Press Release - Six SFU Scholars Named Among World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University 2026-06-4

Six scholars from Saint Francis University (SFU) have been named among the World's Top 2% Most-Cited Scientists in the ranking published by Stanford University. Their areas of expertise span nursing, social work, finance, and acoustics, which tally with SFU's research disciplines. 

The World's Top 2% Most-Cited scholars from SFU include President Professor Stephen Cheung Yan Leung, Professor Andrew Leung Yee Tak, Professor Graeme Drummond Smith, Dr Jack Wong Ho, Professor Chiu Dah Ming, and Professor Tsui Ming Sum. They have earned recognition in the 'Career-long Impact' category, with four of them also distinguished in the 'Single Recent Year' category. 

SFU President Professor Cheung said, "As a pioneering University of Applied Sciences (UAS) in Hong Kong, we have placed equal emphasis on teaching and research, actively promoting applied research and knowledge transfer. We encourage our scholars to leverage their expertise to meet the needs of societal development. Moving forward, SFU will continue to support interdisciplinary collaboration and high-quality research, driving the translation of impactful research outcomes into real-world benefits." 

In recent years, SFU has continued to play a pivotal role as a UAS, promoting applied research and knowledge transfer while striving to facilitate the transformation of research outcomes to meet the needs of society and industry. During a recent visit to SFU, Members of the Monitoring and Assessment Panel under the Research Grants Council (RGC) of UGC endorsed the University's commitment to advancing high-quality research and effective use of public funding. For the 2024/25 academic year, SFU has secured funding for 12 research projects from RGC and other institutions, with a total funding amount exceeding HK$80 million. Among these, nine projects received funding support from the RGC, totaling approximately HK$12.5 million. These figures not only highlight the solid foundation that SFU has established in applied research but also reflect its commitment to ongoing development and innovation. 

Meanwhile, SFU is also home to a growing number of highly committed and promising early-career scholars who add new impetus to the teaching and research excellence of the University. Furthermore, SFU has been continuously enhancing its research ecosystem. In addition to actively expanding research resources, the University has closely collaborated with research centres and professional laboratories across various Schools through its Research Office to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and the advancement of applied research, laying the groundwork for the successful transformation of research outcomes. 

SFU Scholars Named World's Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University: 

(In alphabetical order of subject fields and surname) 

The prestigious ranking, compiled by a research team from Stanford University based on Scopus data, assesses the 100,000 top scientists who are classified into 22 scientific fields and 174 sub-fields based on key indicators, including citation impact and research output.