Biology Professors Named World’s Most Influential in Their Fields

January 19, 2018

By Kim McDonald and Mario Aguilera

Three UC San Diego Division of Biological Sciences faculty members are among the world’s most influential researchers in their fields, based on their publications over the past decade.

Clarivate Analytics, which provides insights and analytics on research trends, compiled its 2017 Highly Cited Researchers list of more than 3,300 scientists from around the world whose studies were among the top one percent most-cited publications in their field over a recent 11-year period. Honored on the new list are: Elsa Cleland (environment/ecology), Mark Estelle (plant and animal science) and Julian Schroeder (plant and animal science).

“Such consistent production of highly cited reports indicates that the work of these researchers has been repeatedly judged by their peers to be of notable significance and utility,” the media organization said in releasing its list.

In all, 32 UC San Diego faculty members were honored by Clarivate Analytics (full list here).

“To have so many faculty members at UC San Diego on this list is a reflection of the strength of our research enterprise and the value of the contributions this campus is making to society,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “I would like to congratulate each and every one of these faculty members for their exemplary work and contributions.”

In October U.S. News and World Report ranked UC San Diego’s Biology-Biochemistry programs as eighth best in the world. Molecular biology and genetics were ranked 10th best.

Nature Index, a database of author affiliations and institutional relationships, recently ranked UC San Diego 6th among leading research institutions in the world for “high-quality science,” based on its research publications in highly selective science journals. The rankings were determined by assessing publications in leading science journals from research institutions around the world over the most recent five years, from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2016.

UC San Diego was ranked third best in California by Nature Index, behind Stanford University and UC Berkeley, and ahead of Caltech, UCLA, UC San Francisco and UC Santa Barbara.