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33 scientists working in Ireland have been named among the top 1pc in the world when it comes to highly cited papers.
The 2020 Highly Cited Researchers list published by Clarivate has been released, compiling the top 1pc of the world’s researchers by citations. The methodology that determines the list of influential researchers draws on the data and analysis performed by the analytic firm’s bibliometric experts and data scientists.
This year, a total of 6,167 researchers from more than 60 countries were recognised, with the US continuing to dominate. US-based researchers accounted for 41.5pc of the list (2,650 researchers), but this is a decrease from the 44pc the country achieved in 2019.
Harvard University was again named the top-performing institution, with 188 researchers making the list. Neighbouring institutions the Broad Institute and MIT saw 61 and 53 researchers make the list, respectively.
China also performed strongly, with 770 scientists making the list (12.1pc), up from 636 last year.
In Europe, the UK was the top performing nation, with 514 researchers. This was followed by Germany and the Netherlands, which both saw a rise in researchers on the list after a drop last year. The Max Planck Society in Germany remains in fifth place on the list of institutions, while Utrecht University (27 researchers) and Wageningen University and Research (24 researchers) in the Netherlands both moved up to the top tier of universities listed.
Commenting on this year’s list, Clarivate SVP for strategy, Joel Haspel, said: “The US remains the scientific powerhouse of the world.
“China’s progressive stance towards research and development over the past two decades has delivered highly cited, high-impact papers, increased international collaboration and translated its research into valuable intellectual property and innovation.”
‘A great honour’
As for Ireland, there was an increase in top-performing researchers with 33 making the 2020 list, up from 28 last year. There are additional researchers on the list who have affiliations with Ireland-based institutions, but 33 represents the number who have declared an Irish university or research institute as their primary affiliation.
The list includes APC Microbiome Ireland director Prof Paul Ross, based at University College Cork (UCC), who has been included in both the microbiology and agricultural science categories.
Prof Henry Curran, a professor of combustion chemistry at NUI Galway, was also among those to make this year’s list. Responding to the news, he said it was “a great honour to be listed in the top 1pc of cited researchers again”.
“It reflects very positively on the group of researchers with whom I have worked and continue to work with and on the support of Science Foundation Ireland and our industry sponsors in funding the work,” Curran said.
This year’s list of Ireland-based highly cited researchers includes:
Agricultural sciences
Paul Allen – Teagasc
Declan Bolton – Teagasc
Paula Bourke – University College Dublin (UCD)
Nigel Brunton – Teagasc
Colm O’Donnell – UCD
Paul Ross – University College Cork (UCC)
Catherine Stanton – Teagasc
Da-Wen Sun – UCD
Brijesh Tiwari – Teagasc
Cross-field
Andrew Bowie – Trinity College Dublin (TCD)
Paul Cotter – Teagasc
Kenneth Dawson – UCD
Colin Hill – UCC
Paul O’Toole – UCC
Valeria Nicolosi – TCD
Gerald Fitzgerald – UCC
Stefano Sanvito – TCD
Fergus Shanahan – UCC
Ines Thiele – NUI Galway
Douwe van Sinderen – UCC
Computer science
Mubashir Husain Rehmani – Cork Institute of Technology
Neuroscience and behaviour
Gerard Clarke – UCC
John Cryan – UCC
Timothy Dinan – UCC
Orla Hardiman – TCD
Engineering
Henry Curran – NUI Galway
Materials science
Jonathan Coleman – TCD
Immunology
Luke O’Neill – TCD
Padraic Fallon – TCD
Mathematics
Donal O’Regan – NUI Galway
Psychiatry and psychology
Mary Cannon – Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Microbiology
Paul Ross – UCC
Jens Walter – UCC
Clinical medicine
Patrick Serruys – NUI Galway
Updated, 10.30am, 19 November 2020: This list was updated to include Mubashir Husain Rehmani from Cork Institute of Technology.
