United Kingdom's Top 2% Scientists 2025: Career-Long List

The United Kingdom has 20,571 scientists on the 2025 career-long Top 2% list, up 4.7% from 19,646 in 2024. That places the United Kingdom 2nd in the world by number of listed scientists. University of Oxford has the most listed scientists (777), followed by University College London (709).

Single Year

18,125

+571 (+3.3%) vs 2024

Career Data

20,571

+925 (+4.7%) vs 2024

World rank by count

No change vs 2024

Institutes

2,111

+351 (+19.9%) vs 2024

Scientists in the United Kingdom on the list, by year

The career-long count has grown 37% 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 list2025

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All 20,571 scientists

Career-long list2025

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	UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 1
2	7	AD Altman, Douglas G.	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 1
3	11	BP Barnes, Peter John	National Heart and Lung Institute	Respiratory System	Rank 1
4	14	RP Ridker, Paul M.	Imperial College London	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 1
5	62	GA Geim, Andre K.	The University of Manchester	Applied Physics	Rank 4
6	66	MM Marmot, Michael	University College London	Epidemiology	Rank 2
7	67	RS Rutter, Sir Michael	King's College London	Developmental & Child Psychology	Rank 1
8	83	HJ Higgins, Julian P.T.	Bristol Medical School	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 7
9	84	BA Baddeley, Alan D.	University of York	Experimental Psychology	Rank 1
10	108	RT Robbins, Trevor W.	Fulbourn Hospital	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 11
11	115	FC Frith, Chris D.	Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 12
12	126	DS Davey Smith, George	University of Bristol	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 2
13	129	BS Baron-Cohen, Simon B.	Autism Research Centre	Developmental & Child Psychology	Rank 2
14	141	CP Calder, Philip C.	University of Southampton	Nutrition & Dietetics	Rank 1
15	150	EM Egger, Matthias	Bristol Medical School	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 8
16	151	SS Smith, Stephen	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 18
17	159	LG Lip, Gregory Y.H.	University of Liverpool	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 12
18	163	PJ Pendry, John Brian	Imperial College London	Applied Physics	Rank 10
19	164	BG Burnstock, Geoffrey	University College London	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 20
20	181	EE Ernst, Edzard Edzard W.	University of Exeter	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 9
21	183	GK Gaston, Kevin J.	University of Exeter	Ecology	Rank 2
22	188	HJ Hardy, John Anthony	UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 27
23	208	PD Parkin, Donald Maxwell	University of Oxford	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 9
24	218	YZ Yang, Ziheng	University College London	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 3
25	225	MJ McMurray, John JV	University of Glasgow	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 13
26	236	HD Hardie, David Grahame	University of Dundee	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 15
27	240	DC Dobson, Christopher Martin	University of Cambridge	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 16
28	243	MR May, Robert M.	University of Oxford	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 4
29	246	CP Cohen, Philip	University of Dundee	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 17
30	259	RE Rolls, Edmund T.	University of Warwick	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 31
31	267	HA Harris, Adrian L.	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 12
32	273	AC A. C. Ferrari, A. Carlo	Department of Engineering	Applied Physics	Rank 13
33	302	PS Pocock, Stuart J.	London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 18
34	311	BM Berridge, Michael John	Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 19
35	315	SH Snaith, Henry James	University of Oxford	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 11
36	317	HS Hawking, Stephen W.	University of Cambridge	Nuclear & Particle Physics	Rank 5
37	321	HS Holgate, Stephen	Southampton General Hospital	Respiratory System	Rank 2
38	338	Yang, Xin She	Middlesex University	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 12
39	351	CC Cooper, Cyrus C.	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	Endocrinology & Metabolism	Rank 16
40	354	GM Griffiths, Mark D.	Nottingham Trent University	Substance Abuse	Rank 1
41	358	RP Rothwell, Peter M.	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 39
42	365	CT Cole, Timothy James	UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health	Pediatrics	Rank 1
43	373	AM Ashby, Michael F.A.	Dep of Engineering	Materials	Rank 5
44	376	HL Hench, Larry L.	Imperial College London	Materials	Rank 6
45	380	BA Bird, Adrian P.	Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology	Developmental Biology	Rank 24
46	411	MC Marsden, Charles David	Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 41
47	415	SW Schultz, Wolfram	University of Cambridge	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 42
48	417	NK Nicolaides, Kypros Herodotos	King's College Hospital	Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine	Rank 1
49	432	PM Pesaran, M. Hashem	Trinity College Cambridge	Econometrics	Rank 1
50	451	SA Steptoe, Andrew	University College London	Psychiatry	Rank 14
51	470	BK Beven, Keith J.	Lancaster Environment Centre	Environmental Engineering	Rank 2
52	477	GP Goadsby, Peter James	King's College London	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 44
