Brazil in the Top 2% Scientists list 2026: 1,509 scholars, fields, and institutions
Live ABS Nexora analytics: Brazil lists 1,509 Top 2% scientists in the 2026 single-year cohort (~0.61% of the SY analytics total), led by Clinical Medicine (536) and Universidade de São Paulo (282).
How many Top 2% scientists are from Brazil?
Direct answer: ABS Nexora’s latest single-year country profile for Brazil (bra) lists 1,509 Top 2% scientists for selected year 2026 — about 0.61% of the Directory’s single-year country-analytics cohort (~247,376 researchers). Average citations in this snapshot are about 1,370, with average h-index near 12.6, across 259 distinct institutions.
Brazil is Latin America’s largest Top 2% national cohort in this Directory snapshot: Clinical Medicine leads, with visible Chemistry, Biology, and Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry — and a São Paulo-state university cluster (USP, Unicamp, UNESP) at the top of the affiliation table.
Americas context: see Canada, the United States, and the regional comparison.
Who are the top 10 Top 2% scientists in Brazil?
Direct answer: In ABS Nexora’s Brazil country profile (bra, single-year 2026), the top 10 listed scholars by Directory ranking start with Varma, Rajender S. (Universidade Federal de São Carlos; Chemistry; global rank 404; ~9,160 citations). The table below uses # in country for order within this national list and Global rank for the scholar’s overall rank_all in the single-year listing.
| # in country | Researcher | Institution | Field | Global rank | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Varma, Rajender S. | Universidade Federal de São Carlos | Chemistry | 404 | 9,160 |
| 2 | van Genuchten, Martinus Th. | Federal University of Rio the Janeiro | Engineering | 743 | 3,320 |
| 3 | Monteiro, Carlos Augusto | Universidade de São Paulo | Clinical Medicine | 1,063 | 4,703 |
| 4 | Tsallis, Constantino | Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas | Physics & Astronomy | 2,201 | 1,468 |
| 5 | Barbedo, Jayme G.A. | Embrapa Agricultura Digital | Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry | 2,600 | 1,108 |
| 6 | Victora, Cesar Gomes | Universidade Federal de Pelotas | Clinical Medicine | 2,762 | 8,976 |
| 7 | Siqueira, J. F. | Universidade Estacio de Sa | Clinical Medicine | 3,567 | 2,082 |
| 8 | Marengo, José António | Centro Nacional de Monitoramento e Alertas de Desastres Naturais (Cemaden) | Earth & Environmental Sciences | 3,821 | 3,208 |
| 9 | Fearnside, Philip Martin | Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Da Amazonia | Biology | 4,003 | 2,169 |
| 10 | Dantas-Torres, Filipe | Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz | Biomedical Research | 4,764 | 1,713 |
Open any linked name for the full Directory scholar profile. Country order follows the live top_researchers panel on Brazil analytics.
What are Brazil’s strongest fields?
Brazil’s largest Top 2% field cohort is Clinical Medicine with 536 listed scholars. The next fields in the live profile are:
| Field | Listed scholars |
|---|---|
| Clinical Medicine | 536 |
| Chemistry | 154 |
| Biology | 142 |
| Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry | 135 |
| Physics & Astronomy | 105 |
Which institutions lead in Brazil?
The largest institutional cohort in the Brazil profile is Universidade de São Paulo (282 listed scholars). Other leading affiliations:
| Institution | Listed scholars |
|---|---|
| Universidade de São Paulo | 282 |
| Universidade Estadual de Campinas | 105 |
| Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho | 87 |
| Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais | 64 |
| Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul | 63 |
How has Brazil’s Top 2% cohort changed from 2020 to 2026?
In the country-profile timeline, Brazil moved from 853 listed scholars (2020) to 1,509 (2026) — a change of 656 (~+77%).
| Edition year | Listed scholars |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 853 |
| 2021 | 1,132 |
| 2022 | 1,263 |
| 2023 | 1,294 |
| 2024 | 1,340 |
| 2025 | 1,461 |
| 2026 | 1,509 |
Snapshot metrics (single-year 2026)
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Listed scholars | 1,509 |
| Share of global (SY analytics) | 0.61% |
| Avg. citations | 1,370 |
| Avg. h-index | 12.6 |
| Best rank (in profile) | 404 |
| Distinct institutions | 259 |
| Leading field | Clinical Medicine (536) |
One highly ranked profile example in this snapshot: Varma, Rajender S. (Universidade Federal de São Carlos; Chemistry). Rankings shift with listing type and year — always verify on the live Directory.
Explore Brazil on ABS Nexora
- Brazil country analytics
- Directory search (filter by country / institution)
- Full analytics dashboard
- 2026 edition explained
- How to read country counts
Related country insights
- United States Top 2% directory 2026
- Canada Top 2% directory 2026
- Asia vs Europe vs Americas
- Rising countries 2020–2026
FAQ
How many Top 2% scientists does Brazil have in 2026? 1,509 listed scholars in ABS Nexora’s single-year country profile for selected year 2026.
What share of the global list is that? About 0.61% of the single-year country-analytics cohort (~247,376 researchers in the matching dashboard snapshot).
Which field is strongest in Brazil? Clinical Medicine, with 536 listed scholars in the live profile.
Which institution has the most listed scholars? Universidade de São Paulo, with 282 in this snapshot (affiliation coding follows the underlying dataset).
Did Brazil grow between 2020 and 2026? Yes — from 853 to 1,509 listed scholars (~+77%) in the country timeline.
Who ranks highest among Brazil’s Top 2% scientists? In this snapshot, Varma, Rajender S. leads the country top_researchers list (see the top-10 table above for linked profiles).
Where can I verify these figures? Open the live Brazil country page or Analytics on ABS Nexora; numbers refresh with the Directory database. Data source: Elsevier / Stanford–Ioannidis World’s Top 2% Scientists lists via ABS Nexora.