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

The United Kingdom has 14,999 scientists on the 2020 career-long 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 (749), followed by UCL (737).

Single Year

13,805

First year listed

Career Data

14,999

First year listed

World rank by count

First year listed

Institutes

1,387

First year listed

Scientists in the United Kingdom on the list, by year

Career-long list, change on the previous year

2021+14.9%

2022+4.3%

2023+3.9%

2024+5.1%

2025+4.7%

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

Career-long list2020

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All 14,999 scientists

Career-long 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	BP Barnes, Peter J.	National Heart and Lung Institute	Respiratory System	Rank 1
2	11	FK Friston, Karl	UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 2
3	14	AD Altman, Douglas G.	University of Oxford	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 1
4	49	RM Rutter, Michael	King's College London	Developmental & Child Psychology	Rank 1
5	66	RJ Robertson, John	University of Cambridge	Applied Physics	Rank 3
6	70	GA Geim, Andre K.	University of Manchester	Applied Physics	Rank 4
7	74	BA Baddeley, Alan D.	University of York	Experimental Psychology	Rank 1
8	78	RT Robbins, Trevor W.	Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute	Psychiatry	Rank 3
9	79	MM Marmot, Michael	University College London	Epidemiology	Rank 2
10	87	FC Frith, Christopher D.	UCL	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 7
11	106	EE Ernst, Edzard	University of Exeter	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 4
12	119	PJ Pendry, J. B.	Imperial College London	Applied Physics	Rank 6
13	139	MS Moncada, Salvador	University of Manchester	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 9
14	150	SG Smith, George Davey	University of Bristol, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry	Epidemiology	Rank 3
15	153	PD Parkin, Donald M.	University of Oxford	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 15
16	164	CP Cohen, Philip	University of Dundee	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 11
17	175	NK Novoselov, Konstantin Sergeevich	University of Manchester	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 8
18	187	BS Baron-Cohen, Simon	Autism Research Centre	Developmental & Child Psychology	Rank 2
19	194	YZ Yang, Ziheng	UCL	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 3
20	198	HA Harris, Adrian L.	Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 16
21	201	BM Berridge, Michael J.	The Babraham Institute	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 15
22	204	SS Smith, Stephen	University of Oxford	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 28
23	205	DC Dobson, Christopher M.	University of Cambridge	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 16
24	210	GS Gordon, Siamon	Sir William Dunn School of Pathology	Immunology	Rank 12
25	211	HJ Hardy, John	UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 30
26	216	HD Hardie, D. Grahame	University of Dundee	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 17
27	234	HS Holgate, Stephen T.	University of Southampton, Faculty of Medicine	Respiratory System	Rank 2
28	250	CP Calder, Philip C.	University of Southampton, Faculty of Medicine	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 2
29	251	GK Gaston, K. J.	University of Exeter	Ecology	Rank 3
30	270	MC Marsden, C. D.	King's College London	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 34
31	274	BA Bird, Adrian	University of Edinburgh	Developmental Biology	Rank 27
32	285	HS Hawking, Stephen W.	University of Cambridge	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 4
33	295	DR Dolan, Raymond J.	UCL	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 35
34	310	FA Ferrari, Andrea C.	University of Cambridge	Applied Physics	Rank 12
35	320	HG Hannon, Gregory J.	University of Cambridge	Developmental Biology	Rank 31
36	323	CT Cole, Tim J.	UCL	Pediatrics	Rank 1
37	326	HJ Higgins, Julian P.T.	University of Bristol, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 9
38	330	SW Schultz, Wolfram	University of Cambridge	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 38
39	348	MJ McMurray, John J.V.	University of Glasgow	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 17
40	379	RP Rothwell, Peter M.	University of Oxford	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 41
41	391	AM Ashby, Michael F.	University of Cambridge	Materials	Rank 5
42	398	PR Peto, Richard	University of Oxford	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 10
43	402	CC Cooper, Cyrus	MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 17
44	416	FA Fersht, Alan R.	The Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 28
45	443	BK Beven, Keith	Lancaster Environment Centre	Environmental Engineering	Rank 1
46	454	LD Livermore, David M.	University of East Anglia	Microbiology	Rank 6
47	479	PS Pocock, Stuart	London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 25
48	481	PM Packer, Milton	Imperial College London	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 27
49	485	MS Mann, Stephen	University of Bristol	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 18
50	486	VJ Vane, John R.	Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 7
51	499	GM Goedert, Michel	The Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 48
