The ranking is based on publicly accessible citation data and attempts to measure both the productivity and influence of researchers in their field. In contrast to other rankings, publications with only a few authors are given a high weighting.
Prof. Grimme, who conducts research at the Mulliken Center for Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Bonn, is ranked 6th in the list across all scientific disciplines. According to the annual “Highly Cited Researcher” overview published by the Web of Science Group, Prof. Grimme is also among the one percent most cited scientists in his field in the world.
Grimme is considered one of the most internationally influential researchers in the field of quantum chemistry. He has received numerous awards for his scientific achievements, including the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation (2015), membership of the Leopoldina - National Academy of Sciences (2018) and recently the Chemistry Europe Award (2025).