United Kingdom's Top 2% Scientists 2022: Career-Long List

The United Kingdom has 17,986 scientists on the 2022 career-long Top 2% list, up 4.3% from 17,237 in 2021. That places the United Kingdom 2nd in the world by number of listed scientists. Imperial College London has the most listed scientists (660), followed by University College London (649).

Single Year

16,445

+601 (+3.8%) vs 2021

Career Data

17,986

+749 (+4.3%) vs 2021

World rank by count

No change vs 2021

Institutes

1,809

+63 (+3.6%) vs 2021

Scientists in the United Kingdom on the list, by year

The career-long count has grown 20% 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 list2022

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All 17,986 scientists

Career-long list2022

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	6	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	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 1
4	54	RM Rutter, Michael	King's College London	Developmental & Child Psychology	Rank 1
5	62	GA Geim, Andre K.	The University of Manchester	Applied Physics	Rank 5
6	73	RJ Robertson, John	University of Cambridge	Applied Physics	Rank 6
7	75	MM Marmot, Michael	University College London	Epidemiology	Rank 2
8	77	BA Baddeley, Alan D.	University of York	Experimental Psychology	Rank 1
9	88	RT Robbins, Trevor W.	Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 7
10	98	SG Smith, George Davey	University of Bristol	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 2
11	103	EE Ernst, Edzard	University of Exeter	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 5
12	104	FC Frith, Chris D.	University College London	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 12
13	137	PJ Pendry, J. B.	Imperial College London	Applied Physics	Rank 9
14	148	HJ Higgins, Julian P.T.	Bristol Medical School	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 8
15	165	PD Parkin, D. Maxwell	International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research (INCTR)	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 9
16	167	BS Baron-Cohen, S.	Autism Research Centre	Developmental & Child Psychology	Rank 2
17	182	SS Smith, Stephen	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 24
18	195	WN White, Nicholas J.	Nuffield Department of Medicine	Tropical Medicine	Rank 1
19	198	MS Moncada, Salvador	Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 1
20	201	CP Cohen, Philip	University of Dundee	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 15
21	205	CP Calder, Philip C.	University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 2
22	209	HJ Hardy, John	UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 29
23	211	YZ Yang, Ziheng	University College London	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 2
24	212	GS Gordon, Siamon	Sir William Dunn School of Pathology	Immunology	Rank 14
25	217	HD Hardie, D. Grahame	University of Dundee	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 17
26	219	DC Dobson, Christopher M.	University of Cambridge	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 18
27	224	HA Harris, A. L.	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 11
28	225	GK Gaston, K. J.	University of Exeter	Ecology	Rank 3
29	229	SS Schreiber, Stuart L.	Broad Institute	Organic Chemistry	Rank 4
30	232	BM Berridge, Michael J.	The Babraham Institute	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 19
31	248	RE Rolls, Edmund T.	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 32
32	271	TR Turner, R. C.	University of Oxford	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 12
33	274	HS Holgate, Stephen	University of Southampton, Faculty of Medicine	Respiratory System	Rank 2
34	278	FA Ferrari, A. C.	University of Cambridge	Applied Physics	Rank 14
35	301	BA Bird, Adrian	The University of Edinburgh	Developmental Biology	Rank 23
36	302	HS Hawking, S. W.	University of Cambridge	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 5
37	305	MC Marsden, C. D.	Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 35
38	306	MJ McMurray, John J.V.	Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 15
39	309	DR Dolan, Raymond J.	University College London	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 36
40	338	CT Cole, T. J.	UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health	Pediatrics	Rank 1
41	361	SW Schultz, Wolfram	University of Cambridge	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 39
42	378	AM Ashby, Michael F.	University of Cambridge	Materials	Rank 5
43	380	HG Hannon, Gregory J.	University of Cambridge	Developmental Biology	Rank 27
44	381	CC Cooper, Cyrus	University of Southampton	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 18
45	385	RP Rothwell, P.	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 41
46	403	SH Snaith, Henry J.	University of Oxford	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 14
47	420	NK Nicolaides, Kypros	King's College Hospital	Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine	Rank 1
48	442	PR Peto, Richard	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 14
49	443	BK Beven, Keith	Lancaster Environment Centre	Environmental Engineering	Rank 2
50	459	PS Pocock, Stuart J.	London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 23
51	471	GM Goedert, Michel	The Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 47
52	479	LD Livermore, David M.	University of East Anglia, Norwich Medical School	Microbiology	Rank 6
53	489	FA Fersht, Alan R.	The Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 36
