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

The United Kingdom has 17,237 scientists on the 2021 career-long Top 2% list, up 14.9% from 14,999 in 2020. That places the United Kingdom 2nd in the world by number of listed scientists. University College London has the most listed scientists (645), followed by Imperial College London (643).

Single Year

15,844

+2,039 (+14.8%) vs 2020

Career Data

17,237

+2,238 (+14.9%) vs 2020

World rank by count

No change vs 2020

Institutes

1,746

+359 (+25.9%) vs 2020

Scientists in the United Kingdom on the list, by year

The career-long count has grown 15% since 2020.

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 list2021

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All 17,237 scientists

Career-long list2021

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	7	FK Friston, Karl	University College London	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 1
2	10	BP Barnes, Peter J.	National Heart and Lung Institute	Respiratory System	Rank 1
3	11	AD Altman, Douglas G.	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 1
4	53	RM Rutter, Michael	King's College London	Developmental & Child Psychology	Rank 1
5	64	GA Geim, Andre K.	The University of Manchester	Applied Physics	Rank 5
6	70	RJ Robertson, John	University of Cambridge	Applied Physics	Rank 6
7	76	BA Baddeley, Alan D.	University of York	Experimental Psychology	Rank 1
8	78	MM Marmot, Michael	University College London	Epidemiology	Rank 2
9	84	RT Robbins, Trevor W.	Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 7
10	96	MA Mantovani, Alberto	Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry	Immunology	Rank 6
11	99	SG Smith, George Davey	University of Bristol	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 2
12	100	FC Frith, Chris D.	University College London	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 11
13	105	EE Ernst, Edzard	University of Exeter	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 5
14	130	PJ Pendry, J. B.	Imperial College London	Applied Physics	Rank 8
15	159	PD Parkin, D. Max	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 10
16	167	BS Baron-Cohen, S.	Autism Research Centre	Developmental & Child Psychology	Rank 3
17	184	SS Smith, Stephen	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 25
18	187	CP Cohen, Philip	University of Dundee	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 13
19	188	MS Moncada, Salvador	The University of Manchester	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 1
20	198	HJ Higgins, Julian P.T.	Bristol Medical School	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 9
21	200	WN White, Nicholas J.	Nuffield Department of Medicine	Tropical Medicine	Rank 1
22	205	YZ Yang, Ziheng	University College London	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 3
23	207	HJ Hardy, John	UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 28
24	210	GS Gordon, Siamon	Sir William Dunn School of Pathology	Immunology	Rank 14
25	211	CP Calder, Philip C.	University of Southampton, Faculty of Medicine	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 2
26	213	HD Hardie, D. Grahame	University of Dundee	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 15
27	219	DC Dobson, Christopher M.	University of Cambridge	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 16
28	220	BM Berridge, Michael J.	Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 17
29	222	HA Harris, Adrian L.	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 12
30	227	GK Gaston, Kevin J.	University of Exeter	Ecology	Rank 2
31	243	BJ Baselga, José	AstraZeneca	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 13
32	263	HS Holgate, Stephen T.	University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust	Respiratory System	Rank 2
33	265	RE Rolls, Edmund T.	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 32
34	278	TR Turner, R. C.	Nuffield Department of Medicine	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 12
35	279	FA Ferrari, Andrea C.	University of Cambridge	Applied Physics	Rank 14
36	294	BA Bird, Adrian	The University of Edinburgh	Developmental Biology	Rank 25
37	300	MC Marsden, C. D.	Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 35
38	301	DR Dolan, Raymond J.	University College London	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 36
39	317	MJ McMurray, John J.V.	Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 16
40	331	CT Cole, T. J.	UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health	Pediatrics	Rank 1
41	347	HS Hawking, S. W.	University of Cambridge	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 5
42	358	HG Hannon, Gregory J.	University of Cambridge	Developmental Biology	Rank 30
43	362	SW Schultz, Wolfram	University of Cambridge	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 38
44	374	RP Rothwell, Peter M.	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 40
45	376	CC Cooper, Cyrus	University of Southampton	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 18
46	390	AM Ashby, Michael F.	University of Cambridge	Materials	Rank 5
47	409	SH Snaith, Henry J.	University of Oxford	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 14
48	427	NK Nicolaides, K. H.	King's College Hospital	Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine	Rank 1
49	432	BK Beven, Keith J.	Lancaster Environment Centre	Environmental Engineering	Rank 2
50	452	PR Peto, Richard	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 13
51	460	FA Fersht, Alan R.	The Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 32
52	475	LD Livermore, David M.	University of East Anglia	Microbiology	Rank 6
53	477	GM Goedert, Michel	The Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 48
