The Science Watch Polska Foundation has prepared a study on the state of Polish science according to the TOP2% ranking of Stanford University & Elsevier. The data was systematized in terms of Polish universities, sciences and disciplines as well as the number of scientists from individual universities included in the ranking.

The TOP2% Stanford University & Elsevier ranking concerns the publication of research results in international journals, conference materials and compact publications. The last list was presented in November 2021. It contains the names of over 190,000 researchers from around the world who represent all sciences and disciplines, including 1,027 scientists from Poland.

The Foundation analyzed the ranking in four groups assigned to technological higher schools, universities, medical universities as well as scientific institutes and research institutions.

In the group of universities of technology, the leaders are AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow with 51 scientists in the ranking and the Wrocław University of Science and Technology with 41 researchers in the TOP2%. They are followed by the Warsaw University of Technology (33), Poznań University of Technology (32) and the Silesian University of Technology (32).

In the group of universities, after the clear leaders of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow (43) and the University of Warsaw (41), only the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań, the University of Nicolaus Copernicus in Toruń and the University of Wrocław has the number of cited scientists above 20.

In the group of medical universities, the clear leader is the Collegium Medicum of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow (28). Only 4 universities: the Medical University of Łódź, the Medical University of Lublin, the Medical University of Warsaw and the Medical University of Wrocław are represented in the ranking with over 10 people.

In the group of research centers and institutes, apart from the Polish Academy of Sciences and its institutes, there are no research units that would introduce more than 5 scientists to the ranking.

By sciences in the ranking, the greatest number of Polish researchers were assessed in the following areas: physics and astronomy (182 scientists), clinical medicine (173) and chemistry (165). The ranking also includes 161 scientific disciplines. Here, the greatest number of Polish scientists were assessed in such disciplines as: materials science (57), artificial intelligence and image processing (55) and applied physics (53).

Adrian Andrzejewski