List of most highly cited researchers features 19 UCSC scientists and engineers

A new list of the world's most highly cited researchers includes 19 scientists and engineers at UC Santa Cruz.

The 2020 Highly Cited Researchers list, released November 18 by Clarivate’s Web of Science Group, identifies global research scientists and social scientists who have demonstrated exceptional influence as reflected through their publication of multiple papers frequently cited by their peers during the last decade.

The UCSC faculty on the list include four members of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics—Natalie Batalha, Jonathan Fortney, Garth Illingworth, and J. Xavier Prochaska—and a number of researchers affiliated with the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, including Director David Haussler, professor of biomolecular engineering. Also on the list are materials science researchers Shaowei Chen and Yat Li, both professors of chemistry and biochemistry, and Yichuan Ling, a former graduate student in Li’s lab.

As in previous years, the list includes Mark Diekhans, technical director of the Genomics Institute’s Computational Genomics Laboratory, and James Kent, creator and director of the UCSC Genome Browser, along with nine other members of the Genome Browser Team: Galt Barber, Hiram Clawson, Max Haeussler, Angie Hinrichs, Donna Karolchik, Robert Kuhn, Brian Raney, Kate Rosenbloom, and Ann Zweig.

The Highly Cited Researchers list recognizes pioneers in their fields over the last decade, demonstrated by the production of multiple highly-cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year in the Web of Science. Researchers are selected for their exceptional performance in one or more of 21 fields or across several fields.