54	480	PS Pocock, Stuart J.	London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 23
55	511	GP Goadsby, Peter J.	King's College London	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 49
56	517	KT Kouzarides, Tony	Wellcome Trust/ Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute	Developmental Biology	Rank 42
57	527	SJ Scott, James F.	University of St Andrews	Applied Physics	Rank 23
58	531	MS Mann, Stephen	University of Bristol	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 18
59	532	SD Strachan, David P.	St George’s, University of London	Respiratory System	Rank 3
60	535	MD McKenzie, Dan	University of Cambridge	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 2
61	537	SA Schapira, Anthony	UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 50
62	542	DJ Duncan, John S.	UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 52
63	571	CT Clutton-Brock, Tim H.	University of Cambridge	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 9
64	574	Yang, Xin She	Middlesex University	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 12
65	575	VJ Vane, John R.	Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 8
66	623	RA Ridley, Anne J.	University of Bristol	Developmental Biology	Rank 50
67	631	FL Farrugia, Louis J.	University of Glasgow	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 6
68	634	LT Lüscher, Thomas F.	Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 33
69	674	SA Steptoe, Andrew	University College London	Psychiatry	Rank 23
70	682	DJ Downward, Julian	The Francis Crick Institute	Developmental Biology	Rank 52
71	694	CJ Cuzick, Jack	Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 29
72	716	PC Ponting, Chris	The University of Edinburgh	Developmental Biology	Rank 56
73	722	PJ Pearce, Julian A.	Cardiff University	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 3
74	730	DE Dickinson, Eric	University of Leeds	Chemical Physics	Rank 26
75	737	GR Goodman, R.	King's College London	Developmental & Child Psychology	Rank 10
76	740	CB Charlesworth, Brian	The University of Edinburgh	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 12
77	744	CJ Cleland, John G.F.	University of Glasgow	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 42
78	752	WJ Wardle, J.	University College London	Public Health	Rank 5
79	771	MR Morris, Richard G.M.	Edinburgh Medical School	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 76
80	778	MS Maier, Stefan A.	Imperial College London	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 22
81	780	ED Easton, Douglas F.	University of Cambridge	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 34
82	801	BF Balkwill, Frances R.	Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 35
83	810	LN Logothetis, Nikos K.	The University of Manchester	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 82
84	813	TS Thompson, Simon G.	University of Cambridge	Statistics & Probability	Rank 7
85	821	LA Lees, Andrew J.	Reta Lila Weston Institute of Neurological Studies	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 83
86	839	NK Nasmyth, Kim A.	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	Developmental Biology	Rank 66
87	859	DI Deary, I. J.	The University of Edinburgh	Social Psychology	Rank 17
88	864	GM Griffiths, Mark D.	Nottingham Trent University	Substance Abuse	Rank 2
89	876	JS Jackson, Stephen P.	Wellcome Trust/ Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute	Developmental Biology	Rank 68
90	877	LT Langdon, Terence G.	University of Southampton	Materials	Rank 10
91	882	DR Doll, R.	Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 18
92	898	WT Welton, Tom	Imperial College London	Organic Chemistry	Rank 28
93	899	HG Hewitt, Godfrey	University of East Anglia	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 14
94	915	VK Vousden, Karen H.	The Francis Crick Institute	Developmental Biology	Rank 71
95	918	SH Sirringhaus, Henning	Department of Physics	Applied Physics	Rank 35
96	925	FA Fabian, A. C.	Institute of Astronomy	Astronomy & Astrophysics	Rank 3
97	937	WC Warlow, Charles	Edinburgh Medical School	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 96
98	941	BD Brooks, David J.	Newcastle University	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 97
99	942	RC Rice-Evans, Catherine	King's College London	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 56
100	947	RD Rubinsztein, David C.	Cambridge Institute for Medical Research	Developmental Biology	Rank 72
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Countries with a similar count

Career-long list2021

United States75,908 scientistsin 2021

Germany9,986 scientistsin 2021

Canada8,127 scientistsin 2021

Japan7,362 scientistsin 2021

China6,943 scientistsin 2021

Australia6,369 scientistsin 2021

Explore other countries

Career-long list2021

Sweden2,889 scientistsin 2021

Denmark1,808 scientistsin 2021

Finland1,217 scientistsin 2021

Norway1,152 scientistsin 2021

Ireland661 scientistsin 2021

Estonia52 scientistsin 2021

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Frequently asked questions

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

15,844 scientists affiliated with the United Kingdom are on the 2021 single-year list, and 17,237 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2021 career-long list, University College London has the most listed scientists from the United Kingdom, with 645. It is followed by Imperial College London with 643.

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

On the career-long list, the United Kingdom went from 14,999 scientists in 2020 to 17,237 in 2021, a change of +14.9%.

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.