United Kingdom's Top 2% Scientists 2020

The United Kingdom has 13,805 scientists on the 2020 single-year Top 2% list. That places the United Kingdom 2nd in the world by number of listed scientists. University of Oxford has the most listed scientists (773), followed by UCL (734).

Single Year

13,805

First year listed

Career Data

14,999

First year listed

World rank by count

First year listed

Institutes

1,047

First year listed

Scientists in the United Kingdom on the list, by year

Single-year list, change on the previous year

2021+14.8%

2022+3.8%

2023+2.1%

2024+4.5%

2025+3.3%

Show the numbers

Year	Single Year	Change	Career Data	Change
2020	13,805		14,999
2021	15,844	+14.8%	17,237	+14.9%
2022	16,445	+3.8%	17,986	+4.3%
2023	16,795	+2.1%	18,692	+3.9%
2024	17,554	+4.5%	19,646	+5.1%
2025	18,125	+3.3%	20,571	+4.7%

Top 10 institutes in the United Kingdom

By number of listed scientists

Single-year list2020

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All 13,805 scientists

Single-year list2020

The first 100 are free to browse.

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Rank in the United Kingdom	World rank	Scientist	Institute	Sub-field	Rank in sub-field
1	8	AD Altman, Douglas G.	University of Oxford	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 1
2	16	FK Friston, Karl	UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 1
3	18	GA Geim, Andre K.	University of Manchester	Applied Physics	Rank 2
4	31	HJ Higgins, Julian P.T.	University of Bristol, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 4
5	33	Yang, Xin She	Middlesex University	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 7
6	40	NK Novoselov, Konstantin Sergeevich	University of Manchester	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 4
7	45	SS Smith, Stephen	University of Oxford	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 3
8	46	SH Snaith, Henry J.	University of Oxford	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 5
9	55	FA Ferrari, Andrea C.	University of Cambridge	Applied Physics	Rank 4
10	97	BP Barnes, Peter J.	National Heart and Lung Institute	Respiratory System	Rank 1
11	119	MM Marmot, Michael	University College London	Epidemiology	Rank 2
12	129	GF Geels, Frank W.	Alliance Manchester Business School	Science Studies	Rank 1
13	131	CP Calder, Philip C.	University of Southampton, Faculty of Medicine	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 2
14	138	BA Baddeley, Alan D.	University of York	Experimental Psychology	Rank 2
15	141	BS Baron-Cohen, Simon	Autism Research Centre	Developmental & Child Psychology	Rank 1
16	148	PM Pesaran, M. Hashem	Trinity College Cambridge	Econometrics	Rank 1
17	150	YZ Yang, Ziheng	UCL	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 2
18	156	RJ Robertson, John	University of Cambridge	Applied Physics	Rank 6
19	174	HD Hardie, D. Grahame	University of Dundee	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 5
20	180	GK Gaston, K. J.	University of Exeter	Ecology	Rank 4
21	199	SG Smith, George Davey	University of Bristol, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry	Epidemiology	Rank 4
22	218	PJ Pearce, Julian A.	Cardiff University	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 1
23	224	HJ Hardy, John	UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 17
24	245	MJ McMurray, John J.V.	University of Glasgow	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 10
25	248	PJ Pendry, J. B.	Imperial College London	Applied Physics	Rank 11
26	251	RM Rutter, Michael	King's College London	Developmental & Child Psychology	Rank 3
27	253	AW Adger, W. Neil	University of Exeter	Environmental Sciences	Rank 3
28	264	AM Ashby, Michael F.	University of Cambridge	Materials	Rank 3
29	277	GR Goodman, Robert	King's College London	Developmental & Child Psychology	Rank 5
30	282	HS Hawking, Stephen W.	University of Cambridge	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 3
31	292	SB Sovacool, Benjamin K.	University of Sussex	Energy	Rank 8
32	316	MM Murphy, Michael P.	MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 11
33	329	RT Robbins, Trevor W.	Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute	Psychiatry	Rank 7
34	334	FC Frith, Christopher D.	UCL	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 29
35	348	GS Gordon, Siamon	Sir William Dunn School of Pathology	Immunology	Rank 10
36	363	SJ Scott, J. F.	University of St Andrews	Applied Physics	Rank 16
37	375	AJ Ashburner, John	UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 31
38	380	RP Rothwell, Peter M.	University of Oxford	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 33
39	388	BS Ball, Stephen J.	UCL Institute of Education	Education	Rank 4
40	401	GM Griffiths, Mark D.	Nottingham Trent University	Substance Abuse	Rank 1
41	405	SW Schultz, Wolfram	University of Cambridge	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 38
42	419	PS Pocock, Stuart	London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 15
43	429	DE Dickinson, Eric	University of Leeds	Chemical Physics	Rank 14
44	457	MS Michie, Susan	UCL	Public Health	Rank 3
45	466	DC Dobson, Christopher M.	University of Cambridge	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 12
46	488	SP Smith, Pete	University of Aberdeen	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 4
47	491	EA Eftekhari, Ali	Queen's University Belfast	Energy	Rank 12
48	499	BH Bhadeshia, H. K.D.H.	University of Cambridge	Materials	Rank 11
49	502	BK Beven, Keith	Lancaster Environment Centre	Environmental Engineering	Rank 2
