Four University of Houston Researchers Recognized Among the Most Cited in the World

For the second straight year, the same dynamic quartet of University of Houston scientists has been honored as world-class, highly cited researchers, acknowledging the remarkable and widespread impact of their scientific endeavors.

The annual Clarivate list of Highly Cited Researchers includes global research and social scientists whose published academic papers rank in the top 1% of citations for field and publication year.  

When an academic paper is cited in the published work of another scholar, it not only amplifies the impact of the findings but also lends greater credibility to the research.  

Of the world’s population of scientists and social scientists, Highly Cited Researchers are 1 in 1,000. This year 7,127 researchers were awarded the designation from 68 countries and regions. 

University of Houston’s awarded researchers are: 

• Zhifeng Ren, Paul C. W. Chu and May P. Chern Endowed Chair in Condensed Matter Physics and director of the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston (TcSUH), recognized for excellence across fields; UH College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics 
• Zhu Han, Moores professor of electrical and computer engineering, recognized in the field of computer science; UH Cullen College of Engineering 
• Shuo Chen, associate professor of physics, recognized for excellence across fields; UH College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics 
• Jiming Bao, professor of electrical and computer engineering, recognized for excellence across fields; UH Cullen College of Engineering 

“I congratulate our four researchers for being honored as highly cited researchers who rank in the top 1% of citations for the second straight year: It is a great accomplishment and a testimony to their influential scientific research in areas of national interest,” said Claudia Neuhauser, UH interim vice president for research. 

Clarivate’s Institute for Scientific Information performed the data analysis to determine the influential global researchers on this year’s list. Their names are drawn from the Web of Science™, a publisher-independent global citation database.  

According to the Web of Science™ Author Profile: 

– Ren has been cited more than 75,000 times 

– Han has been cited more than 40,000 times

– Chen has been cited more than 20,788 times  

– Bao has been cited more than 18,510 times

Ren, Chen and Bao are co-principal investigators of Texas Center for Superconductivity or TcSUH where hundreds of researchers work to discover and improve new materials, advance science and engineering, and transfer breakthroughs in technology to the industrial sector, impacting the emerging high temperature superconducting electric power community, energy industry, the medical community and other sectors.  

Ren’s research area includes high-performance thermoelectric materials, ultrahigh thermal conductivity and carrier mobility in boron arsenide single crystals, nanomaterials for oil recovery, catalysts for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions, heated HEPA filters for air cleaning, superconductor levitated fast vehicles for mass transport, energy transmission and storage, and battery recycling. 

Chen’s research is in the field of materials science. She is an expert on transmission electron microscopy and nanomaterials for thermal and electrochemical energy conversion and storage. 

Bao’s work covers nanomaterials, biomedical sensing and therapeutics, energy harvesting and storage, optoelectronics and photonics. 

Han researches wireless resource allocation and management, wireless communications and networking, game theory, big data analysis, machine learning, security, quantum computing, carbon neutralization and smart grid technology. 

David Pendlebury, head of Research Analysis at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate said: “The Highly Cited Researchers list identifies and celebrates exceptional individual researchers at the University of Houston whose significant and broad influence in their fields translates to impact in their research community and innovations that make the world healthier, more sustainable and more secure. Their contributions resonate far beyond their individual achievements, strengthening the foundation of excellence and innovation in research.”