Switzerland's Top 2% Scientists 2021: Career-Long List

Switzerland has 2,974 scientists on the 2021 career-long Top 2% list, up 16.8% from 2,546 in 2020. That places Switzerland 11th in the world by number of listed scientists. ETH Zürich has the most listed scientists (445), followed by Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (264).

Single Year

3,016

+394 (+15.0%) vs 2020

Career Data

2,974

+428 (+16.8%) vs 2020

World rank by count

#11

No change vs 2020

Institutes

406

+81 (+24.9%) vs 2020

Scientists in Switzerland on the list, by year

The career-long count has grown 17% since 2020.

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 list2021

Show the list

1ETH Zürich445
2Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne264
3University of Zurich258
4Université de Genève182
5University of Bern165
6Universitat Basel118
7Université de Lausanne (UNIL)105
8UniversitatsSpital Zurich91
9Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève83
10Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois79

All 2,974 scientists

Career-long list2021

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	55	LU Laemmli, Ulrich K.	Université de Genève	Developmental Biology	Rank 6
3	93	HD Hanahan, Douglas	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 7
4	192	EM Egger, Matthias	University of Bern	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 8
5	459	SC Szabo, Csaba	University of Fribourg	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 6
6	526	AR Aebersold, Ruedi	University of Zurich	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 36
7	580	DD Denning, David	Global Action Fund for Fungal Infections	Microbiology	Rank 8
8	641	SD Seebach, Dieter	ETH Zürich	Organic Chemistry	Rank 19
9	648	KC Körner, Christian	Universitat Basel	Ecology	Rank 12
10	671	SJ Schmidhuber, Jürgen	IDSIA Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 15
11	691	LA Lanzavecchia, Antonio	Istituto di Ricerca in Biomedicina, Bellinzona	Immunology	Rank 34
12	729	JJ Jonas, Jost Bruno	Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel	Ophthalmology & Optometry	Rank 3
13	746	HD Helbing, Dirk	ETH Zürich	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 6
14	757	NE Nigg, Erich A.	Biozentrum, Universität Basel	Developmental Biology	Rank 61
15	767	AJ Auwerx, Johan	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 46
16	769	GN Gisin, Nicolas	Université de Genève	General Physics	Rank 4
17	799	DB Delley, Bernard	Paul Scherrer Institut	Applied Physics	Rank 30
18	1,042	ZR Zinkernagel, Rolf M.	UniversitatsSpital Zurich	Immunology	Rank 48
19	1,071	UM Unser, Michael	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 23
20	1,135	BM Büttiker, Markus	Université de Genève	Applied Physics	Rank 41
21	1,199	TJ Tschopp, Jürg	Université de Lausanne (UNIL)	Immunology	Rank 51
22	1,272	HA Helenius, Ari	ETH Zürich	Developmental Biology	Rank 96
23	1,430	FE Fehr, Ernst	University of Zurich	Economics	Rank 11
24	1,512	DF Diederich, François	ETH Zürich	Organic Chemistry	Rank 46
25	1,532	AJ Angst, Jules	Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik Zürich	Psychiatry	Rank 51
26	1,566	LM Lüscher, Martin	European Organization for Nuclear Research	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 18
27	1,570	WM Weller, Michael	University Hospital Zurich Neurologische Klinik	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 69
28	1,633	EL Excoffier, Laurent	University of Bern	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 23
29	1,664	NP Nordmann, Patrice	University of Fribourg	Microbiology	Rank 25
30	1,692	PD Pittet, Didier	Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève	Microbiology	Rank 27
31	1,732	CP Clavien, Pierre Alain	UniversitatsSpital Zurich	Surgery	Rank 3
32	1,753	FR Frackowiak, Richard S.	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 178
33	1,825	BM Baggiolini, Marco	Theodor Kocher Institute	Immunology	Rank 73
34	1,885	NM Nazeeruddin, Mohammad Khaja	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 42
35	1,961	BA Baiker, Alfons	ETH Zürich	Physical Chemistry	Rank 10
36	1,994	BA Bairoch, Amos	Université de Genève	Developmental Biology	Rank 142
37	2,051	RJ Reubi, Jean Claude	University of Bern	Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging	Rank 6
38	2,083	NL Novotny, L.	ETH Zürich	Optics	Rank 12
39	2,265	SM Schwab, Martin E.	University of Zurich, Brain Research Institute	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 220
40	2,382	FB Frey, Bruno S.	Universitat Basel	Economics	Rank 17
41	2,398	PT Perneger, Thomas	Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 43
42	2,483	HA Hagfeldt, Anders	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 52
43	2,534	GG Gabbiani, Giulio	Université de Genève Faculté de Médecine	Pathology	Rank 10
44	2,541	VG von Gunten, Urs	Eawag - Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology	Environmental Engineering	Rank 4
45	2,617	DV Dietz, Volker	Uniklinik Balgrist	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 238
46	2,644	VP Vuilleumier, Patrik	Université de Genève	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 242
47	2,775	SF Sallusto, Federica	ETH Zürich	Immunology	Rank 109
48	2,869	HM Hengartner, Michael O.	University of Zurich	Developmental Biology	Rank 181
49	2,957	BA Borbély, Alexander A.	University of Zurich	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 280
50	3,040	MF Messerli, Franz H.	University Hospital Bern	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 149
51	3,054	VM Vetterli, Martin	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Networking & Telecommunications	Rank 18
