Moscow State University (MSU) tops the rankings in a listing of schools in “emerging Europe” and Central Asia just released by the higher education consultants QS Quacquarelli Symonds.
Charles University in Prague, Novosibirsk State University, and the universities of Warsaw and Tartu round out the top five. Al-Farabi Kazakh National University is the highest-ranked Central Asian institution, at No. 14. Seven Turkish universities are in the top 20.
The emerging Europe-Central Asia list is new this year and uses “a methodology that has been developed to reflect priorities and challenges for universities in the regions.”
MSU rates only 114th on QS’s better-known worldwide rankings, however, and St. Petersburg State University is at No. 233.
“Despite having an overall highly educated population, Russia since the Soviet Union’s collapse has struggled to preserve its once-high standards. A 2013 study by the World Economic Forum evaluated Russia’s human capital rank as middling, placing it 51st among 122 countries,” The Moscow Times writes.
The top 10 schools in the Times Higher Education rankings for the BRICS countries and other emerging economies include three from China and from Turkey and one each from South Africa, Taiwan, Brazil, and Russia, represented by MSU.
Two other Russian schools join Charles University in Prague and Warsaw University in the top 50 on the Times list.
This article was originally published by Transitions Online. Homepage image by Alexander Konovalenko /Wikimedia Commons.
Tags: Development, Research & quality
