The Number of Most Cited Researchers from UT on the Rise, Indicating the Growing Worldwide Impact of Estonian Research
Five more researchers from the University of Tartu are now amongst the most cited one per cent of all researchers in the world. This means that the remarkable list now has 25 Estonian researchers, and 20 of these are from UT.
At the beginning of September, the Thomson Reuters Web of Science (Essential Science Indicators – ESI), the most reputable research journals database, renewed its overview of the most cited researchers in the world. The list now includes five more researchers from the University of Tartu. According to Vice-Rector for Research at UT Marco Kirm, such results confirm that the University of Tartu has created favourable conditions for successful research activities. ‘Inclusion to the list compliments UT as a strong research university with constantly improving, up-to-date research opportunities and talented people with fresh ideas’, Kirm opined.
From the fields of environmental research and ecology, Estonian researchers Anto Aasa, Rein Ahas, and Ülo Mander made the list for citations of publications published in journals from the corresponding fields, with 551, 564, and 537 citations, respectively. When it comes to molecular biology and genetics, researchers Markus Perola (2299 citations) and Reedik Mägi (1422) from the Centre of Translational Genomics are now amongst the most cited one per cent. Kirm said that the scientific body of publications cited has relevance beyond the realm of top research, playing an important role in everyday life as well. The mobile positioning research of Professor Ahas has its place in cutting-edge science, as the news indicates, but it also has a lot of practical importance, opening paths to better analysis and management of everyday life. Kirm also noted that the research and development investments that have been made in recent years with the help of European Union structural funds provide a valuable contribution to the future growth of the number of citations.
Statistical work by Thomson Reuters ESI considers the number of articles and citations to evaluate impact. A good indicator of the amount of citations is the measure of how much someone’s citability exceeds the one per cent threshold of the corresponding field. A synopsis by Professor Jüri Allik, Head of the Institute of Psychology at UT, shows that during the last ten and a half years, Estonia-related researchers have published 10,032 publications in total in different journals. Other research articles have cited these publications a total of 96,375 times, resulting in average citability a little below the world average (10.5 citations per article). Allik concludes that if Estonian research increases citability at the current tempo then by the end of 2014 its impact could meet the world average. This would mean belonging to the group of 20 or so best research-producing nations of the world.
The most cited research fields in which researchers from the University of Tartu have reached the top one per cent include chemistry, clinical medicine, etiology and botanics, environmental sciences and ecology, general social sciences, biosciences, material sciences, geosciences and technology.
For additional Information contact:
Jüri Allik, Head of the Institute of Psychology at UT, phone: (+372) 737 5905, (+372) 518 4277, e-mail: juri [dot] allik [ät] ut [dot] ee
Marco Kirm, Vice-Rector for Research at UT, (+372) 737 5611, (+372) 5342 7170, e-mail: marco [dot] kirm [ät] ut [dot] ee