Universities to focus on subject-based rankings

Russian universities will aim to rise in international subject-based rankings, rather than institutional ones due to "a different organisational structure" of Russian institutions, writes Gleb Fedorov for Russia Beyond The Headlines.

“For example, you'll hardly find universities in other countries that only teach medicine,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets told reporters. “In Russia, most medical institutes and universities are stand-alone institutions.” Being highly specialised, many Russian universities would find it hard to rise in institutional rankings, since they are competing with Western universities, which tend to have many faculties.

The change in the strategy when it comes to improving the international competitiveness of Russian institutions is also due to the fact that even most state-backed universities from the Project 5-100 are not aiming to get onto top-100 international lists before 2020. This year, 13 universities made it into the top 800 of the Times Higher Education rankings, compared to two a year ago.
Full report on the Russia Beyond The Headlines site