Interfax publishes 11th annual National Ranking of Universities
MOSCOW. July 30 (Interfax) - Interfax International Information Services Group has published its 11th annual National Ranking of Universities (NRU) for 2020.
The list of the best universities in Russia for 2020 is headed by Lomonosov Moscow State University. In second place is National Research Nuclear University MEPHI, and third place is held by National Research University Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT).
The operations and activities of 337 leading universities and institutes in Russia, including one national research center, were assessed as part of the NRU project.
The rankings comprise all of the country's well-known and prestigious universities and institutions of higher education and learning, including 29 national research universities, 10 federal institutions, 33 backbone universities, as well as 21 universities participating in Project 5-100; and the operations and activities of seven non-state universities were also assessed.
An assessment according to specific fields of study and specializations was conducted for 98 traditionally classic-type universities; 105 technical and technological universities, including transport, architecture and construction, and meteorological universities; 16 economic and social universities; 33 agricultural universities; 38 medical universities, including Almazov National Medical Research Center; 33 pedagogical universities; five law schools; four humanitarian universities; three universities of design; three communications universities; and three universities of tourism.
"The epidemiological situation has dictated significant adjustments to compiling the NRU. However, most of the participants in the rankings maintained close communications with those conducting the ranking, and shared data on their operations and activities for 2019. As of the spring of 2020, we have noted requests from the administrative offices of universities to include the accelerated digitalization, as well as the universities' ability to provide effective online restructuring of all scientific and educational processes in the assessment. I hope that in the near future, we will determine the methods, means and criteria for such an assessment together with the academic community," Alexey Gorshkov, First Deputy General Director of Interfax General Information Services Group, said noting that Interfax is actively developing cooperation with the leading Russian universities and academic institutions as part of its Digital Technologies for Education and Science program for higher education. The program's goal is to improve the qualifications and skills of young professionals, teachers, and researchers, as well as to introduce the latest and current practices of working with Big Data in research activities at the country's leading universities and research centers.
The top 20 of the National Ranking of Universities for 2020 is rounded out by the Higher School of Economics, Novosibirsk State University, St. Petersburg State University, Tomsk State University, National University of Science and Technology MISIS, Kazan (Volga region) Federal University, ITMO University, RUDN University, Yeltsin Ural Federal University, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Southern Federal University, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Far Eastern Federal University, Siberian Federal University, and Belgorod State University.
The operations and activities of universities were assessed according to six parameters: education, research, social environment, international cooperation, reputation/brand name, as well as innovation and technology entrepreneurship.
The sources used for the rankings include public materials on the operations and activities of the universities as published on their respective websites; questionnaires completed by representatives of universities and collected by Interfax experts; the results of monitoring conducted by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation; and also the results of an analysis conducted using the SPARK (www.spark-interfax.ru) and SCAN (www.scan-interfax.ru) information and analytical systems of comprehensive news analysis.
A comprehensive version of the results of the NRU 2020 is available at https://academia.interfax.ru
Interfax Information Services Group launched the National Ranking of Universities project in 2010 in order to develop and test new mechanisms for independent evaluation of Russian institutions of higher education and learning.
Over the past 30 years, the Interfax Group has been developing information and analytical systems to analyze the business activity of companies, to manage credit and tax risks, conduct media monitoring and to learn how to work with Big Data. Applying these skills and knowledge for the development of education and science is an important aspect of the company's social responsibility.