St Petersburg University once again holds the leading position among Russian universities according to the Vladimir Potanin Foundation rankings

According to Oksana Oracheva, General Director of the Potanin Foundation, the top three leaders in the ranking keep their position primarily on account of their high interest in the competition and focus on results. ‘For several years, the Russian top universities have retained their leadership in the overall ranking. First of all, this is due to the fact that the universities hold their leading positions in each category. Thus, St Petersburg University has the maximum score for the number of university teachers — winners of the Grant competition, which gives the university a significant advantage over the other competitors in this ranking,’ said Oksana Oracheva.

Since 2004, the Vladimir Potanin Foundation has been publishing the annual ranking list of Russian universities participating in the foundation’s scholarship programme.

This year, the Expert Council of the Vladimir Potanin Foundation has adjusted the ranking methodology. In addition to the basic indicators such as the activity of students and teachers in the foundation’s fellowship, and the social attitudes of universities and other criteria, the rankings assess teachers’ performance in the Academic Landing competition, and the number of university representatives who take part in the foundation school.

We are adjusting the methodology, trying to retain the main principles of the ranking. The minor adjustments are made because we want to keep the fellowship programme and its main competitions − the Foundation school for students and teachers that is considered a "living organism" − challenging and of current interest.

Oksana Oracheva, General Director of the Potanin Foundation

‘Since 2022, the format of the foundation school has changed. Now it works throughout the country as volunteer camps, so we estimate the total number of participants from a university who come to the volunteer camps. Starting this year, the assessment of professional mobility competition for teachers «Academic Landing» is conducted on the basis of the activity indicators such as the number of winners and their average score,’ said Oksana Oracheva.

Starting this year, an interactive format for differentiating universities is also available on the Foundation’s website in addition to the overall and cumulative rankings. The new ranking shows the changes and dynamics of development of each higher education institution since 2004. Additionally, the option "A Map pf Connections" was added, which makes it possible to analyse the involvement of participants from other universities.

According to the annual overall ranking based on the adjusted methodology, the top three universities in 2022 are: first place − St Petersburg University (6.2); second place − Lomonosov Moscow State University (6.03); and third place − ITMO University (5.47). According to the results of the cumulative ranking, St Petersburg University took first place (5.36 points); second place was taken by Lomonosov Moscow State University (5.32); and third place was taken by ITMO University (4.8).