Of all scientists worldwide, only the top 1% are selected for Clarivate Analytics’ Highly Cited Researchers list. Despite the percentage of Americans on the list dropping this year, UC Riverside increased its number of included faculty.
Last year, there were six faculty members on the list. This year there are eight. These individuals represent 1 out of every 1,000 scientists in a total of 59 countries.
According to Clarivate, highly cited list members demonstrate “significant and broad influence in their fields of research.” This influence is indicated not only by the number of citations that reference their work, but also by qualitative analysis and evidence that these individuals’ research is helping shape the future of science, technology, and academia.
The company explained in a statement that each year their selection criteria changes in response to technological advances and shifts in the publishing landscape. “We continue to refine our evaluation and selection policies for our annual Highly Cited Researchers program to address the challenges of an increasingly complex and polluted scholarly record,” said David Pendlebury, head of research analysis at Clarivate.
The 2024 highly cited faculty from UCR include:
Julia Bailey-Serres (plant and animal science category) is a University of California MacArthur Foundation Chair and distinguished professor of genetics. Her lab harnesses genetic mechanisms that provide climate change resilience to crops. The lab is particularly focused on flood, drought, and nutrient stress resilience. Bailey-Serres has been included on every Highly Cited list since 2014.
De-en Jiang (cross-field category) is a chemistry professor who has made significant contributions to the field of computational chemistry, with applications for energy and the environment. In 2021, he was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for “work in electric energy storage, especially in supercapacitors, as well as catalysis, and separation processes including carbon capture.” Though his primary affiliation is with Vanderbilt University, he remains on the faculty at UCR.
Hailing Jin (cross-field category) is the Cy Mouradick Endowed Chair and a professor in the Microbiology and Plant Pathology Department. Jin studies the role of RNA in the interactions between plants and microbes, as well as the molecular mechanisms of plant immunity. The overall goal of her lab is to develop effective and environmentally friendly means to control plant diseases and ensure sufficient food production.
Bruce Link (social sciences category) is a distinguished professor of public policy and sociology. Link conducts research aimed at understanding health disparities by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status, the consequences of social stigma for people with mental illnesses, and the connection between mental illnesses and violent behaviors. He has been on the Highly Cited list every year since 2016.
Timothy Lyons, (geosciences category) is a distinguished professor of biogeochemistry. Lyons’ work explores the evolving oceans and atmosphere, and their roles in the origin and evolution of life. As director of UCR’s NASA-funded Alternative Earths Astrobiology Center, he is known for developing tools to reconstruct ephemeral landscapes of lost worlds using chemical fingerprints locked in ancient rocks. This is his 8th year on the Highly Cited list.
Wei Ren (engineering category) is a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Ren’s research focuses on distributed control of multi-agent computer systems and autonomous control of unmanned vehicles. He has been on the Highly Cited list every year since 2014.
Jianzhong Wu (cross-field category) is a professor of chemical engineering and a cooperating faculty member in UCR’s Mathematics Department. His research is focused on the development and application of statistical-mechanical methods, in particular density functional theory, for predicting the microscopic structure and physiochemical properties of confined fluids, soft materials, and biological systems.
Yadong Yin, (cross field category) is a professor of chemistry. Yin’s laboratory is focused on the synthesis and functionalization of nanostructured materials — a class of new materials with at least one dimension at the nanometer scale. These materials are sometimes referred to as ‘artificial atoms.’ He has been on the Highly Cited list every year since 2014.
The full list, as well as insights into the methodology for choosing the names included, can be viewed on the Clarivate website.
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