Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) has published the annual ranking of the best universities in the BRICS countries, QS World University Rankings BRICS 2018. Novosibirsk State University has improved its position by 9 points from the beginning of the previous year. NSU is ranked 11th in the overall rating and second among Russian universities.
This year, the published part of the rating includes the top 300 universities in the BRICS countries, 68 universities represent Russian higher education. The ratings also include 94 universities from China, 61 from Brazil, 65 from India and 12 from South Africa. Lomonosov Moscow State University was the top rated Russian university (5th place). St. Petersburg State University, which was tied with NSU for 20th last year, took the 13th place together with the Brazilian University of São Paulo. Also in the top 50 BRICS countries universities were: Tomsk State University (26), Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (28), Bauman Moscow State Technical University (33), Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (35), Higher School of Economics (39), Moscow State Institute of International Relations (40), and Tomsk Polytechnic University (49).
Over the past three years, NSU has been consistently included in the top 20 of these ratings. The fact is that in this region - Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa - the number of good universities and investments in education is growing at a fast pace. Therefore, even maintaining your position in this rating is a good achievement. The fact that this year NSU not only retained its position, but also made significant progress, by 9 points, is a significant result for the University because competition for each place in the top 20 is very high. This is the result of work to improve the international image of the University and improve its scientific program that started at NSU several years ago. These efforts are now bearing fruit. The key criteria that supported a promotion in our ranking were: increased recognition of the University, both in the academic community and among international employers and, of course, strengthening the basic University indicators that demonstrate its high level of scientific activity. This refers to the quantity and quality of scientific products produced, and other criteria that characterize the internationalization of the University.
The university rankings are based on eight criteria: academic reputation, reputation among employers, the ratio of teaching staff to the number of students, citation index and the percentage of scientific articles per teacher, as well as the percentage of foreign teachers, foreign students and teachers with an advanced scientific degree.
The international QS rating is one of the most authoritative international ratings of the best higher educational institutions. Published in September each year, it is based on research by Quacquarelli Symonds, a British analytical company that specializes in education and training abroad. The Company publishes their primary list of 800 universities, as well as separate ratings in 28 subject areas, the best departments, and educational institutions in every major region (Asia, Latin America, developing countries in Europe and Central Asia, Arab countries, BRICS countries).
