In 2014, three scientists won the distinction, five in 2017 and this year as many as six researchers of the University of Würzburg were excited to be named as "Highly Cited Researcher". They all have one thing in common, namely that their scientific papers are among the most highly cited by other scientists, a fact which speaks for their influence and importance.

Professor Andreas Rosenwald, who heads the Department of General Pathology and Pathological Anatomy in Würzburg, has been newly added to the list. The other laureates are medical scientist Hermann Einsele, biophysicist Rainer Hedrich, animal ecologist Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter, Jörg Vogel, a specialist in RNA research and infection biology, and chemist Frank Würthner.

The analysis of Clarivate Analytics is based on the "Web of Science" database which lists scientific articles from around 34,000 journals. For their 2018 assessment, the analysts looked at the time between 2006 and 2016 and analysed the citations in 21 scientific fields. 

Highly cited papers rank in the top one percent of most-cited publications in their domain in the year of publication. Only researchers who have co-authored several such highly cited papers are admitted to the circle of "Highly Cited Researchers" which comprises 6,000 researchers worldwide in 2018.

In addition to the Highly Cited Researchers, Clarivate Analytics announces the Citation Laureates, a list of candidates considered likely to win the Nobel Prize in their respective field. The Würzburg physicist Laurens Molenkamp has been on this list since 2014. To be eligible as a Citation Laureate, a scientist's published papers must be cited more than 1,000 times. Moreover, their contribution to science must concern a trail-blazing discovery or revolutionary progress which the analysts consider worthy of a Nobel Prize.

University President Forchel congratulates

University President Forchel congratulated all seven professors and emphasised the significance of this distinction from an institutional point of view: "The fact that the number of highly cited Würzburg researchers has increased continuously despite fierce global competition is an impressive proof of the powerful and dynamic research competence of your university. My congratulations to all laureates for this great success!"

The honoured professors:

- Prof. Dr. Hermann Einsele, Head of the Department for Internal Medicine II
- Prof. Dr. Rainer Hedrich, Head of the Department of Botany I - Molecular Plant Physiology and Biophysics
- Prof. Dr. Andreas Rosenwald, head of the Department of General Pathology and Pathological Anatomy in Würzburg
- Prof. Dr. Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter, Head of the Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology
- Prof. Dr. Jörg Vogel, Director of the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research
   and Director of the Institute for Molecular Infection Biology
- Prof. Dr. Frank Würthner, Head of the Department of Organic Chemistry II
- Prof. Dr. Laurens Molenkamp, Head of the Department of Experimental Physics III

For more information, visit https://hcr.clarivate.com/

By Gunnar Bartsch