Today we are looking at the 3rd issue of the QS-BRICS ranking, which analyzes the progress made by the universities from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The ranking of the universities takes into account the following:
 
- Academic reputation
- Employability of the graduates
- Student to faculty ratio
- Number of staff with academic degrees
- Number of articles published 
- Citation index of the publications
- Number of international staff and students
 
The authors of the ranking note that the results of the QS educational rankings are influenced both by the individual competitive efforts of each university and by the national priorities of the counties’ educational policies.
 
This year the scope of the ranking is almost 2.5 times wider: over 500 BRICS universities were evaluated and only 200 made it to the final selection. The number of Russian universities in the top 200 remained the same; the Lomonosov Moscow State University heads the list of best 53 Russian higher education establishments. 
 
ITMO University appears in the top-100 QS BRICS rankings for the first time, taking the 99 place. We were able to improve our position by 12 points since last year. Apart from that, ITMO University takes the 30th place in the number of international students and 88th in the number of international staff. Such an improvement is explained by the efforts of ITMO University team in internationalization of the research and education, and broadening the network of international partnerships. We’ve opened our first representative office overseas, in Brussels, launched several new double degree programs and international research projects, started building comfortable English-language environment on campus, opened the Foreign Language Training Center. ITMO University Fellowship & Visiting Professorship program attracts the best researchers from all over the world.
 
“ITMO University is an acknowledged leader in quantum technologies, demonstrating significant results”, says Marianna Chistyakova, Head of strategic development department. “We are implementing a proactive strategy when it comes to improvement of the research results and academic reputation.”
 
In 2015, we have once again proven the status of world leaders in programming, taking the champions title in the ACM ICPC for the sixth time. Our active international policy also adds to overall success and opens doors to the list of best universities.
 
Our motto “IT’sMOre than a University” is a reflection of our fruitful team efforts in various areas of our competence. In partnership with the leading research and educational centers and industrial companies, and thanks to the personal input of staff and students we are able to improve the competitiveness of ITMO University.” 
 
Full version of the QS BRICS 2015 is available here.