Rourkela: Twenty-nine faculty members and a PhD graduate of the National Institute of Technology Rourkela (NIT Rourkela) have featured in the World’s Top 2% Scientists List compiled by Stanford University researchers and published by Elsevier, highlighting the institute’s research contributions across a wide range of academic disciplines.
The list is prepared by Prof. John P. A. Ioannidis of Stanford University, USA, and his team. It identifies leading researchers based on a composite citation indicator that considers total citations, co-authorship adjustments and authorship positions. The database evaluates scientists’ research impact in both career-long and single-year categories.
The citation-based assessment considers several parameters, including the number of citations received by a researcher’s publications and the h-index, which measures research productivity and citation impact. It also takes into account researchers’ contributions to individual publications to provide a broader assessment of their scholarly influence.
The 29 faculty members recognised in the list represent several departments at NIT Rourkela, including Life Science, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Mathematics, Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology and Medical Engineering, Humanities and Social Sciences, Ceramic Engineering, Food Process Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics and Astronomy, Civil Engineering, and Mining Engineering.
The recognised faculty members are Prof. Surajit Das and Prof. Sujit Kumar Bhutia from Life Science; Prof. Bankim Chandra Ray and Prof. Ajit Behera from Metallurgical and Materials Engineering; Prof. Snehashish Chakraverty and Prof. Bikash Sahoo from Mathematics; Prof. Santanu Paria from Chemical Engineering; Prof. Kunal Pal, Prof. Balasubramanian P and Prof. Krishna Pramanik from Biotechnology and Medical Engineering; and Prof. Narayan Sethi and Prof. Jalandhar Pradhan from Humanities and Social Sciences.
The other faculty members featured in the list are Prof. Ritwik Sarkar from Ceramic Engineering; Prof. Mohd Khalid Gul from Food Process Engineering; Prof. Siba Sankar Mahapatra, Prof. Sandhyarani Biswas, Prof. S. Murugan and Prof. Subrata Kumar Panda from Mechanical Engineering; Prof. Harekrushna Sahoo from Chemistry; Prof. Santanu Kumar Behera from Electronics and Communication Engineering; Prof. Samir Kumar Patra from Life Science; Prof. Pravat Kumar Ray and Prof. Anup Kumar Panda from Electrical Engineering; Prof. Dillip Kumar Pradhan, Prof. Subhash Chandra Mahapatra and Prof. Indrani Banerjee from Physics and Astronomy; Prof. Suresh Prasad Singh from Civil Engineering; and Prof. Debi Prasad Tripathy from Mining Engineering.
In addition to the faculty members, Dr. Srimanta Patra, a PhD graduate of NIT Rourkela who is currently serving as a Department of Science and Technology-Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (DST-INSPIRE) Faculty member at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, has also been featured in the list.
Commenting on the achievement, NIT Rourkela Director Prof. K. Umamaheshwar Rao said the recognition of 29 faculty members among the world’s top 2 per cent of scientists was a proud moment for the institute.
He said the recognition reflected the quality, consistency and global relevance of the research being undertaken at NIT Rourkela. He congratulated the researchers for their dedication and commitment to advancing knowledge and expressed confidence that their work would continue to inspire students and young researchers.
Separately, 19 researchers have also been featured in the Stanford World’s Top 2% Scientists List 2026 under the career-long impact category, reflecting their sustained contributions to research and academia.
