Luca Heltai, Associate Professor of Numerical Analysis in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Pisa, has been recognised as one of the top 0.1% most cited and influential scientists in his field. He has been included in the “Highly Cited Researchers 2025” list compiled by Clarivate Analytics.
Prepared by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) at Clarivate, the list brings together scholars whose work has had a profound impact on international research. It is based on a rigorous evaluation and selection process combining quantitative and qualitative analyses of data from the Web of Science Core Collection. The 2025 ranking includes 6,868 researchers from over 1,300 institutions in more than 60 countries and regions.
“The presence of researchers from our University in Clarivate Analytics’ ranking is testament to our capacity for scientific leadership,” said Giuseppe Iannaccone, Deputy Rector of the University of Pisa. “This year’s recognition is in applied mathematics, but in recent years we have also been represented in entomology, plant physiology, condensed matter physics and particle physics.”
“This recognition,” added Heltai, “is the result of collective effort and demonstrates how international collaborations and open-source software foster excellent research. It shows the impact that open and shared tools can have on scientific advancement worldwide.”
Heltai’s research focuses on scientific computing and numerical analysis, with a particular emphasis on developing open-source methods and software for high-performance computing. He is one of the primary authors and developers of the deal.II Finite Element Library, which is used by universities, research centres, and companies worldwide. In recognition of his contribution to the deal.II project, Heltai was awarded the 2025 SIAM/ACM Prize in Computational Science and Engineering, which honours the library’s role in disseminating high-quality computational tools.
Heltai has a degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Pavia and a PhD in Mathematics and Scientific Computing. He has carried out research at leading institutions such as the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences in New York, Penn State University, and SISSA in Trieste, where he was Director of the Postgraduate Degree Course in High Performance Computing from 2013 to 2023. He has been an associate professor at the University of Pisa since 2024 and has coordinated the new PhD programme in High-Performance Scientific Computing since 2025.
