Academics recognised as Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers 2023
Three Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington researchers have been recognised with Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher designation for 2023.
Associate Professor Robert Keyzers (Pharmacology and Toxicology), Professor Bing Xue (Computer Science), and Professor Mengjie Zhang (Computer Science) were all recognised for their significant and broad influence in their fields of research. Each researcher selected has authored multiple highly cited papers which rank in the top 1% by citations for their field and publication year in the Web of Science over the past decade. However, citation activity is not the sole selection indicator. A preliminary list based on citation activity is then refined using qualitative analysis and expert judgement.
“Being recognised as a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher goes beyond citation numbers—it signifies the real-world impact of our work in AI, computer science, machine learning, and data science. Our goal is to bridge theory and application—influencing areas like primary industry, climate change, health outcomes, and high-tech manufacturing, ultimately contributing to positive changes in the economy, environment, wellbeing, and society," Professor Zhang says.
In the past, the only category Te Herenga Waka academics have received this accolade is in the Pharmacology and Toxicology category. Associate Professor Robert Keyzers has been a long-time recipient having been awarded this same recognition in 2018 and consecutively from 2020. Associate Professor Peter Northcote also received this recognition from 2015–2018.
“It’s a real honour and a privilege to know that researchers around the world are interested in what we do, and that we are contributing to the global scientific space in a meaningful way,” Associate Professor Keyzers says.
In this year’s list there were only 22 New Zealand-based researchers. Professor Xue and Professor Zhang were the sole New Zealand-based recipients in the Computer Science category. Associate Professor Keyzers was one of only six New Zealand-based recipients in the Pharmacology and Toxicology category.
Highly Cited Researchers from Clarivate is an annual list recognising influential researchers in the sciences and social sciences from around the world, who have demonstrated significant and broad influence in their field(s) of research. Of the world’s population of scientists and social scientists, Highly Cited Researchers are 1 in 1,000.
The 2023 list contains about 3,800 Highly Cited Researchers in 20 fields of the sciences and social sciences and about 3,300 Highly Cited Researchers identified as having exceptional performance across several fields. For their 2023 analysis they reviewed 188,500 Highly Cited Papers from 20 broad fields in Essential Science Indicators (ESI).
The list focuses on contemporary research achievement as they survey Highly Cited Papers in trusted science and social sciences journals indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index during the 11-year period 2012 to 2022.