The Federico II in the "Highly Cited Researchers 2025" rankings.

They are Antonio Abate of the Department of Chemical, Materials and Industrial Production Engineering, Piera Centobelli of the Department of Industrial Engineering, Annamaria Colao of the School of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Danilo Ercolini of the Department of Agriculture, Angelo Izzo of the Department of Pharmacy and Edoardo Pasolli of the Department of Agriculture, the six Federicians who are featured this year in the "Highly Cited Researchers 2025" ranking compiled by the Web of Science Group - Clarivate Analytics.

These are scientists who have produced the most cited scientific publications in the world, making significant contributions in their fields of activity and, often, recording spillovers in scientific and academic fields other than their own, as in this case. In fact, the six Federicians were all included in the Cross-Field category, which highlights the interdisciplinary impact of their work.

Each year, the report indicates the researchers who have published the highest number of "Highly Cited Papers," or most-cited scientific articles over the past decade. The number of citations is also matched by a qualitative assessment by experts at Clarivate's Institute for Scientific Information. Of the world's entire population of scientists from all disciplines, 'Highly Cited Researchers' are 1 in 1,000. In fact, only 0.1 percent of the world's researchers receive this recognition, which is an important parameter in global university quality rankings, as well as one of the highest international honors for a researcher.

This year the Clarivate awards went to 6,868 researchers from different universities, institutes or institutions, and among them 104 work in Italy.

Already an awardee in the fields of chemistry and environment and ecology, Antonio Abate lands this year in the Cross-Field category. An associate professor at DICMAPI with significant international experience gained from working at the prestigious universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England, the Polytechnic University of Lausanne in Switzerland and the Helmholtz Center in Berlin, Germany, before returning to the Federico II, he focused his research activities on the development of innovative materials for solar energy conversion, particularly on perovskites, a field in which he is globally recognized as one of the most influential scientists.

Engaged in research and teaching activities mainly in the areas of circular economy, sustainable resource management and sustainable and circular business models, Piera Centobelli ,associate professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering, has focused her studies on strategic issues for the ecological and industrial transition, exploring the entire life cycle of products, analyzing consumer perception and adoption of sustainable practices, studying the evolution of businesses toward production models with reduced environmental impact and developing decision support systems for the valorization of waste and by-products, including through the promotion of industrial symbiosis processes.

Annamaria Colao is a full professor of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases. She has served as director of the integrated care department of Endocrinology, Diabetology, Andrology and Nutrition at the Azienda universitaria policlinico Federico II in Naples. A Knight of the Republic for scientific merit, he is a visiting professor at the world's most prestigious universities. His research, for which he has received numerous awards, focuses on neuroendocrinology and in particular on the diagnosis and therapy of hypothalamic-pituitary tumors, obesity, and nutrition and metabolic disorders.

The multidisciplinary studies, from food quality to human health, confirmed among the Highly Cited Researchers, Danilo Ercolini, Director of the Department of Agriculture, already featured in the Clarivate 2022, 2023, and 2024 rankings, Professor of Microbiology, Ercolini focuses his scientific activity on the study of the microbiome in food and humans. Particularly appreciated were studies on the impact of diet on the human microbiome and contributions on the study of the effects of the Mediterranean diet.

Focusing, instead, on the disciplinary scientific field of Pharmacology, is the research of Angelo Antonio Izzo, Director of the Department of Pharmacy, for the fifth time among the Highly Cited Researchers in the field of Pharmacology and Toxicology, who is mainly concerned with the pharmacological study and potential therapeutic applications of plant-derived compounds, with particular interest in the potential of cannabinoids and natural compounds that bind Transient Receptor Potential Channels.

Also from the Department of Agriculture, among the six Frederick cross-fields is, for the third year in a row, Edoardo Pasolli, associate professor of telecommunications whose research interests aim to develop and apply computational approaches and machine learning methodologies for metagenomics data, with a focus on human and food microbiomes.