Memorial researchers among world’s most cited academics

Jan 21st, 2022

By Jeff Green

Memorial researchers continue to make a global impact - something that is being noted in the top tiers of academia.

A total of 69 current and past faculty members from a variety of disciplines and subject matters are included on the World’s Top 2% Scientists list, recently published by Stanford University.

The comprehensive list includes more than 186,000 top scholars and scientists and features the top two per cent of the most-cited researchers in the world.

Researchers based in the faculties of Science, Engineering and Applied Science, Medicine; the School of Human Kinetics and Recreation; and Grenfell Campus are included.

Research areas include fields such as food science, fisheries, ecology, energy, geology and others.

‘Tremendous recognition’

“This is tremendous recognition for Memorial and reinforces our reputation as a Canadian and world leader for innovative research,” said Dr. Neil Bose, vice-president (research), who is included on the list.

“The work of our talented researchers is helping solve technical challenges and shed new light on issues facing our world. Enhancing Memorial’s reputation for truly groundbreaking research is a key priority for our university. Building that profile attracts high-quality graduate students and faculty to Newfoundland and Labrador.”

The list is based on data from Scopus; it ranks journals and indicates a citation index, as well as information on citations, h-index and co-authorship, among other criteria.

“We are pleased to see the Faculty of Science well-represented on this list of globally recognized top tier research institutions,” said Dr. Jacqueline Blundell, acting associate dean, research and graduate studies, Faculty of Science. “It is an acknowledgement of the high standard of research our faculty, and their students, are undertaking here at Memorial University.”

The listing classifies researchers into 22 scientific fields and 176 sub-fields.

“As the only medical school in the province, we have a special obligation to address the health needs of our communities,” said Dr. Reza Tabrizchi, vice-dean, research and graduate studies, Faculty of Medicine. “We are proud of the advanced medical research, basic and applied, taking place here in the Faculty of Medicine. We’re helping to solve problems that are often felt on a global scale.”

The report was prepared by Prof. John PA Loannidis, Stanford University, and his team.

The study analyzed data from 1965 to 2020.