Samara University is in the first 100 of the QS University Rankings: EECA

Samara National Research University is inside the top 100 best universities of the developing countries of Europe and Central Asia according to authoritative international rating QS University Rankings: Emerging Europe and Central Asia (QS EECA).

In the ranking rates of 300 universities from 20 countries of the world including the states of the former “Eastern bloc” (the Czech Republic, Poland), Turkey, CIS countries and the Baltic states are analyzed. 

Samara University is for the first time in the top 100 of the ranking and takes 99 spot. It should be noted that the university is gradually improving its positions in QS EECA: for the first time the compilers of the research included Samara University in the ranking in 2015, then the university spot was in the range of 141-150. In 2016 the university leapfrogged and shifted to 101-110 spot of the ranking.

“For Samara University inclusion in the top 100 of QS EECA ranking is the crossing of a “psychologically important mark”. And though this is a regional research, but it is made by the experts of one of the three leading world agencies and considers the same criteria as the global QS World University Rankings. This gives an opportunity to see the processes of qualitative changes in the organization of scientific, educational and innovative activity in a more precise way. The experience of our university and a row of other universities-participants of Project 5-100 shows that the steady growth of the university positions in the regional rankings after approximately short time gets continuation in the global rankings”, - Vladimir Bogatyrev, Vice-rector for Educational and Foreign Affairs of Samara University comments.

While making the research the experts of the international ranking QS University Rankings: Emerging Europe and Central Asia (QS EECA) analyze 9 indicators of the universities: academic reputation, reputation among employers, correlation of the number of students to the number of employees, the number of publications per an employee, the number of quotes per one published article, the efficiency of the university in the Internet, quota of employees with an academic degree, quota of foreign employees and foreign students.

Such parameters as academic reputation of the university responsible for 30% of the final score in the ranking and its reputation among employers (20%) have the highest weight for QS EECA.

“Our university has strong positions in several indicators among them is reputation among employers, here we are in the 20 strongest Russian universities and it is logical. Our graduates are in the administration of a number of leading Russian companies which are competitive globally – for example, industrial enterprises busy with the development and production of the cutting-edge aviation and space technology. Our scientists and students are involved in the solution of different national tasks such as the Vostochny spaceport, creation of different systems of space monitoring and a number of large-scale projects in the social sphere. That is why we are in good books. And not only with the employers, but with the academic experts as well”, - Vladimir Bogatyrev made the point. 

Symbiosis of engineering sciences and humanities which is developing as a result of the merge of SSAU and SamSU in 2015 brings its dividends to the university. “Merge of competences allowed the university to advance seriously in such an indicator as academic reputation as the number of academic experts giving their voices for Samara University after the merge has increased significantly”, - the Vice-rector mentions.

“Samara University has a stable position in the quota of employees with an academic degree – here we take 5 spot among Russian universities. The number of citations per one research article has also influenced the advance of Samara University in the ranking– here we also take 5 spot among Russian universities”, - Vladimir Bogatyrev analyses the reasons of the university rise in the ranking table. – The worthy level of the university according to such parameters as a number of research articles per one academic worker gives 18 place in Russia and according to the level of internalization, i.e. the quota of foreign employees we have 20 place in the country”.

In the Rector’s opinion, Samara University owes its dynamics on the given criteria, first of all, to its participation in the Federal programme of Russian Academic Excellence Project 5-100.

“In the course of this programme realization starting from 2013 we annually increase such important for the going to the international level criteria as a number of foreign academic workers and foreign students, the citation level is increasing invariably. The university employees are publishing their research articles indexed in Scopus and Web of Science more actively. All this affects appropriately our advance in authoritative world rankings”, - Vladimir Bogatyrev emphasizes.