Russia targets top spots in university league tables

By Eugene Gerden. The Russian government has earmarked RUB9 billion (£178 million) to enable its leading national universities to break into the top 100 in the global league tables. In a recent decree, Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, announced plans that would see at least five of the country’s universities enter the top 100 by 2020. According to Dmitry Medvedev, the country’s prime minister, at present only 15% of national universities could be considered world-leading. However, even these top national universities are uncompetive in the global arena, which is reflected by their absence in the world rankings. 
The list of universities which will receive financial aid from the state has not yet been determined. However, according to representatives of the Russian  Ministry of Education, a list is expected to be compiled not later than the second quarter of 2013. Ten to fifteen universities are expected to receive the additional money. These universities are expected to be chosen on the basis of several criteria, including academic results, citations and research activity. Meanwhile, education experts believe that implementing these plans may be extremely difficult. Alex Chaplygin, head of the National Rating of Russian Universities and one of Russia's leading higher education analysts, says there are at three leading global university league tables – The Times Higher Education, Shanghai and QS rankings – and it is unclear which of them will have the highest priority for Russian universities. More...