Top Italian universities for Top 2% scientists 2026: Padova, Sapienza, and Bologna
Live Directory analytics: Università degli Studi di Padova lists 375 Italy Top 2% scientists in the 2026 single-year snapshot, ahead of Sapienza Università di Roma (331) and Napoli Federico II (323).
Which Italian universities have the most Top 2% scientists?
Direct answer: In ABS Nexora’s Italy country profile (ita, single-year 2026), the largest institutional cohort is Università degli Studi di Padova with 375 listed Top 2% scientists. Sapienza Università di Roma follows with 331, then Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II with 323, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna with 314, and Università degli Studi di Milano with 290.
Italy lists 8,537 Top 2% scientists in this snapshot (~3.45% of the single-year country-analytics cohort of 247,376), across 866 distinct affiliations — rank 6 of 170 countries by count. This page is the institution cluster post; the national overview is the Italy Top 2% directory hub.
Top Italian institutions by listed Top 2% scientists
| # | Institution (dataset affiliation) | Listed scholars |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Università degli Studi di Padova | 375 |
| 2 | Sapienza Università di Roma | 331 |
| 3 | Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II | 323 |
| 4 | Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna | 314 |
| 5 | Università degli Studi di Milano | 290 |
| 6 | Politecnico di Milano | 241 |
| 7 | Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche | 205 |
| 8 | Università di Pisa | 202 |
| 9 | Università degli Studi di Firenze | 193 |
| 10 | Politecnico di Torino | 175 |
Affiliation coding follows the underlying Elsevier / Stanford–Ioannidis file. Università degli Studi di Padova (375) is the densest campus row. That campus is not the affiliation of the country’s #1 listed scholar — Supuran, Claudiu T. is at Università degli Studi di Firenze. Do not add Padova + Bologna into one “northern Italy” total, and do not merge Politecnico di Milano with Università degli Studi di Milano.
Università degli Studi di Padova Top 2% scientists
Università degli Studi di Padova lists 375 scholars (average citations about 980; best global rank on this institution profile 2,087). The institution mix is Clinical-led: Clinical Medicine (131), then Engineering (59), then Biomedical Research (35).
Leading Padova profiles in the institution top_researchers panel:
| Researcher | Field | Global rank | Citations (all) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plebani, Mario | Clinical Medicine | 2,087 | 3,465 |
| Corbetta, Maurizio | Clinical Medicine | 2,794 | 4,373 |
| De Domenico, Manlio | Physics & Astronomy | 4,039 | 2,009 |
| Paoli, Antonio | Clinical Medicine | 9,228 | 1,863 |
Open the live Università degli Studi di Padova institution page to verify counts.
Sapienza, Napoli Federico II, Bologna, and Milano
| Institution | Listed scholars | Leading profile (single-year) |
|---|---|---|
| Sapienza Università di Roma | 331 | Parisi, Giorgio (rank 2,188) |
| Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II | 323 | Capozziello, Salvatore (rank 793) |
| Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna | 314 | Mainardi, Francesco (rank 3,184) |
| Università degli Studi di Milano | 290 | La Vecchia, Carlo (rank 996) |
Milano averages about 1,417 citations and holds La Vecchia, Carlo with 33,647 citations. Napoli Federico II holds a national top-10 rank_all name (Capozziello, Salvatore; rank 793).
Politecnico di Milano, CNR, Pisa, Firenze, and Politecnico di Torino
| Institution | Listed scholars | Leading profile (single-year) |
|---|---|---|
| Politecnico di Milano | 241 | Zio, Enrico E. (rank 670) |
| Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche | 205 | Vivone, Gemine (rank 2,443) |
| Università di Pisa | 202 | Benelli, Giovanni (rank 1,616) |
| Università degli Studi di Firenze | 193 | Supuran, Claudiu T. (rank 219) |
| Politecnico di Torino | 175 | Carrera, Erasmo (rank 998) |
Università degli Studi di Firenze holds the national #1 and is not a volume leader. Humanitas University holds two national top-10 names (Mantovani, Schunemann) and is not among the ten largest institutional rows. Volume and rank are different campus stories — see Italy top researchers.
Career listing: Padova still leads; the career file is smaller
The career Italy listing is a smaller national file (7,361 scholars across 875 institutions). Università degli Studi di Padova still leads that listing (338), then Bologna (303), Sapienza (275), and Politecnico di Milano (260). Always state the listing.
How to use these university counts
- Treat each affiliation string as the dataset wrote it (Università degli Studi di Milano ≠ Politecnico di Milano ≠ Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca; Padova ≠ Bologna).
- Switch single-year vs career on the institution page — career Italy totals 7,361 scholars; single-year totals 8,537.
- Open a scholar profile, then the certificate page if you need a printable overlay.
- For journal-level context when you cite their papers, use the Journal Quality Report.
Italy cluster and related Directory pages
- Italy Top 2% universities 2026 (this page)
- Italy top researchers 2026
- Italy self-cited scientists 2026
- Italy field strengths 2026
- Find, verify, and cite an Italy Top 2% scientist
- Italy Top 2% directory 2026 (hub)
- Canada Top 2% universities 2026
- Canada Top 2% directory 2026
- France Top 2% universities 2026
- France Top 2% directory 2026
- United Kingdom Top 2% universities 2026
- United Kingdom Top 2% directory 2026
- Germany Top 2% universities 2026
- Germany Top 2% directory 2026
- Australia Top 2% directory 2026
- India Top 2% directory 2026
- United States Top 2% directory 2026
- Journal Quality Report on ABS Nexora
- Directory home
- Directory search
- Italy country analytics
- Analytics workspace
FAQ
Which Italian university has the most Top 2% scientists in 2026? Università degli Studi di Padova, with 375 listed scholars in the Italy single-year country profile.
How many Top 2% scientists does Sapienza have? 331 at Sapienza Università di Roma in this snapshot — second behind Padova.
Is Firenze the largest Italian campus on the list? No. Firenze lists 193 scholars. It is the affiliation of Supuran, Claudiu T. (rank 219), not the volume leader.
How many Top 2% scientists are at Politecnico di Milano? 241 at Politecnico di Milano in the single-year snapshot.
Where do I verify a Padova Top 2% name? Open Directory search, the Padova institution page, or a scholar URL such as Plebani, Mario.
Does Stanford issue the Top 2% list as a diploma? No. The source is the Ioannidis / Elsevier standardized citation-indicator database. ABS Nexora certificates are a Directory overlay — see how to find, verify, and cite.
How does the Italy university mix compare with Canada or France? Canada’s largest campus row is University of Toronto (691); France’s is Université Paris-Saclay (256). Padova’s 375 sits between those campus sizes. See the Canada universities cluster and the France universities cluster.