Ton Duc Thang University (TDTU) and Duy Tan University (DTU) appear most often on the list of the world’s most influential scientists and leave other Vietnamese universities behind.
The American journal, PLoS Biology, just published a list of the world’s one hundred thousand most influential researchers
Last year, PLoS Biology also published a list up to 2018. This year, they updated the list and ranked the researchers by their professional achievements and influence. The ranking criteria are the number of publications from 1960 to 2019, the number of citations from 1996 to 2019 and the h-index, a measurement of impact, discounting self-citations.
The publication was authored by the Metrics group of Professor John Ioannidis and his team at Stanford University, using Scopus data from 1960 to 2019, surveying 7 million scientists and select the top one hundred thousand most cited by their colleagues.
An increase since last year
The PLoS Biology rankings include Vietnamese researchers living in Vietnam, those of Vietnamese origin living and working abroad and the many foreign researchers now working at Vietnamese universities.
In terms of overall professional achievement, the data lists 55 Vietnamese national researchers, Vietnamese working abroad and foreigners working in Vietnam in the top one hundred thousand. There are however only two local researchers on the list, Professor Nguyen Xuan Hung from the HCMC University of Technology, ranked at 65,925, and Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc from VNU in Hanoi, at 94,738.
The top 55 Vietnamese scientists, ranked by professional achievement
(Statistics provided by Professor Nguyen Van Tuan)
In terms of the most influential researchers, there are 88 listed. This year, the number of researchers working in Vietnam increased considerably.
In terms of the h-index ranking, Professor Nguyen Xuan Hung, from the HCMC University of Technology, leads in Vietnam with an h-index of 44, followed by Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc at VNU in Hanoi, with 26, and Associate Professor Le Hoang Son from VNU in Hanoi at 20.
The top 88 Vietnamese scientists, ranked by influence
(Statistics provided by Professor Nguyen Van Tuan)
If scientists of Vietnamese origin working abroad are taken into account, Professor Dang Van Chi had the highest h-index of 84, followed by Professor Nguyen Van Tuan, at 83, Professor Nguyen Son Binh at Northwestern University, at 80, and Professor Tran Tinh Hien, at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam, with 73.
Ranked by specialty, Professor Dam Thanh Son came 78 in Nuclear Physics and Professor Vu Ha Van 197 in Mathematics and Computing. Several others were highly ranked, including Professor Nguyen Minh Tho, with 127 in Chemistry and Professor Nguyen Nam Trung, at 119 in Nanotechnology. However, many of the top 2% of outstanding Vietnamese researchers worldwide today were not included in this year’s lists.
TDTU and DTU appear most often
In Vietnam, TDTU and DTU have the highest numbers of researchers in the rankings.
TDTU and DTU
The 2019 list included 31 influential researchers at TDTU, with 24 foreigners, Professor Nguyen Minh Tho and six other Vietnamese. Six DTU scientists were ranked for lifetime achievement, including five foreigners and Professor Nguyen Minh Tho.
(Media Center)