MOSCOW, June 18 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow State University is one of the top three schools among the BRICS countries' universities, according to the latest QS Quacquarelli Symonds rankings released on Wednesday.
This year, Russia came second, with 20 universities in the top 100, while Moscow State University made it to number three on the list, according to the latest rankings of the top 102 universities from BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
Founded in 1755, Lomonosov Moscow State University is one of the oldest and largest universities in Russia. Last year, it also ranked third among the BRICS top-rated universities.
It was also named the best performing academic institution in Central Eastern Europe by the Spanish National Research Council’s Webometrics Ranking of World Universities 2013.
It is the only Russian university that made it to the most prestigious World Top 500 rating.
Marketing Director QS Ltd., UK Zoya Zaitseva lauded the results, noting that "they reflect the effort of QS directed to increase the recognition of Russian universities on international arena."
She also added that if "these positive dynamics will continue, [they] will be also reflected in World University Ranking QS, which will be issued in September."
According to the rating, China holds the first position with 40 universities in the top 100, with Tsinghua University and Peking University topping Chinese schools. Brazil has 19 universities in the top 100, while only 15 and 8 universities from India and South Africa were listed in the ranking.
Eight indicators used in the BRICS ranking are academic reputation (30%), employees reputation (20%), faculty/student ratio (20%), the number of staff with a PhD (10%), the number of papers per faculty (10%), citations per paper (5%), the number of international faculties (2.5%) and the number of international students (2.5%).
Some of these are the same as the indicators used in QS World University Rankings, while others are specifically designed to reflect the realities of BRICS countries.
