The centre has nine researchers recognised for their 2025 impact and five for their cumulative career impact, strengthening its international standing
Edited by Jon Erramun Arrue-Karazo
CIC energiGUNE, a leading Basque research centre in electrochemical and thermal energy storage and conversion, has 10 scientists listed among the world’s most influential researchers in the latest Stanford University–Elsevier ranking.
Nine researchers are recognised for their scientific impact in 2025, while five appear for their cumulative career-long impact. As four are included in both categories, the total is 10 different researchers: Michel Armand, Heng Zhang, Javier Carrasco, Montse Casas-Cabanas, Damien Saurel, Elena Palomo del Barrio, Yaroslav Grosu, Max García-Melchor, Shanmukaraj Devaraj and Daniel Carriazo.
Professor Michel Armand, Honorary Scientific Director of CIC energiGUNE, again leads the centre’s results with internationally outstanding rankings. Excluding self-citations, he ranks 506th worldwide for scientific impact in 2025—first in the Basque scientific ecosystem—and 15th globally in Energy, among more than 370,000 researchers.
For cumulative career impact, he ranks 659th worldwide and 10th in Energy, placing him among the top 0.003% of researchers in his field.
“Michel Armand’s results are exceptional and a source of pride for CIC energiGUNE, but the true value of this edition also lies in seeing that behind this leadership there is an increasingly broad critical mass of researchers with international scientific impact. Having ten scientists recognised in these rankings demonstrates the strength of our scientific project and our ability to attract, develop and consolidate top-level talent,” said Montse Casas-Cabanas, Scientific Director of the Electrochemical Energy Storage area at CIC energiGUNE.
Beyond Michel Armand’s leadership, the results highlight the collective strength of CIC energiGUNE’s team, which combines established researchers with emerging scientists gaining international impact. The centre represents about 44% of Basque researchers in Energy included in the ranking and has four of the ten highest-ranked Basque researchers in this field.
“Excellence cannot depend solely on a few individual figures. Our goal is to build teams that sustain scientific excellence over time, develop new talent and turn knowledge into solutions for the energy and industrial transformation of the Basque Country and Europe,” said Elena Palomo, Scientific Director of the Thermal Energy Storage area.
The Stanford/Elsevier ranking measures researchers’ worldwide scientific impact through bibliometric indicators, considering both annual and career-long performance.
More information here.