St Petersburg University has again improved its position in the ranking of leading universities in the world according to QS

St Petersburg University strengthened its position by key indicators and moved up the ranking ladder.

St Petersburg University is now ranked 234th in the QS World University Rankings.

This year, in the QS World University Rankings, St Petersburg University has noticeably improved its results for the indicators characterising the quality of education and research. There is an obvious increase in interest in the University’s academic programmes, with the rated value of the indicator ‘International students’ increasing by 11.2%. This indicates the number of students from different countries choosing academic programmes of St Petersburg University for their higher education.

The QS World University Rankings is one of the most established university rankings in the world, entering the top three along with the THE and ARWU rankings. The British company Quacquarelli Symonds has been conducting this research according to six key metrics since 2004.

Additionally, interest in the results of research conducted by scientists of St Petersburg University has significantly increased. The ‘Citations per faculty’ indicator has grown by 20% compared with the previous publication of the ranking. The high quality of education and research could not but influence the results of a survey of members of the global academic community. 94,000 respondents from all over the world took part in it. The rated value of the ‘Academic reputation’ indicator has increased by 8.5%.

The QS rankings are compiled according to a formalised scheme using the following six metrics: Academic reputation (40%), Citations per faculty (20%), Faculty/student ratio (20%), Employer reputation (10%), International faculty ratio (5%) and International student ratio (5%).

‘The fact that St Petersburg University has improved its position in one of the leading world rankings is forwarded by active cooperation of the University with foreign partners, including industrial ones. This cooperation involves not only work with students and joint research activities, but also joint development of academic programmes and implementation of projects that meet the highest international standards,’ noted the Rector of St Petersburg University Nikolay Kropachev. ‘St Petersburg University cooperates with 500 foreign universities and companies around the world, including dozens of industrial partners: Samsung, Mitsui & Co. Ltd., Panasonic, Huawei, Banco Santander and others. Such cooperation is mainly directed to: implement R&D projects; establish joint laboratories; support the implementation of academic programmes of St Petersburg University; organise student internships; and invite company experts to take part in boards of academic programmes. Over the past five years, the University has managed to multiply the amount of funds raised for the implementation of joint projects. Additionally, cooperation with foreign universities is also developing. For example, during the visit of President Xi Jinping to Russia, St Petersburg University signed an agreement with Tsinghua University to establish the Russian Research Institute at Tsinghua University. I am sure that this approach makes it possible for St Petersburg University to confirm its status as one of the leading universities from year to year,’ concluded Nikolay Kropachev.

Note that the top three leading Russian universities have remained unchanged: in addition to St Petersburg University, they are Lomonosov Moscow State University and Novosibirsk State University.