As many as 92 scientists from Pune feature in the 2026 Stanford-Elsevier list of the world's top 2% researchers. Dr. Sundeep Salvi said, "The presence of 92 Pune-based scientists among the world's top 2% is a remarkable achievement." These experts work in fields like medicine, physics, and climate science.
As many as 92 scientists affiliated with Pune-based institutions feature in the 2026 Stanford-Elsevier list of the world's top 2% scientists, with researchers from fields ranging from astronomy and physics to medicine, engineering, climate science and biotechnology.
The ranking, based on the Stanford-Elsevier global database of scientific researchers, uses citation-based indicators and a composite citation score. The 2026 single-year list reflects researchers' scientific impact based on their research and citations during 2025.
The scientists are affiliated with institutions across the city, including Savitribai Phule Pune University (18), Symbiosis International University (23), CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (9), Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (7), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune (5), Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (4), Bharati Vidyapeeth (6) and Dr D Y Patil institutions (8).
The list also includes scientists from the National Institute of Virology, Agharkar Research Institute, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Armed Forces Medical College, College of Engineering Pune, KEM Hospital and the Pulmocare Research and Education Foundation, among others.
Scientists across fields
Among the Pune-based scientists featured in the list is late T Padmanabhan of IUCAA, one of India's best-known theoretical physicists and cosmologists.
Others include Sujit K Ghosh of IISER Pune, Bhushan Patwardhan of SPPU, Varun Sahni of IUCAA, Kandasubramanian Balasubramanian of DIAT, Dattatray J Late of CSIR-NCL, Surhud More of IUCAA and Angshuman Nag of IISER Pune.
The biomedical sciences are represented by Dr Chittaranjan S Yajnik of KEM Hospital, Pune, whose research focuses on diabetes, nutrition and metabolic disease.
Dr Sundeep Salvi, founder of the Pulmocare Research and Education (PURE) Foundation, is ranked 41st globally in the Respiratory System subfield, which has 71,926 researchers. He is the highest-ranked Indian scientist in the subfield in the 2026 single-year ranking.
Researchers from IITM, NCL, NIV, Bharati Vidyapeeth, DIAT and Dr D Y Patil institutions also feature in the list.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Salvi said the data reflected the growing global visibility of research being carried out in Pune.
"What the Stanford-Elsevier data demonstrate is the extraordinary breadth and global reach of the scientific research being undertaken in the city today. The presence of 92 Pune-based scientists among the world's top 2% is a remarkable achievement, not for any one institution, but for the entire scientific ecosystem of Pune," he said.
"The diversity of disciplines represented is particularly encouraging. Pune's scientists are contributing to fundamental physics and astronomy, chemistry, materials science, artificial intelligence, climate science, medicine, public health and many other areas," he said.