Six academics from the University of Exeter have earned a place on a prestigious list of the world’s most influential minds, which was published earlier this week.
Inclusion on the Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers list, which spans natural, biomedical and social sciences, represents a researcher’s ranking within the global top 1 per cent. Three of the six Exeter researchers were earned the distinction of being on the list due to their world class contributions to climate change research, while the other half work within medical fields.
From the University’s Mathematics department, Peter Cox and Pierre Friedlingstein placed in the GeoSciences category, as well as Neil Adger from Geography, who were recognised for their exploration of responses to climate change.
Meanwhile, Exeter Medical School academics Timothy Frayling, Andrew Hattersley and Michael Weedon, were listed under Molecular Biology and Genetics for their groundbreaking work on some of the world’s most challenging healthcare issues including diabetes and obesity.
Image: Fiona Potigny
Around 3,000 researchers appeared on the esteemed list for having written the largest quantity of ‘Highly Cited’ reports over the past decade.
Professor Neil Adger commented that he was “delighted” to be included on the list.
“In social science, evidence and robust findings are crucial for helping to tackle changes to society and our place in the world. Contributing in any way is fantastic, not least if other researchers make use of and read your work,” he said.
Professor Peter Cox stated that it was a “great honour” to be listed, adding that the six academics’ inclusion in the Thomson Reuters list was “further evidence of Exeter’s excellence and ever-growing ambition in this critically-important area”.
This news follows a University of Exeter-led study into depression therapy ranking among the world’s most influential at number 95 in the 2015 Altmetric Top 100. The study, which saw the University collaborate with Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, was the largest to have ever compared mindfulness-based cognitive therapy with antidepressant medication for reducing depression relapses.
It also comes as the University of Exeter’s Medical School recently celebrated its twentieth anniversary. Founded in 1995 by Professor Andrew Hattersley, who is one of the six Exeter academics from the world’s top one per cent, alongside Professors Sian Ellard and Maggie Shepherd, the institute is now at the forefront of discoveries in diabetes and other disorders.
