Research.com rankings bring year-on-year improvement for CATRIN and Palacký University
According to this year’s edition of the international ranking by Research.com, the Czech leader in materials science is the physical chemist Radek Zbořil from CATRIN at Palacký University. Michal Otyepka placed fifth in the same discipline. Thanks in part to these results, the oldest Moravian university has defended its top national position in the field. The university also earned second place in Earth sciences and chemistry, where it has the highest number of representatives overall. Of the seven chemists from Palacký University (UP) featured in the ranking, five are affiliated with CATRIN. Radek Zbořil ranks second nationally in chemistry and 334th globally. With a total of 17 researchers, UP placed third overall in the Czech Republic, after Charles University (73 scientists) and Masaryk University (35 scientists).
“I’m extremely pleased that we not only achieved significant individual improvements, especially in materials science and chemistry, but also increased the total number of our researchers featured in the ranking. Of the 17 representatives from Palacký University, six come from our institute. Congratulations not only to them but also to our colleagues from other institutions with whom we collaborate—many of whom also ranked highly, including Pavel Hobza, Martin Pumera, Jiří Čejka, and many other Czech and international colleagues,” said Pavel Banáš, CATRIN’s Director.
Radek Zbořil leads in materials science
In materials science, the ranking authors analyzed a total of 37,820 scientists. The ranking is based on the D-index (disciplinary H-index), which considers only publications and citation metrics in a given field. The final list includes 2,000 names, with 27 scientists representing the Czech Republic. From UP, both Radek Zbořil and Michal Otyepka improved their positions compared to the previous year. While last year Zbořil ranked second nationally and 434th globally, he now leads the Czech rankings and holds 365th place worldwide. Michal Otyepka maintained his fifth-place national ranking but improved globally from 2,106th to 1,723rd place.
“The ranking reflects the long-term high quality of chemical and materials research at UP. It’s the result of a tremendous amount of work tied to success in competitive grant programmes, building international research teams, and developing top-tier infrastructure. Individual results strongly correlate with team and institutional achievements. What pleases me most is our international standing. We collaborate and publish with the best research teams in the world. For instance, in chemistry, we have joint publications with three of the top 10 most highly-cited chemists globally. I think that’s a fantastic result not only for Palacký University but also for Czech science as a whole,” said Radek Zbořil, who is also the highest-ranked UP scientist in chemistry.
Pavel Hobza tops Czech chemistry rankings
In the field of chemistry, 121,518 scientists were evaluated. As in the previous year, the Czech leader remains Pavel Hobza from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Czech Academy of Sciences. Just behind his scientific mentor is Radek Zbořil, who ranks second nationally and 334th globally. Other UP representatives in the chemistry category include Michal Otyepka (9th), Alexander Dömling (26th), Pavel Banáš (71st), and Giorgio Zoppellaro (89th). Jitka Ulrichová from the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry is 30th, and the only woman representing UP in the field. Petr Jurečka from the Faculty of Science is also listed.
CATRIN also has a representative in ecology and evolution, with Ladislav Bocák ranking 46th nationally and 7,241st globally. He is joined in this category by Tomáš Grim and Vladimír Remeš from the Faculty of Science.
Three of UP’s top five scientists are from CATRIN
Among UP’s leading scientists in biology and biochemistry are Miroslav Strnad (2nd nationally, 1,647th globally), Jitka Ulrichová, Jozef Šamaj, and Otto Miersch. In Earth sciences, it is Ondra Šráček; in plant sciences and agriculture, Aleš Lebeda, Petr Smýkal, and Jiří Grúz; and in computer science, Radim Bělohlávek.
The top scientist associated with Palacký University is Radek Zbořil, with an H-index of 122. Also in the top five are Michal Otyepka (H-index 88) and Alexander Dömling (H-index 70) from CATRIN. Miroslav Strnad from the Faculty of Science ranks second (H-index 96), and Jitka Ulrichová from the Faculty of Medicine is fifth (H-index 64). Last year, UP had 13 scientists in the ranking.
The goal of the Research.com ranking is to highlight who the leading authorities are in specific research fields and where they are heading.
More information is available at: https://research.com/university-rankings/best-global-universities