54	514	Yang, Xin She	Middlesex University	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 12
55	528	SA Schapira, Anthony H.V.	UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 51
56	532	SJ Scott, J. F.	University of St Andrews	Applied Physics	Rank 24
57	534	KT Kouzarides, Tony	Wellcome Trust/ Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute	Developmental Biology	Rank 38
58	537	MS Mann, Stephen	University of Bristol	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 18
59	545	DJ Duncan, John S.	UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 53
60	547	MD McKenzie, Dan	Bullard Laboratories	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 2
61	550	SD Strachan, David P.	St George’s, University of London	Respiratory System	Rank 4
62	568	DD Denning, David W.	Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health	Microbiology	Rank 8
63	586	CT Clutton-Brock, Tim H.	University of Cambridge	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 8
64	609	VJ Vane, John R.	Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 5
65	625	LT Lüscher, Thomas F.	Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 33
66	643	MR Morris, Richard G.M.	Edinburgh Medical School	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 64
67	644	RA Ridley, Anne J.	University of Bristol	Developmental Biology	Rank 42
68	646	SA Steptoe, Andrew	University College London	Psychiatry	Rank 23
69	666	FL Farrugia, Louis J.	University of Glasgow	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 6
70	688	CJ Cuzick, Jack M.	Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 26
71	691	PJ Pearce, J. A.	Cardiff University	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 3
72	697	MS Maier, Stefan A.	Imperial College London	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 22
73	735	CJ Cleland, J. G.F.	University of Glasgow	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 41
74	737	DJ Downward, Julian	The Francis Crick Institute	Developmental Biology	Rank 49
75	739	PC Ponting, Chris P.	The University of Edinburgh	Developmental Biology	Rank 50
76	748	CB Charlesworth, Brian	The University of Edinburgh	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 13
77	749	DE Dickinson, Eric	University of Leeds	Chemical Physics	Rank 26
78	755	GR Goodman, Robert	King's College London	Developmental & Child Psychology	Rank 9
79	769	GM Griffiths, Mark D.	Nottingham Trent University	Substance Abuse	Rank 2
80	774	MM Murphy, Michael P.	MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 50
81	776	WJ Wardle, J.	University College London	Public Health	Rank 5
82	778	HD Hunter, David J.	University of Oxford	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 32
83	798	LA Lees, Andrew J.	Reta Lila Weston Institute of Neurological Studies	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 82
84	804	TS Thompson, Simon G.	University of Cambridge	Statistics & Probability	Rank 7
85	811	ED Easton, Douglas F.	Department of Public Health and Primary Care	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 33
86	820	BF Balkwill, Frances R.	Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 34
87	833	LN Logothetis, Nikos K.	The University of Manchester	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 84
88	845	DI Deary, Ian J.	The University of Edinburgh	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 86
89	884	GT Greenhalgh, Trisha	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 21
90	895	NK Nasmyth, Kim	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	Developmental Biology	Rank 61
91	905	LT Langdon, T. G.	University of Southampton	Materials	Rank 11
92	911	JS Jackson, Stephen P.	Wellcome Trust/ Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute	Developmental Biology	Rank 65
93	921	BD Brooks, David J.	Newcastle University	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 93
94	923	CR Costanza, Robert	University College London	Ecology	Rank 20
95	924	RD Rubinsztein, David C.	Cambridge Institute for Medical Research	Developmental Biology	Rank 66
96	927	SH Sirringhaus, Henning	Department of Physics	Applied Physics	Rank 39
97	928	DR Doll, R.	Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 22
98	935	VK Vousden, Karen H.	The Francis Crick Institute	Developmental Biology	Rank 67
99	940	WT Welton, Tom	Imperial College London	Organic Chemistry	Rank 29
100	960	BD Bishop, Dorothy V.M.	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	Experimental Psychology	Rank 14
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Countries with a similar count

Career-long list2022

United States78,907 scientistsin 2022

Germany10,562 scientistsin 2022

Canada8,473 scientistsin 2022

China7,693 scientistsin 2022

Japan7,630 scientistsin 2022

Australia6,623 scientistsin 2022

Explore other countries

Career-long list2022

Sweden3,108 scientistsin 2022

Denmark1,955 scientistsin 2022

Finland1,304 scientistsin 2022

Norway1,253 scientistsin 2022

Ireland721 scientistsin 2022

Estonia56 scientistsin 2022

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Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from the United Kingdom are in the 2022 Stanford Top 2% list?

16,445 scientists affiliated with the United Kingdom are on the 2022 single-year list, and 17,986 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2022 career-long list, Imperial College London has the most listed scientists from the United Kingdom, with 660. It is followed by University College London with 649.

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 17,986 in 2022, a change of +19.9%.

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.