Glasgow University has eight of the leading science ­academics in the world, according to a new guide.

Edinburgh has six figures, who are among the "most influential scientific minds of our time", Dundee three and Aberdeen two, taking Scotland's contribution to a new guide up to 19.

The newly updated list is contained in the 2014 ­Thomson Reuters guide, which names the world's 3,200 leading scientists across 21 fields of science and social science.

Many of the achievements of Scottish-based scientists are in human nutrition, cardiovascular medicine and space science.

To be included, they had to have produced a number of reports published in the decade up to 2013, which were "highly cited papers" that have exceptional impact.