by Imed Bouchrika, Phd
On March 28, 2022, Research.com released the 1st edition of the annual ranking for top scientists in the area of materials science. This list of leading scholars is designed to offer the academic community more visibility and exposure to the influential research contributions made by those at the forefront of materials science.
What is more, we hope it will inspire researchers, decision-makers, and entrepreneurs around the world to find out where leading experts are heading. It is a great opportunity for all of us to learn who are the leading experts in different research areas, in different countries, as well as within different universities and research institutions.
For the 2022 edition of the ranking, more than 11,00 scientist profiles on Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic Graph have been examined with several indicators and metrics reviewed in order to consider each scientist’s inclusion in the ranking.
The h-index threshold for approving a scholar to be considered was set to 40 if most of their publications were in the field of materials science. The inclusion criteria for scholars to be considered into the ranking of top scientists are based on the discipline h-index, the proportion of contributions made within the given discipline in addition to the awards and achievements of the scientists.
The full ranking for the 2022 list of top materials scientists can be found here:
TOP MATERIALS SCIENTISTS RANKING
Scientists from the United States dominate the list with 361 scholars included in 2022 which represents 36.1% of the whole ranking. 7 out of 10 scientists in the top 1% are from the United States, with the other countries represented being China and Switzerland.
China ranks second with 241 scientists.
The third spot was taken by Germany, which currently has 68 ranking scientists.
The other leading countries are the United Kingdom with 13 scientists, Japan with 45 scientists, Australia with 42 scientists, Singapore with 36 scientists, and South Korea with 25 scholars.
Please note that the country associated with a scientist is based on their affiliated research institution according to MAG, not on their actual nationality.
In the 2022 edition of our ranking, the Chinese Academy of Sciences is the leader, with 52 scientists affiliated with that institution included in the ranking. Ranking second is Tsinghua University with 25 scientists, and the third place is occupied by MIT with 21 scholars.
American universities constitute only 40% of the top 10 leading institutions with 30% representing China, 20% being Singapore institutions, and 10% being from the UK.
7 out of 10 institutions affiliated with the top 1% of leading scientists are based in the USA. Other top spots are occupied by École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland (3rd spot), Wuhan University of Technology, China (7th spot), and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (10th spot).
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For North America, Professor Zhong Lin Wang, from Georgia Institute of Technology, United States ranks 1st on our list of leading scientists in that region and he’s also listed as no. 1 in the world ranking with a high H-index of 299.
For Europe, Professor Michael Grätzel from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland is ranked first in the region, with an H-index of 260.
Professor Jiaguo Yu from the Wuhan University of Technology, China leads the top list in Asia with an H-index of 204 and a world ranking of 7.
For Oceania, Professor Yusuke Yamauchi from the University of Queensland, Australia is on top of the list with a world ranking of 30.
Professor Ado Jorio from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil is the highest-ranking scientist from South America with a world ranking of 449.
Professor Malik Maaza who is affiliated with the University of South Africa is the first in Africa with a world ranking of 635.
The average H-index for the top 1% of scientists is 231 against an average of 103 for all 1000 scientists included in the ranking.
The scholar with the lowest index value who made it to the ranking in 2022 has an H-index of 81.
The average number of published articles for the top 1% of scientists in the ranking is 1213 against an average of 488 for all 1000 scholars.
The average number of citations for the top 1% of scientists is 236,600 against an average of 47,474 for all 1000 scholars. The highest cited scientist is Zhong Lin Wang from Georgia Institute of Technology, United States with 391,479 citations.
You can learn more about the methodology used to create the ranking here.
All research was coordinated by Imed Bouchrika, PhD, a computer scientist with a well-established record of collaboration on a number of international research projects with different partners from the academic community. His role was to make sure all data remained unbiased, accurate, and up-to-date.
Research.com is the number one research portal for science rankings. Our mission is to make it easier for professors, research fellows, and those studying for a PhD or a master’s degree to progress with their research and to ensure they are always up-to-date with the latest conferences around the world and publications related to their work. Research.com is also involved in the publication of an annual ranking of leading scientists in a wide range of scientific disciplines.
