The University of California has reclaimed its title as the world leader in influential, high-impact science, according to the 2025 Highly Cited Researchers List from data analytics firm Clarivate. This year’s rankings recognize 288 scientists from across UC’s 10 campuses and three national laboratories as among the most influential thinkers in their fields, making UC the #1 institution for highly cited researchers worldwide.
To earn a spot on this list, scientists have published multiple papers that rank among the top one percent of cited research in the past decade. Clarivate’s 2025 list recognizes 6,868 people at more than 1,300 institutions in 60 countries around the world. This group — roughly one in one thousand researchers worldwide — represents a distinct class of influential figures in science. UC scientists make up 4.2 percent of the world’s mostly highly cited researchers in 2025.
“The Highly Cited Researchers list identifies and celebrates exceptional individual researchers at the University of California who demonstrate significant and broad influence in their fields,” said David Pendlebury, head of research analysis at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate. “They exemplify excellence in their research as well as integrity in their publication and citation practices. These researchers continue to shape the future of science, technology and academia globally and deliver innovation that drives societal progress.”
Why citations matter
Throughout history, scientists have built new knowledge on the foundations of earlier work. Today, researchers share their findings with the world by publishing them in journals, which are reviewed and approved by other scientists with deep expertise in a given field. In each new publication, the authors explain what was known before their study began by citing findings and insights from previously published work, before going on to explain what’s new and significant about their latest discoveries.
“As this ranking shows, UC scientists have an outsized global influence when it comes to creating new knowledge and opening up exciting new pathways for further research and discovery,” said UC President James B. Milliken. “No other institution in the world is doing more to advance new cures for disease, develop cutting-edge technology that keeps America prosperous and secure, and forge new understandings of our universe and our place in it than the University of California.”
UC leads scientific expertise in multiple categories and domains
The University of California tops this year’s list of institutions with the greatest number of highly cited researchers worldwide, reclaiming the lead spot from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which led last year’s rankings. This year, UC’s #1 ranking puts it ahead of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harvard University and Stanford University.
Top 5 institutions for highly cited researchers worldwide in 2025
| Institution | Rank | Highly Cited Researchers |
|---|---|---|
| University of California | 1 | 288 |
| Chinese Academy of Sciences | 2 | 258 |
| Harvard University | 3 | 170 |
| Stanford University | 4 | 141 |
| Tsinghua University | 5 | 91 |
Four UC campuses are also in the top 25 places home to highly cited researchers in 2025: UC Berkeley is 15th with 53 highly cited researchers. UC San Diego and UCLA are tied for 18th with 50 highly cited researchers each, and UC San Francisco ranks #21 worldwide with 48.
UC campuses in top 25 worldwide for highly cited researchers in 2025
| CAMPUS | Rank | Highly Cited Researchers |
|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley | 15 | 53 |
| UCLA | 18 | 50 |
| UC San Diego | 18 | 50 |
| UC San Francisco | 21 | 48 |
The University of California also tops an analysis from Clarivate of “Researchers With Staying Power,” which recognizes an elite group of 405 scientists who’ve made the list of highly cited researchers every year from 2014 to 2024. Of the 4,455 stated primary affiliations listed by these 405 scientists over the past 11 years, UC accounts for 354, more than any other institution in the world. And six UC campuses are in the world’s top 30 for researchers with staying power.
Annual stated affiliations of consistent Highly Cited Researchers 2014-2024
Based on 4,455 stated primary affiliations by 405 researchers over 11 years
| Campus | Rank | Annual stated affiliations |
|---|---|---|
| UC Santa Cruz | 5 | 99 |
| UC San Diego | 6 | 87 |
| UC Berkeley | 16 | 51 |
| UC San Francisco | 21 | 45 |
| UCLA | 24 | 39 |
| UC Riverside | 30 | 33 |
Outstanding in multiple fields
UC faculty are well represented in Clarivate’s analysis of researchers who lead in multiple disciplines. Among the leading scientists recognized by Clarivate this year, just 227 have earned recognition in two or more fields, including 12 whose primary or secondary affiliations are to UC:
John T. Abatzoglou, UC Merced (Environment and Ecology, Geosciences)
Jillian F. Banfield, UC Berkeley (Biology and Biochemistry, Microbiology)
Pieter C. Dorrestein, UC San Diego (Biology and Biochemistry, Microbiology)
Xiangfeng Duan, UCLA (Chemistry, Materials Sciences)
Daniel H. Geschwind, UCLA (Molecular Biology and Genetics, Neuroscience and Behavior)
Yu Huang, UCLA (Chemistry, Materials Sciences)
Nikos C. Kyrpides, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Biology and Biochemistry, Microbiology)
Daniel McDonald, UC San Diego (Biology and Biochemistry, Microbiology)
James T. Randerson, UC Irvine (Environment and Ecology, Geosciences)
Alessandro Sette, UC San Diego (Immunology, Molecular Biology and Genetics)
Tanja Woyke, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC Merced (Biology and Biochemistry, Microbiology)
Jizhong Zhou, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Environment and Ecology, Microbiology)
Just 31 scientists worldwide are recognized in three or more fields. This ultra-elite group includes UC San Diego professor Rob Knight, who is highly cited in Clarivate's categories of Biology and Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Molecular Biology and Genetics. Knight’s work has illuminated the role of microbes in conditions including obesity and inflammatory bowel disease, and in environments ranging from the oceans to the tundra. Along the way, he’s developed high-throughput sequencing techniques that have become mainstays in labs around the world.
Methodology
Clarivate recognized 6,868 individuals with 7,131 awards in 2025. The number of awards exceeds the number of unique individuals because some researchers are recognized in more than one field of research. Each researcher selected has authored a minimum number of Highly Cited Papers (research documents which rank in the top one percent by citations for their field(s) and publication over the past eleven years) and has a minimum number of citations. Citation activity is not the sole selection indicator. This list, based on citation data, is then refined using other quantitative metrics, qualitative analysis and expert judgment. A new list is determined by Clarivate each year.
Learn more
Explore Clarivate's 2025 Highly Cited Researchers list and read about trends and changes for 2025.
