image: NTU Singapore's Gaia building
Credit: NTU Singapore
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) is up one spot to 22nd globally in this year’s Highly Cited Researchers list by Clarivate, a United Kingdom-based data company.
For the sixth year running, the University has the largest number of influential scientists among Singapore institutions recognised, with 42 NTU researchers that have significant and broad influence in their fields of research named.
These 42 scientists account for 44 mentions in the list, with two individuals recognised more than once. In 2022, NTU had 41 researchers with 44 mentions.
According to Clarivate, of the world’s population of scientists and social scientists, just one in 1,000 are highly cited researchers.
About half of the listed NTU researchers this year are cited for their interdisciplinary work, affirming progress in delivering on a key aim of the University’s five-year NTU 2025 strategic plan – to support high-impact interdisciplinary research to address humanity’s grand challenges, such as mitigating people’s impact on the environment and responding to the needs and challenges of healthy living and ageing.
There are 6,800 international scientists from nearly 70 countries and regions in this year’s list, which identifies and celebrates the world’s most influential scientists for their impact on the research community, based on the rate at which their work has been cited by others over the last decade.
NTU Vice President (Research) Prof Luke Ong said: “The NTU 2025 research strategy is a roadmap for the University to create societal impact through interdisciplinary research that solves real-world problems. At NTU, faculty members, researchers, and administrators aim to excel in their roles to co-create a conducive research environment. Emerging first in Singapore with the highest number of highly cited researchers named is a testament to the University’s efforts and our contributions towards research excellence in the country and the world.”
David Pendlebury, Head of Research Analysis at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate said: “The Highly Cited Researchers list identifies and celebrates exceptional individual researchers at NTU Singapore whose significant and broad influence in their fields translates to impact in their research community and innovations that make the world healthier, more sustainable and more secure. Their contributions resonate far beyond their individual achievements, strengthening the foundation of excellence and innovation in research. They have also helped NTU to come up tops again in Singapore and contributed significantly to the country doing well on this year’s list.”
Singapore has 109 highly cited researchers on Clarivate’s list in 2023 and is now 11th globally. Last year, it placed 10th.
Who’s who of influential researchers
Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers list recognises researchers whose citation records place them in the top 1 per cent based on the number of citations for their fields and year across about 20 disciplines, including chemistry, engineering, economics and the social sciences.
The NTU scientists on the list focus on research areas such as artificial intelligence, biomedical engineering, clean energy, clinical medicine, immunology, materials science and quantum technologies. Of the 42 NTU scientists in the list, about half of them, or 24 individuals, are recognised for their interdisciplinary research.
On the list are NTU academic leaders Prof Joseph Sung, Senior Vice President (Health and Life Sciences) and Dean of NTU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine; Prof Lee Pooi See, Associate Provost (Graduate Education) and Dean of NTU’s Graduate College; and Prof Madhavi Srinivasan, Executive Director of the NTU Sustainability Office and the Energy Research Institute @ NTU.
Two NTU researchers are among only 238 globally recognised for their work in two research areas in Clarivate’s list – Prof Xu Zhichuan Jason from the School of Materials Science and Engineering and Prof Pu Kanyi from the School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology are both named for their research in chemistry and materials science.
Prof Xu’s primary research interest lies in electrocatalysis for developing greener alternatives to carbon-based fuels, encompassing areas such as hydrogen fuel, carbon dioxide reduction and various chemical transformations. Prof Pu’s research covers molecular imaging and chemical biology, such as for producing tools made of biochemicals for diagnosing diseases and medical therapy.
Part of Prof Pu’s work requires him to combine chemistry with materials science. “Knowledge in chemistry is needed to synthesise the molecular probes my team creates to detect diseases through medical imaging,” he said. “But we have also applied materials science principles to package the probes with other compounds to create tiny nano-sized particles that also have the potential for treating diseases.”