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Eleven professors at Tohoku University have made it onto Clarivate Analytics' 2018 list of Highly Cited Researchers (HCR). They include University President Hideo Ohno and Executive Director of the Tohoku Medical Megabank Organisation Masayuki Yamamoto.

The annual HCR list identifies the most influential researchers across 21 fields through their citation counts over the span of 11 years. In 2018, a new cross-field category was added to recognize researchers with substantial influence in several fields but do not have enough highly cited papers in any one field to be chosen.

According to Clarivate Analytics, the new category aims to "break through the artificial walls of conventional disciplinary categories." Six of Tohoku University's 11 HCR on the 2018 list, were identified for their cross-field achievements.

"Personally I'm very honoured that my work received so much attention and I want to thank my collaborators because I could not have done this alone," said President Ohno. "I'm also very encouraged, as university president, to see so many researchers at Tohoku University included on the list. It means that we're on the right track."

At a ceremony at Katahira Campus on February 25, Managing Director of Clarivate Analytics Tim Neely, presented certificates to President Ohno, Dr. Saburo Takahashi and professors Itaru Honma and Shusei Sato. The other recipients were unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts, but will receive their certificates at a later date. Here is the full list of the 11 names affiliated with Tohoku University.

Dr. Takahashi, who recently retired from the Advanced Institute for Materials Research (AIMR), made the list for a second time for his work in spintronics, including observation of the spin Seebeck effect and spin pumping from nuclear spin waves.

For Professor Sato, whose research at the Graduate School of Life Sciences is based on the genome analysis of plants and plant microbes, it's his fifth consecutive year as a Highly Cited Researcher.

"Of course it is still a great honor for me," he said. "I've been lucky to have worked with many high quality collaborators over the years, so this award always provides me the opportunity to thank them for their support. It is also recognition and approval from the research community of our work, which I'm very proud of."

A newcomer to the list, Professor Honma works on advanced functional materials for renewable energy devices including Lithium-ion battery, solar cells, capacitor and fuel cells. "I was quite surprised when I got the email about the award. I was touched because I really believe in the work we are doing for global sustainability, and this award is both encouraging and motivating."

A total of 90 academics from Japan are on the 2018 HCR list. According to Clarivate Analytics, the United States continues to lead all regions with 2,639 researchers listed.

President Ohno said he's not surprised by the gap, attributing it to the fact that research done in Japan "is often not given the attention that we deserve." One reason for that, he added, is the lack of a strong international network among many Japanese researchers.

"Of course the quality of the research is not determined by the size of the network, but a good network helps," he said. "I still believe that the quality of the research we do here is very good, but we have to work on increasing the readership of our research results. If we can do that, we will hopefully get more recognition from the international research community and also improve our numbers on future lists of Highly Cited Researchers."