53	479	HG Hannon, Gregory J.	Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute	Developmental Biology	Rank 31
54	512	PR Peto, Richard R.	Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 14
55	515	GM Goedert, Michel	The Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 48
56	541	SA Schapira, Anthony HV V.	UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 52
57	564	DD Denning, David W.	The University of Manchester	Microbiology	Rank 7
58	569	MM Murphy, Michael P.	MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 35
59	579	SJ Scott, James F.	University of St Andrews	Applied Physics	Rank 24
60	580	GT Greenhalgh, Trisha	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 15
61	584	LD Livermore, David M.	University of East Anglia	Microbiology	Rank 8
62	598	DJ Duncan, John S.	MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 57
63	633	DI Deary, Ian J.	The University of Edinburgh	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 61
64	639	MD McKenzie, Dan P.	University of Cambridge	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 2
65	642	KT Kouzarides, Tony	University of Cambridge	Developmental Biology	Rank 39
66	646	CJ Cleland, John G.F.	University of Glasgow	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 31
67	652	CJ Cuzick, Jack M.	Queen Mary University of London	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 23
68	659	FA Fersht, Alan R.	University of Cambridge	Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	Rank 41
69	667	PJ Pearce, Juliana A.	Cardiff University	Geochemistry & Geophysics	Rank 3
70	674	MS Mann, Stephen	University of Bristol	Nanoscience & Nanotechnology	Rank 26
71	677	CR Costanza, Robert	University College London	Ecology	Rank 15
72	679	DE Dickinson, Eric M.	University of Leeds	Chemical Physics	Rank 18
73	702	GF Geels, Frank W.	Alliance Manchester Business School	Science Studies	Rank 2
74	713	SD Strachan, David Peter	Department of Public Health and Primary Care	Respiratory System	Rank 3
75	732	DR Dunbar, Robin I.M.	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	Behavioral Science & Comparative Psychology	Rank 1
76	741	FP Fonagy, Peter	University College London	Psychiatry	Rank 27
77	752	GR Goodman, Robert M.	King's College London	Developmental & Child Psychology	Rank 8
78	754	TS Thompson, Simon G.	Swansea University Medical School	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 20
79	777	SN Sattar, Naveed A.	University of Glasgow	Cardiovascular System & Hematology	Rank 41
80	778	SC Spence, C. J.	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	Experimental Psychology	Rank 13
81	794	WJ Wardle, Jane	University College London	Public Health	Rank 5
82	818	CJ Canny, John F.	DeepMind Technologies Limited	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing	Rank 26
83	830	FC FOYER, Christine H.	University of Birmingham	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 3
84	845	BF Balkwill, Frances R.	Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 31
85	846	LG Laporte, Gilbert	University of Bath, School of Management	Operations Research	Rank 2
86	849	LA Lees, Andrew John L.	Reta Lila Weston Institute of Neurological Studies	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 86
87	857	RA Ridley, Anne J.	University of Bristol	Developmental Biology	Rank 50
88	865	BS Ball, Stephen John	UCL Institute of Education	Education	Rank 5
89	872	CB Charlesworth, Brian	The University of Edinburgh	Evolutionary Biology	Rank 13
90	882	LT Langdon, Terence G.	University of Southampton	Materials	Rank 12
91	891	VJ Vane, John R.	Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry	Pharmacology & Pharmacy	Rank 5
92	908	GG Gibson, G. R.	University of Reading	Microbiology	Rank 14
93	921	SP Smith, Pete	University of Aberdeen	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 4
94	924	RJ Raven, John A.	The James Hutton Institute	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 6
95	927	PC Ponting, Chris Paul	MRC Human Genetics Unit	Developmental Biology	Rank 55
96	935	BD Bishop, Dorothy Vera Margaret	University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division	Experimental Psychology	Rank 17
97	936	FL Farrugia, Louis J.	University of Glasgow	Inorganic & Nuclear Chemistry	Rank 5
98	938	BH Bhadeshia, Harshad Kumar Dharamshi Hansraj	University of Cambridge	Materials	Rank 14
99	947	Chung, Kian Fan	Imperial College London	Respiratory System	Rank 4
100	953	HS Horvath, Steve M.	Altos Labs	Developmental Biology	Rank 57
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Countries with a similar count

Career-long list2025

United States87,861 scientists

China12,375 scientists

Germany12,166 scientists

Canada9,589 scientists

Japan8,730 scientists

Australia8,025 scientists

Explore other countries

Career-long list2025

Sweden3,471 scientists

Denmark2,207 scientists

Finland1,532 scientists

Norway1,493 scientists

Ireland881 scientists

Estonia85 scientists

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Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from the United Kingdom are in the 2025 Stanford Top 2% list?

18,125 scientists affiliated with the United Kingdom are on the 2025 single-year list, and 20,571 are on the career-long list.

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

On the 2025 career-long list, University of Oxford has the most listed scientists from the United Kingdom, with 777. It is followed by University College London with 709.

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 20,571 in 2025, a change of +37.1%.

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.