Once again, KAUST has topped the list of Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers 2024 in the entire Middle East region. With 14 of its faculty making the list, KAUST is a driving force for building the Kingdom’s global reputation for research and academic excellence, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 aspiration of elevating the rankings of the nation’s educational institutions. 

With a total faculty of 185 members, the 14 faculty members comprise seven percent of KAUST faculty to be featured on this prestigious list. This not only places us amongst top-tier global universities such as Stanford, it also represents 61 percent of highly cited researchers for the entire Kingdom in 2024, reinforcing KAUST’s position as a globally recognized research university.  

“Being home to some of the world’s most highly cited researchers underscores KAUST’s leadership in advancing science and innovation, both for the Kingdom and the broader region, which is central to our mission," said President Sir Edward Byrne AC. "This recognition by Clarivate further elevates KAUST’s global standing and is a tremendous honor for our distinguished faculty members, whose groundbreaking work is driving societal progress in Saudi  and the world." 

The Clarivate Institute for Scientific Information, a leading global provider of transformative intelligence, annually identifies scholars whose work is most frequently cited by peers in their respective fields over the past decade. Those included in this year’s list are authors of studies ranking in the top one percent of scholarly citations worldwide.  

For KAUST, the 14 highly cited researchers in 2024 reflect the growing momentum of the University’s prominent research. Among the 14 researchers named, three — Osman Bakr, Carlos Duarte and Yoshihide Wada — are highly cited across multiple categories. 

In total, 6,886 highly cited researchers were recognized worldwide this year. Below is the full list of KAUST faculty honored as Highly Cited Researchers in 2024.