UCD researchers named among world's top 1% of influential scientists

Posted 19 November, 2019

Five UCD professors are among the top 1% of the most cited researchers in the world, according to the latest (opens in a new window)Highly Cited Researchers report, compiled by Clarivate Analytics.

Working in the areas of food engineering, climate change, bionanotechnology and food chemistry, the influential researchers included in the 2019 listings are:

• (opens in a new window)Professor Colm O'Donnell, Head of UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering.
• (opens in a new window)Professor Da-Wen Sun, UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering.
• (opens in a new window)Professor Enda Cummins, School of Biosystems and Food Engineering.
• (opens in a new window)Professor Kenneth Dawson, UCD School of Chemistry.
• (opens in a new window)Associate Professor Nigel Brunton, UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science.

Now in its sixth year, the ‘Highly Cited Researchers’ report identifies researchers over the last ten years who are leading the way in solving the world’s biggest challenges.

The list is a citation analysis of researchers who are among the top 1% most cited for their field and year of publication in one or more of 21 fields of study.

For the 2019 analysis, the papers surveyed were those published and cited during 2008 – 2018, and which then ranked in the top 1% by citations for their Essential Science Indicators field and year.

This year’s ranking includes 23 Nobel laureates and, recognised some 6,200 researchers with the moniker of ‘Highly Cited Researcher’.

This is the fifth time that Professors Da-Wen Sun and Colm O’Donnell have been included on the list.

With his primary research focus on novel food processing technologies and process analytical technology, Professor O’Donnell, Head of the UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering, leads a research team working on a range of projects funded by EU Framework, the Irish Research Council, the Food Institutional Research Measure, Enterprise Ireland and industry.

An international authority in food engineering research, Professor Sun’s work is standard reference material for researchers in the areas of computer vision, computational fluid dynamics modelling and vacuum cooling.

Earlier this year, he topped the list of the world’s most cited researchers in the field of Agricultural Sciences.

Leading a new €2.1m Horizon 2020 project to tackle climate change impact on food safety, Professor Cummins has developed a significant research portfolio in predictive modelling and risk assessment. To date, he has published over 100 peer reviewed journal papers and 123 conference papers.

He is the Principal Investigator of the PROTECT Training Network, a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions project designed to teach early career researchers a range of predictive modelling tools to study the impact of climate change on food safety.

Establishing the Centre for BioNano Interactions at UCD in 2007, and acting as its Director ever since, Professor Dawson is recognised as a leading thinker on the principles governing the interactions of nanoscale entities with living organisms.

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Specialising in the area of phytochemicals and recovery of valuable compounds from food waste, Dr Brunton has over 30 years of expertise in food chemistry, sample extraction and chromatography analysis.

David Pendlebury, Senior Citation Analyst at the Institute for Scientific Information, who compiled the list on behalf of Clarivate Analytics, said: “Recognition and support of these exceptional researchers represents an important activity for a nation or an institution’s plans for efficient and accelerated advancement.

“These researchers create gains for society, innovation and knowledge that make the world healthier, richer, more sustainable and more secure.”

This article was updated on 21st November 2019.

By: David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations