Swinburne highly cited researchers rise to the top in 2022

Researchers can measure their impact in many ways. One of these is to publish excellent research that is used (i.e. cited) by other researchers.

Each year, Clarivate compiles a list of highly cited researchers – those in the top one per cent by citations for their field. Researchers across the world eagerly await to see who will be celebrated for their global influence during the past decade.

Swinburne celebrates eight of its highly talented researchers making the list in 2022. They work across computer science, space science, engineering, mathematics and social sciences.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Professor Karen Hapgood, congratulated the researchers for their excellent contributions on the world stage.

“It is fantastic to see our researchers in science, technology and innovation making a demonstratable impact on a global scale. For the individuals, this is an outstanding achievement for their hard work not just in 2022 – but over the past decade.

“What stands out to me is how this research reflects the university’s strengths in space, engineering, computer science and the transition to smart cities. It is wonderful to see Swinburne’s vision of people and technology working together to build a better world in action through the work of these esteemed researchers.”

Congratulations to our researchers

Professor Jinjun Chen is Deputy Director of the Swinburne Data Science Research Institute. His research spans cloud computing, distributed systems and algorithms, mobile computing, hardware security, system and network security, data security and protection, and software and application security.

Dr Xiaohua (Jamie) Ge is a computer engineer with expertise in networked control systems, multi-agent systems and cyber-physical systems. In a practical sense, his research is applied to intelligent ground/surface/underwater vehicles, electric vehicles, connected automated vehicles and intelligent transportation systems.

Distinguished Professor Qing-Long Han is Swinburne’s Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Quality), but he still makes time for his own research. He is an internationally recognised leader in Control Theory and Control Engineering. Impressively, he is cited in the top one per cent for both computer science and engineering in 2022.

Dr Xianming Zhang has published over 100 fully-referred journal articles and conference papers, including – most recently – on automated and electric vehicles. Dr Zhang is also cited in two categories: computer science and engineering.

Associate Professor Tonghua Zhang is a mathematician interested in differential equations, nonlinear dynamical systems and mathematical biology. He has applied his expertise to topics varying from supply chains to the transmission model of a Zika virus. 

Professor Chris Blake is an observational cosmologist with research interests in large-scale structure, dark energy and gravity, and galaxy evolution. His research examines questions concerning how the universe was made, what it is formed of, and the physical laws that govern its evolution.

Associate Professor Ivo Labbe is an astrophysicist. His research interests span the formation of the first generations of galaxies, when the universe was only a few percent of its current age, their explosive build up through cosmic time, and their demise when star formation activity ground to a sudden halt. He was one of the few researchers worldwide to secure research time in the first observation of the A$14 billion James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). 

Distinguished Professor Neville Owen is a health sciences researcher in Swinburne’s Centre for Urban Transitions and a senior scientist in the Physical Activity Laboratory at Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute. His research deals with preventing type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer through understanding and influencing physical activity and sedentary behaviours (i.e. too little exercise and too much sitting!).

How it’s decided

If you’ve ever wondered how the top researchers are selected, Clarivate draws its data from the published papers that rank in the top one per cent by citations for field and publication year in the Web of Science citation index. Bibliometric experts and data scientists at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate do the data analysis to create the full list.

The 2022 Highly Cited Researchers list can be found on the Clarivate website.