52	503	KT Kouzarides, Tony	Wellcome Trust/ Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute	Developmental Biology	Rank 42
53	507	SD Strachan, David	University of London	Respiratory System	Rank 3
54	523	MD McKenzie, Dan	Bullard Laboratories	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 4
55	525	GP Goadsby, P. J.	Wellcome Trust	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 52
56	533	SJ Scott, J. F.	University of St Andrews	Applied Physics	Rank 18
57	534	SH Snaith, Henry J.	University of Oxford	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 20
58	555	DJ Duncan, John	UCL	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 54
59	564	FL Farrugia, Louis J.	University of Glasgow	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 5
60	565	SA Schapira, A. H.V.	UCL	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 56
61	591	CJ Cuzick, Jack	Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 31
62	597	DD Denning, David W.	University of Manchester	Microbiology	Rank 8
63	616	RA Ridley, Anne J.	University of Bristol	Developmental Biology	Rank 53
64	626	DJ Downward, Julian	The Francis Crick Institute	Developmental Biology	Rank 54
65	671	CB Charlesworth, Brian	University of Edinburgh	Developmental Biology	Rank 61
66	693	PC Ponting, Chris P.	Edinburgh Medical School, Medical Research Council Human Genetics Unit	Developmental Biology	Rank 62
67	698	ED Easton, Douglas F.	University of Cambridge	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 37
68	737	NK Nasmyth, Kim A.	University of Oxford	Developmental Biology	Rank 67
69	744	MR Morris, Richard G.M.	University of Edinburgh	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 75
70	750	CJ Cleland, John G.F.	University of Glasgow	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 46
71	769	LN Logothetis, Nikos K.	University of Manchester	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 77
72	775	PJ Pearce, Julian A.	Cardiff University	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 5
73	781	SA Steptoe, Andrew	UCL	Psychiatry	Rank 28
74	786	GR Goodman, Robert	King's College London	Developmental & Child Psychology	Rank 8
75	791	LA Lees, Andrew J.	UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 81
76	795	DE Dickinson, Eric	University of Leeds	Chemical Physics	Rank 29
77	804	MM Malik, Marek	National Heart and Lung Institute	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 50
78	813	BF Balkwill, Frances R.	Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 48
79	830	TS Thompson, Simon G.	School of Clinical Medicine	Statistics & Probability	Rank 5
80	837	JS Jackson, Stephen P.	Wellcome Trust/ Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute	Developmental Biology	Rank 69
81	839	VK Vousden, Karen H.	The Francis Crick Institute	Developmental Biology	Rank 70
82	844	RC Rice-Evans, Catherine	King's College London	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 42
83	848	WC Warlow, Charles	University of Edinburgh	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 87
84	851	Yang, Xin She	Middlesex University	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 17
85	866	HG Hewitt, Godfrey	University of East Anglia	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 12
86	871	WT Welton, Tom	Imperial College London	Organic Chemistry	Rank 28
87	883	SP Serruys, Patrick W.	Imperial College London	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 55
88	930	LT Langdon, Terence G.	University of Southampton	Materials	Rank 9
89	933	SH Sirringhaus, Henning	Department of Physics	Applied Physics	Rank 29
90	934	GJ Gutteridge, John M.C.	National Institute for Biological Standards and Control	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 45
91	943	FR Friend, Richard H.	Department of Physics	Applied Physics	Rank 30
92	946	JP Jones, Phil D.	University of East Anglia	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	Rank 6
93	950	HJ Hodges, John R.	Addenbrooke's Hospital	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 96
94	956	FD Frenkel, Daan	University of Cambridge	Chemical Physics	Rank 36
95	969	PC Price, Cathy J.	UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 98
96	979	RD Rubinsztein, David C.	Cambridge Institute for Medical Research	Developmental Biology	Rank 84
97	985	AK Alberti, K. George	Imperial College London	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 33
98	1,006	FA Fabian, Andrew C.	Institute of Astronomy	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 3
99	1,019	LT Lindahl, Tomas	The Francis Crick Institute	Developmental Biology	Rank 86
100	1,044	EP Emery, P.	University of Leeds	Arthritis & Rheumatology	Rank 6
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Countries with a similar count

Career-long list2020

United States68,018 scientistsin 2020

Germany8,792 scientistsin 2020

Canada7,225 scientistsin 2020

Japan6,316 scientistsin 2020

Australia5,441 scientistsin 2020

China5,273 scientistsin 2020

Explore other countries

Career-long list2020

Sweden2,546 scientistsin 2020

Denmark1,495 scientistsin 2020

Finland1,037 scientistsin 2020

Norway947 scientistsin 2020

Ireland547 scientistsin 2020

Iceland43 scientistsin 2020

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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 career-long list, University of Oxford has the most listed scientists from the United Kingdom, with 749. It is followed by UCL with 737.

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.