	Immunology	Rank 56
26	1,527	FE Fehr, Ernst	University of Zurich	Economics	Rank 13
27	1,589	EL Excoffier, Laurent	University of Bern	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 20
28	1,662	PD Pittet, Didier	Hôpitaux universitaires de Genève	Microbiology	Rank 26
29	1,779	WM Weller, Michael	University of Zurich	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 88
30	1,808	BA Bairoch, Amos	Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics	Developmental Biology	Rank 140
31	1,810	BA Baiker, Alfons	ETH Zürich	Physical Chemistry	Rank 10
32	1,843	NP Nordmann, Patrice	University of Fribourg	Microbiology	Rank 29
33	1,878	BJ Bünzli, Jean Claude G.	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 11
34	1,924	RJ Reubi, Jean Claude	University of Bern	Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging	Rank 3
35	1,936	CP Clavien, Pierre Alain	UniversitatsSpital Zurich	Surgery	Rank 3
36	2,030	NM Nazeeruddin, Mohammad Khaja	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 47
37	2,069	SM Schwab, Martin E.	University of Zurich	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 212
38	2,178	NL Novotny, Lukas	ETH Zürich	Optics	Rank 15
39	2,359	GG Gabbiani, Giulio	Université de Genève	Pathology	Rank 9
40	2,414	PT Perneger, Thomas	Hôpitaux universitaires de Genève	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 38
41	2,498	DV Dietz, Volker	Uniklinik Balgrist	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 244
42	2,530	FB Frey, Bruno S.	Universitat Basel	Economics	Rank 20
43	2,629	HM Hengartner, Michael O.	University of Zurich	Developmental Biology	Rank 185
44	2,655	HA Hagfeldt, Anders	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 59
45	2,737	VP Vuilleumier, Patrik	Université de Genève	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 272
46	2,739	VM Vetterli, Martin	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Networking & Telecommunications	Rank 17
47	2,844	SF Sallusto, Federica	Istituto di Ricerca in Biomedicina, Bellinzona	Immunology	Rank 112
48	2,884	BA Borbély, Alexander A.	University of Zurich	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 289
49	2,904	VG von Gunten, Urs	Eawag - Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology	Environmental Engineering	Rank 4
50	2,985	AA Aguzzi, Adriano	University of Zurich	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 301
51	3,110	MF Messerli, Franz H.	UniversitätsSpital Bern	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 166
52	3,117	CE Constable, Edwin C.	Universitat Basel	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 19
53	3,132	RR Roubenoff, Ronenn	Novartis International AG	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 24
54	3,235	VO Voinnet, Olivier	ETH Zürich	Developmental Biology	Rank 216
55	3,253	WC Weber, Christian	UniversitätsSpital Bern	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 172
56	3,327	MH Markram, Henry	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 335
57	3,548	MM Morari, M.	ETH Zürich	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 19
58	3,607	AS Antonarakis, Stylianos E.	Université de Genève Faculté de Médecine	Genetics & Heredity	Rank 10
59	3,615	SB Smit, Berend	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Chemical Physics	Rank 112
60	3,831	WE Weibel, Ewald R.	University of Bern	Physiology	Rank 11
61	3,884	VG Van Gunsteren, Wilfred F.	ETH Zürich	Chemical Physics	Rank 119
62	3,888	SD Sornette, Didier	ETH Zürich	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 41
63	4,133	FJ Fruchart, Jean Charles	R3i Foundation	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 214
64	4,140	PS Pratsinis, Sotiris E.	ETH Zürich	Chemical Engineering	Rank 12
65	4,142	DD Damjanovic, Dragan	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Applied Physics	Rank 110
66	4,156	LD Loss, Daniel	Universitat Basel	Applied Physics	Rank 111
67	4,165	DJ Dunitz, Jack D.	ETH Zürich	General Chemistry	Rank 42
68	4,197	HE Hunziker, Ernst B.	UniversitätsSpital Bern	Biomedical Engineering	Rank 25
