173 TU/e ​​researchers on the Stanford list

The Stanford/Elsevier list ranks more than 200,000 scientists based on the frequency and significance of citations of their work. It is therefore highly impressive that Evangelia Demerouti, a professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences (IE&IS), secured the 193rd position—an improvement of 111 places compared to 2024.

Professor Daniel Lakens, also from IE&IS, is the next TU/e ​​researcher to appear on the list, reaching the 245th spot this year—a rise from his 353rd position the previous year. 

In total, 40 new scientists from Eindhoven joined the list in 2025, bringing the total number of TU/e-affiliated researchers to 173—an increase of 11 compared to 2024.

A benchmark for impact

Within the academic world, the Stanford/Elsevier Top 2% Scientists list has become one of the most influential benchmarks for scientific impact. It employs a complex metric known as the c-score. Rather than simply counting citations, this method critically evaluates the researcher’s specific role.

For instance, a citation carries significantly more weight if the TU/e ​​researcher was the principal investigator (listed as the first author) compared to when they appear as a co-author somewhere in the middle of the author list. Furthermore, self-citations are filtered out of the data.

Consequently, the list does not measure which scientist is the most prolific in terms of output; instead, it aims to determine whose work has the most substantial substantive impact on peers.

Methodology

For this article, Cursor compared the 2025 single-year impact data with that of 2024 to identify which TU/e ​​researchers have newly entered the list, moved up, or dropped down. While a career-long list also exists, it is less suitable for tracking the emergence of new talent; such lists are almost invariably dominated by senior professors who have been publishing for forty years.

It should be noted that a significant rise on the list for a TU/e ​​researcher does not necessarily mean they have suddenly increased their output. Rather, it indicates that the subject of their research has gained substantial global importance over the past year, leading to a higher frequency of citations for their work.