Moroccan Physicists Shatter Global Rankings: 4 Scientists Among World’s Top 200 in Groundbreaking Research

Two Moroccan researchers working at the University of Hassan II in Casablanca and two Moroccan researchers working at the University of Mohammed V in Rabat are among the 200 most influential physicists in the world, according to the AD Scientific Index 2025, which evaluates more than 2.6 million researchers around the world. Morocco has 7,046 scientists, or just 0.27% of the total, across all disciplines. This ranking is based on the H-index, "an indicator that measures both scientific productivity, through the number of publications, and the influence of the work, based on the number of times they are cited by other researchers," according to Le Matin.

The first Moroccan researcher is Abdeslam Hoummada, a professor at the University of Hassan II in Casablanca. With an H-index of 277 corresponding to publications cited at least 277 times each, he ranks 44th in the world. Over the past five years, 160 of this particle physics specialist’s articles still meet this threshold. His colleague Driss Benchekroun from the same university, an expert in nuclear physics and high-energy physics, ranks 150th in the world with an H-index of 249, of which 153 articles meet this criterion over the past five years.

Farida Fassi, a specialist in high-energy physics and data analysis and a former CERN collaborator, is the third Moroccan researcher on the list. With an H-index of 245 and 160 articles cited at the same level over the past five years, this researcher from the University of Mohammed V in Rabat ranks 179th in the world. Her colleague Rajaa Cherkaoui El Moursli, a nuclear and medical physicist known for her applied work in health and cancer research, ranks 183rd with an H-index of 246 and 165 articles cited over the same period.

Alberto Ruiz Jimeno and Francisco Matorras from the University of Cantabria in Spain, as well as H. J. Kim from Kyungpook National University in South Korea, dominate the ranking of the 200 most influential physicists in the world.