52	3,274	AA Aguzzi, Adriano	University Hospital Zurich Institute of Neuropathology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 313
53	3,424	RR Roubenoff, Ronenn	Novartis International AG	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 28
54	3,439	CE Constable, Edwin C.	Universitat Basel	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 22
55	3,461	VO Voinnet, Olivier	ETH Zürich	Developmental Biology	Rank 209
56	3,511	SB Smit, Berend	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Chemical Physics	Rank 114
57	3,635	MM Morari, M.	ETH Zürich	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 21
58	3,679	ZM Zimmermann, Michael B.	ETH Zürich	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 31
59	3,709	AS Antonarakis, Stylianos E.	Université de Genève Faculté de Médecine	Genetics & Heredity	Rank 8
60	3,789	LN Lang, Niklaus P.	University Hospital Bern	Dentistry	Rank 9
61	3,959	SD Sornette, Didier	Université de Genève	Fluids & Plasmas	Rank 32
62	3,976	PS Pratsinis, Sotiris E.	ETH Zürich	Chemical Engineering	Rank 11
63	3,999	WE Weibel, Ewald R.	University of Bern	Physiology	Rank 10
64	4,002	DD Damjanovic, Dragan	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Applied Physics	Rank 112
65	4,088	VG van Gunsteren, Wilfred F.	ETH Zürich	Chemical Physics	Rank 129
66	4,138	MH Markram, Henry	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 375
67	4,146	SR Street, Robert A.	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Applied Physics	Rank 117
68	4,178	WA Wagner, Andreas	University of Zurich	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 51
69	4,265	TB Thorens, Bernard	Université de Lausanne (UNIL)	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 132
70	4,318	LD Loss, Daniel	Universitat Basel	Applied Physics	Rank 122
71	4,321	BT Boller, Thomas	Universitat Basel	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 29
72	4,335	KJ Kolar, Johann W.	ETH Zürich	Electrical & Electronic Engineering	Rank 7
73	4,381	FJ Fruchart, Jean Charles	Residual Risk Reduction Initiative (R3i) Foundation	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 219
74	4,472	KH Kokko, Hanna	University of Zurich	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 57
75	4,526	HE Hunziker, E. B.	University Hospital Bern	Biomedical Engineering	Rank 25
76	4,531	ZJ Zhu, Jieping	Institut des Sciences et Ingénierie Chimiques	Organic Chemistry	Rank 107
77	4,566	DJ Dunitz, Jack D.	ETH Zürich	General Chemistry	Rank 46
78	4,654	VS van Schaik, Carel P.	University of Zurich	Behavioral Science & Comparative Psychology	Rank 10
79	4,774	SM Siegrist, Michael	ETH Zürich	Strategic, Defence & Security Studies	Rank 3
80	4,786	SA Sayed, Ali H.	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Networking & Telecommunications	Rank 32
81	4,842	PJ Pérez-Ramírez, Javier	ETH Zürich	Physical Chemistry	Rank 24
82	4,846	KU KELLER, URSULA	ETH Zürich	Optics	Rank 24
83	4,983	GJ Goudet, Jérôme	Université de Lausanne (UNIL)	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 68
84	5,009	GC Gerber, Christian	Uniklinik Balgrist	Orthopedics	Rank 20
85	5,035	NB Nowack, Bernd	Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology	Environmental Sciences	Rank 22
86	5,041	HB Hemmings, Brian A.	Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 261
87	5,119	HT Hofmann, Thomas	ETH Zürich	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 97
88	5,130	SN Spaldin, Nicola A.	ETH Zürich	Applied Physics	Rank 138
89	5,150	ST Stocker, Thomas F.	University of Bern	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 54
90	5,235	WS Windecker, Stephan	University Hospital Bern	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 267
91	5,304	SH Simon, Hans Uwe	University of Bern	Allergy	Rank 15
92	5,316	DO de Onis, Mercedes	Organisation Mondiale de la Santé	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 45
93	5,337	SA Steinfeld, A.	ETH Zürich	Energy	Rank 46
94	5,382	RR Rizzoli, R.	Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 172
95	5,409	OL Orci, Lelio	Université de Genève	Developmental Biology	Rank 309
96	5,410	AC Akdis, Cezmi	Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research	Allergy	Rank 17
97	5,485	BE Bakker, Eric	Université de Genève	Analytical Chemistry	Rank 27
98	5,536	DP Dyson, Paul J.	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Organic Chemistry	Rank 121
99	5,550	CW Curtin, W. A.	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Materials	Rank 67
100	5,556	KW Koppenol, Willem H.	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 294
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Countries with a similar count

Career-long list2021

France5,912 scientistsin 2021

Italy4,956 scientistsin 2021

Netherlands3,857 scientistsin 2021

Sweden2,889 scientistsin 2021

Spain2,813 scientistsin 2021

India2,042 scientistsin 2021

Explore other countries

Career-long list2021

Germany9,986 scientistsin 2021

Belgium1,666 scientistsin 2021

Austria1,162 scientistsin 2021

Luxembourg42 scientistsin 2021

United Kingdom17,237 scientistsin 2021

Denmark1,808 scientistsin 2021

All countries on the world map

Frequently asked questions

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

3,016 scientists affiliated with Switzerland are on the 2021 single-year list, and 2,974 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2021 career-long list, ETH Zürich has the most listed scientists from Switzerland, with 445. It is followed by Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne with 264.

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

On the career-long list, Switzerland went from 2,546 scientists in 2020 to 2,974 in 2021, a change of +16.8%.

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.