The latest update of the “World’s Top 2% Scientists list”, published by Elsevier based on SCOPUS data, highlights 211 researchers and professors from the University of Porto (U.Porto) among the most cited scientists globally in 2025. This number solidifies U.Porto's standing within a pool of nearly 250,000 scientists worldwide.
The list, compiled by researchers from Stanford University (USA), covers 20 fields and 174 subfields, selecting scientists whose work has accelerated progress in their respective areas. The ranking criterion is the C-Score, which assesses citation impact, considering the number of citations received, co-authorship, and the researcher's position in published works.
On the list of U.Porto's most cited researchers in 2025, led by João Gama (Faculty of Economics and INESC TEC), followed by Manuel Simões and João Catalão (Faculty of Engineering), and Bruno Sarmento (Research and Innovation Institute of U.Porto).
This year's list includes six more names and 32 new entries compared to the previous edition. Among the distinguished scientists are also winners of previous editions of the U.Porto Scientific Research Excellence Award, such as Aurora Teixeira, Lucas F. da Silva, Manuel Simões, Adélio Mendes, Fantina Tedim, Paula Soares, Victor Freitas, Maria João Ramos, Nuno Cardoso Santos, Vítor Vasconcelos, Pedro Camanho, and Adelino Leite Moreira.
The scientific fields with the highest representation include Clinical Medicine, Chemistry, Strategic and Enabling Technologies, Engineering, and Agronomic, Forestry, and Marine Sciences. Researchers also distinguished themselves in Biomedical Research, Physics and Astronomy, Biology, Information and Communication Technologies, Economics and Management, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Public Health, Psychology, Social Sciences, and Mathematics.
Nationally, the list includes 1,060 scientists from Portuguese institutions, of whom approximately 20% are affiliated with U.Porto. The most cited scientist nationally is Joana Correia Prata, a former student and lecturer at ICBAS and currently a lecturer at IUCS.
In addition to the list of most cited scientists over the past year, the "World’s Top 2% Scientists list" also includes a list of scientists with the greatest career-long impact. In this category, 152 U.Porto researchers stand out, 14 more than in the previous edition, on a global list of 230,333 researchers. José Luís Figueiredo (FEUP) leads this list for U.Porto, followed by Alírio Rodrigues (FEUP), João Gama (FEP and INESC TEC), and António Joaquim Mendes Ferreira (FEUP).
Clinical Medicine is the most represented field in this career-long impact list, followed by Engineering, Strategic and Enabling Technologies, and Chemistry. Globally, this list is again topped by China's Zhong Lin Wang, followed by Swiss chemist Michael Grätzel, a Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Porto.
The list, coordinated by John Ioannidis from Stanford University, uses bibliometric indicators such as citation count, h-index, and C-Score. The responsible team advises cautious use of these indicators, emphasizing they are not absolute proof of excellence.