69	4,233	BT Boller, Thomas	Universitat Basel	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 28
70	4,272	WA Wagner, Andreas	University of Zurich	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 52
71	4,324	LN Lang, Niklaus P.	University of Bern	Dentistry	Rank 10
72	4,338	TB Thorens, Bernard	Université de Lausanne (UNIL)	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 139
73	4,359	KH Kokko, Hanna	University of Zurich	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 54
74	4,530	ZM Zimmermann, Michael B.	ETH Zürich	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 41
75	4,756	OL Orci, Lelio	Université de Genève Faculté de Médecine	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 209
76	4,792	VS van Schaik, Carel P.	University of Zurich	Behavioral Science & Comparative Psychology	Rank 9
77	4,852	ZJ Zhu, Jieping	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Organic Chemistry	Rank 119
78	4,974	GW Gehring, Walter	Biozentrum, Universität Basel	Developmental Biology	Rank 308
79	4,995	SA Sayed, Ali H.	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Networking & Telecommunications	Rank 34
80	5,036	GJ Goudet, Jérôme	Université de Lausanne (UNIL)	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 66
81	5,038	KU Keller, U.	ETH Zürich	Optics	Rank 25
82	5,160	BJ Bogousslavsky, J.	Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 498
83	5,180	KJ Kolar, Johann W.	ETH Zürich	Electrical & Electronic Engineering	Rank 6
84	5,253	SH Simon, Hans Uwe	University of Bern	Allergy	Rank 16
85	5,267	IA Imamoğlu, Ataç	ETH Zürich	General Physics	Rank 46
86	5,274	GC Gerber, Christian	Uniklinik Balgrist	Orthopedics	Rank 21
87	5,540	KW Koppenol, Willem H.	ETH Zürich	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 232
88	5,560	ST Stocker, Thomas F.	University of Bern	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 54
89	5,699	AC Akdis, Cezmi	University of Zurich	Allergy	Rank 19
90	5,771	NB Nowack, Bernd	Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology	Environmental Sciences	Rank 25
91	5,806	AM Aapro, Matti	Clinique de Genolier	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 294
92	5,831	BE Bakker, Eric	Université de Genève	Analytical Chemistry	Rank 29
93	5,834	LH Leutwyler, H.	University of Bern	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 85
94	5,872	SN Spaldin, N. A.	ETH Zürich	Applied Physics	Rank 137
95	5,916	PJ Pérez-Ramírez, Javier	ETH Zürich	Physical Chemistry	Rank 29
96	5,919	SP Schmid-Hempel, Paul	ETH Zürich	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 76
97	5,979	SA Steinfeld, A.	ETH Zürich	Energy	Rank 43
98	6,018	PA Plückthun, Andreas	University of Zurich	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 259
99	6,047	DP Dyson, Paul J.	Institut des Sciences et Ingénierie Chimiques, Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne	Organic Chemistry	Rank 139
100	6,164	WS Windecker, Stephan	UniversitätsSpital Bern	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 318
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Countries with a similar count

Career-long list2020

Italy4,008 scientistsin 2020

Netherlands3,350 scientistsin 2020

Sweden2,546 scientistsin 2020

Spain2,290 scientistsin 2020

Israel1,630 scientistsin 2020

Denmark1,495 scientistsin 2020

Explore other countries

Career-long list2020

Germany8,792 scientistsin 2020

France5,048 scientistsin 2020

Belgium1,413 scientistsin 2020

Austria962 scientistsin 2020

Luxembourg34 scientistsin 2020

United Kingdom14,999 scientistsin 2020

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Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from Switzerland are in the 2020 Stanford Top 2% list?

2,622 scientists affiliated with Switzerland are on the 2020 single-year list, and 2,546 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2020 career-long list, ETH Zürich has the most listed scientists from Switzerland, with 405. It is followed by University of Zurich with 250.

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.