Jón Atli Benediktsson, rector of the University of Iceland and professor of electrical and computer engineering, is still ranked on the Clarivate Analytics list of the most influential researchers in the world that was published this morning.
Highly Cited Researchers ranks the top 1% by citations for each field of study and publication year in international science journals. The list is based on the Web of Science database; this year taking note of citations from 2011 to 2020. The list includes around 6,600 research scientists in 21 fields of study, including 24 Nobel Laureates.
Jón Atli Benediktsson has featured on the Clarivate list for a number of years; he is a leading scientist in the field of remote sensing and digital image analysis. Remote sensing involves, for example, taking digital images from planes and satellites and using these to extract data regarding the Earth's surface. Jón Atli's presence on the list is all the more remarkable considering that he has served as rector for the last six years, and has thus been less active in his research than he was earlier in his career.
Jón Atli's work cited on 23,000 occasions
Jón Atli is the author of over 400 scientific articles and book chapters in the field of electrical and computer engineering and is widely cited. He has received numerous acknowledgements at home and abroad for his research, the most recent being the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society (GRSS) award for his contribution to education in remote sensing.
It is extremely important for the universities when scientists are ranked on Clarivate Analytics as it reflects excellence in research. This list is widely cited and is considered when universities are ranked on the prestigious Shangahi list of the best universities worldwide.
Furthermore, there are three guest lecturers at the University of Iceland placed on the list of the most influential researchers in the world. These are Bernharð Örn Pálsson, Jocelyn Chanussot and Ian F. Akyildiz. Bernharð Örn Pálsson is professor of bioengineering and medicine at the University of California, San Diego, and his specialisation lies in systems biology. Jocelyn Chanussot and Ian F. Jocelyn is professor at the Grenoble Institute of Technology in France and has specialised in remote sensing, like Jón Atli. He has been a guest lecturer at the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering from 2013. Akyildiz is professor emiritus at the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and has a successful career in telecommunication research. He became a visiting professor at the University's Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the autumn of 2020.