St Petersburg University has improved its position in the Russian international ranking of universities "The Three University Missions"
The second issue of the Moscow International University Ranking "The Three University Missions" was published on 28thNovember. Compared to the first pilot issue of 2017, St Petersburg University moved up 11 positions and was ranked 61stin the world.
The international scientific and educational community has been repeatedly criticising such recognised rankings as Times Higher Education and Quacquarelli Symonds. They have been using criteria that are focused only on the Anglo-Saxon model of education, and do not take into account the national characteristics of most countries. In January 2016, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin commented on such criticism at the meeting of the Presidential Council on Science and Education. He said, “Until we have our own criterion, we will have to be guided by what we have, what we are offered, and we will constantly complain that it does not suit us.”
“The Three University Missions” — 2018
The preparation and publication of an international ranking in Russia was supported by the International Ranking Expert Group that had supervised the selection and international discussion of criteria. The Association of Rating Makers (ARM) acted as the operator. The pilot project was released in December 2017, and immediately attracted the attention of the press as well as universities. Positive feedback was received, above all, about the approach to ranking: indicators reflecting the social mission of universities were added to two traditional packages of indicators (education and science).
For the second year in a row, St Petersburg University, Moscow State University, and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology are in the top 100 of this ranking. Despite fierce competition, they all improved their position in the new issue. The list features 333 universities including 17 Russian universities.