Mehdi Bennis, Professor at the University of Oulu Finland and leading researcher at 6G Flagship, has been named one of the world’s Highly Cited Researchers for the sixth year in a row. The annual recognition by Clarivate identifies researchers whose work has consistently shaped the direction of scientific progress, placing them among the top 1% most cited by field and publication year.
Mehdi Bennis’s inclusion reflects his sustained influence in wireless communication research, particularly in the context of future mobile networks. Over the past decade, his work has helped establish foundational concepts for 5G and 6G systems. For Bennis, the honour is not just personal.
“This is a great feeling, for sure, but it is more a testament to the work of my group, collaborators, and most importantly the support of my family,” he says.
Semantic communication and the search for new directions
While his body of work spans a wide range of topics, Bennis highlights one paper in particular as a milestone: his 2021 work on semantic communication. The approach, which focuses on transmitting meaning rather than raw data, offers a radical shift in how networks could operate; especially in environments where speed, relevance and efficiency are critical.
“Instead of transmitting information that may be irrelevant or outdated, semantic communication reduces latency and energy use by focusing only on what’s essential,” he explains.
Bennis sees semantic communication as part of a bigger shift the field needs to make. Instead of building on the same assumptions, it asks whether we’ve been solving the wrong problems. Have we optimised data delivery without asking if the data itself is useful? That kind of rethink, he argues, is essential if future networks are to be faster, more efficient, and genuinely intelligent.
A call for bolder thinking
At a time when much of wireless research leans toward incremental improvements, Bennis calls for a slower, more fundamental kind of science. He argues that meaningful breakthroughs will come only by stepping outside conventional approaches and challenging the assumptions that underpin the field.
Bennis adds that the current research culture itself makes these kinds of breakthroughs harder to achieve. He points to the structural pressures that discourage deeper work, particularly among early-career scientists.
“Young researchers are not working on these areas, perhaps due to the pressure to graduate very fast,” he notes.
He is also skeptical of the broader trajectory of AI integration in telecoms, warning that many of today’s solutions remain ill-suited for mission-critical real-world deployment. In his view, progress will depend on developing radically new architectures that mimic the brain and rethink current assumptions rather than simply scaling existing models.
Pushing the field forward by slowing down
When asked how he keeps pushing the field forward, Bennis points to something that might sound contradictory at first. “There is a sense of urgency for slower and non-incremental research.” In a field often driven by the need to publish fast and show immediate results, he believes the real advances will come from taking time to ask deeper questions and resisting the pressure to stay within comfortable or familiar ground.
Bennis leads the ICON research group at the University of Oulu’s Centre for Wireless Communications. The group focuses on foundational and emerging challenges in wireless systems, such as machine learning, edge intelligence and compositional system design. He also plays a central role in the national 6G Flagship programme, which builds the foundation for Finland’s future communication networks.
His inclusion on the Highly Cited Researchers list further reinforces Oulu’s position as a centre of excellence in wireless research.
While Bennis’s work has global impact, he stresses that scientific contribution is also deeply local. Especially in today’s geopolitical climate, he believes it is essential to highlight the role of international researchers in Finnish science.
“Especially now, we should be highlighting the role that researchers from around the world play in building and advancing the scientific landscape in Finland,” he says.
About the Highly Cited Researchers List
Each year Clarivate identifies the world’s most influential researchers. The list comprises the select few whom their peers have most frequently cited over the last decade. Since 2001, the Highly Cited Researchers list has identified the true pioneers in their fields over the last decade, demonstrated by the production of multiple highly-cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year in the Web of Science, Clarivate defines on its website. Of the world’s scientists and social scientists, Highly Cited Researchers truly are one in 1000.