The RAEX ranking agency has recently published its fourth ranking of Russian universities by reputation within broad fields: “engineering, natural and exact sciences”, “economics and management”, “mathematics and natural sciences”, “technical sciences, engineering and technologies”, “humanities and social sciences” and “medical sciences”.
ITMO University made it to the top-10 of universities in the category “engineering, natural and exact sciences” for the first time. In total, 113 universities participated in this category. Lomonosov Moscow State University topped the ranking. Among other leaders are the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, St. Petersburg State University, Tomsk Polytechnic University, Novosibirsk State University, National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, and Tomsk State University.
“Over the last years, ITMO University has become one of the leaders by the number of students winning prestigious international competitions, which coupled with achievements in research could not but affect the University’s reputation and thus the results of the ranking,” note the representatives of the RAEX ranking agency.
The Universities Reputation ranking is compiled based on a survey conducted from 2016 till 2018. The authors of the ranking took into account the respondents’ opinions about the quality of education, the demand for a university’s graduates in the labor market, as well as the level of research activity. Teachers, researchers, university students, graduates, and companies’ representatives took part in the survey. According to the representatives of the RAEX agency, more than 60,000 people shared their views.
“What makes reputation rankings so special is that they are based on the results of surveys. As our opinions are always subjective, such rankings only outline some general trends but aren’t enough to say that one university is better than the other. What is also interesting is the huge gap between the first two “champions” and “all the rest,” commented Ilya Kuftiryov, head of ITMO’s Rankings Research Center.
Dr. Kuftiryov also added that one shouldn’t take the results of such reputation rankings for granted, as they only take into account respondents’ opinions of each university, but don’t evaluate some other important academic indicators such as admission quality, scientometric indicators, etc.
“A reputation is not something you can build in a day, and the fact that ITMO University entered the top-10 confirms its growing prestige among Russian and international researchers, academic staff, employers and graduates. It was thanks to their graduates that many universities have attained international recognition, and we’re convinced that our future reputation lies in our graduates, who are in high demand not only in Russia but also far beyond its borders,” shared Dr. Kuftiryov.