50	530	PJ Provis, J. L.	University of Sheffield	Building & Construction	Rank 1
51	531	CT Cole, Tim J.	UCL	Pediatrics	Rank 1
52	532	GM Goedert, Michel	The Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 45
53	547	HR Hill, Rodney	-	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	Rank 7
54	554	PD Parkin, Donald M.	University of Oxford	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 26
55	582	RP Royston, Patrick	UCL	Statistics & Probability	Rank 8
56	586	BB Binks, Bernard P.	University of Hull	Chemical Physics	Rank 20
57	587	BC Bronk-Ramsey, C.	University of Oxford	Paleontology	Rank 1
58	590	BP Bruce, Peter G.	University of Oxford	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 28
59	608	WS Wood, Simon N.	University of Bristol	Statistics & Probability	Rank 9
60	612	SA Steptoe, Andrew	UCL	Psychiatry	Rank 13
61	615	CC Cooper, Cyrus	MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 11
62	621	DI Deary, Ian J.	University of Edinburgh	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 52
63	653	BA Bird, Adrian	University of Edinburgh	Developmental Biology	Rank 30
64	666	DR Dunbar, R. I.M.	University of Oxford	Behavioral Science & Comparative Psychology	Rank 1
65	681	SH Sirringhaus, Henning	Department of Physics	Applied Physics	Rank 28
66	683	TS Thompson, Simon G.	School of Clinical Medicine	Statistics & Probability	Rank 10
67	693	FC Foyer, Christine Helen	University of Birmingham	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 3
68	698	SC Spence, Charles	University of Oxford	Experimental Psychology	Rank 14
69	709	BA Bridgwater, Anthony V.	Aston University	Energy	Rank 20
70	725	DJ Deeks, Jonathan J.	University of Birmingham	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 12
71	735	SS Scheres, Sjors H.W.	The Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology	Developmental Biology	Rank 32
72	738	FB Flyvbjerg, Bent	University of Oxford, Saïd Business School	Logistics & Transportation	Rank 1
73	755	PM Padgett, Miles J.	University of Glasgow	Optics	Rank 6
74	759	PM Packer, Milton	Imperial College London	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 21
75	790	SN Sattar, Naveed	University of Glasgow	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 23
76	817	MX Mao, Xuerong	University of Strathclyde	Industrial Engineering & Automation	Rank 6
77	826	BM Berridge, Michael J.	The Babraham Institute	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 14
78	837	DR Dolan, Raymond J.	UCL	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 63
79	841	WM Wright, Mike	Imperial College London	Business & Management	Rank 22
80	846	WT Welton, Tom	Imperial College London	Organic Chemistry	Rank 9
81	851	WA Walsh, Aron	Imperial College London	Applied Physics	Rank 34
82	856	WI White, I. R.	UCL	Statistics & Probability	Rank 13
83	859	EE Ernst, Edzard	University of Exeter	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 15
84	866	RD Rubinsztein, David C.	Cambridge Institute for Medical Research	Developmental Biology	Rank 37
85	881	BM Botvinick, Matthew	UCL	Experimental Psychology	Rank 16
86	891	SJ Sterne, Jonathan A.C.	University of Bristol, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 16
87	898	GP Goadsby, P. J.	Wellcome Trust	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 66
88	903	BF Balkwill, Frances R.	Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 30
89	917	PR Pekrun, Reinhard	University of Essex	Education	Rank 6
90	921	TR Thompson, Richard C.	University of Plymouth	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 3
91	929	LT Langdon, Terence G.	University of Southampton	Materials	Rank 22
92	933	GP Gilbert, Paul	University of Derby	Clinical Psychology	Rank 7
93	968	GG Gibson, G. R.	University of Reading	Microbiology	Rank 13
94	974	GD Goulson, Dave	University of Sussex	Ecology	Rank 29
95	980	GT Greenhalgh, Trisha	University of Oxford	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 17
96	987	HG Hannon, Gregory J.	University of Cambridge	Developmental Biology	Rank 43
97	989	HG Hewitt, Godfrey	University of East Anglia	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 13
98	991	BE Bullmore, Edward T.	University of Cambridge	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 68
99	994	CJ Cuzick, Jack	Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 33
100	1,007	SA Schapira, A. H.V.	UCL	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 69
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Countries with a similar count

Single-year list2020

United States59,785 scientistsin 2020

China12,955 scientistsin 2020

Germany8,177 scientistsin 2020

Canada6,602 scientistsin 2020

Australia6,100 scientistsin 2020

Italy4,746 scientistsin 2020

Explore other countries

Single-year list2020

Sweden2,132 scientistsin 2020

Denmark1,515 scientistsin 2020

Norway922 scientistsin 2020

Finland845 scientistsin 2020

Ireland586 scientistsin 2020

Estonia58 scientistsin 2020

All countries on the world map

Frequently asked questions

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

13,805 scientists affiliated with the United Kingdom are on the 2020 single-year list, and 14,999 are on the career-long list.

Which institute in the United Kingdom has the most Top 2% scientists?

On the 2020 single-year list, University of Oxford has the most listed scientists from the United Kingdom, with 773. It is followed by UCL with 734.

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.