Rankings: The 51 best universities in Russia for 2021/2022
MSU by I.s.kopytov, CC BY-SA 4.0, modified
Russia has a long history of top-quality academic research and teaching. More and more students are drawn to this exciting country every year.
The preeminent institution is Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU), firmly ranked among the 100 best universities in the world. There are also many technical universities and engineering schools in Russia that enjoy a global reputation in their disciplines.
And expect more Russian universities to keep climbing the international rankings: “Project 5-100”, an official government initiative, aims at pushing at least five institutions into the world’s top 100.
| University | QS Ranking 2021 | THE Ranking 2021 | ARWU Ranking 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) | 74 | 174 | 93 |
| St Petersburg University | 225 | 601 | 301 |
| Novosibirsk State University | 228 | 601 | 501 |
| Tomsk State University | 250 | 501 | 801 |
| Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) | 281 | 201 | 401 |
| Bauman Moscow State Technical University | 282 | 401 | – |
| Higher School of Economics (HSE) | 298 | 251 | 801 |
| National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute) | 314 | 401 | 701 |
| Peoples' Friendship University of Russia | 326 | 801 | – |
| Ural Federal University | 331 | 1001 | 701 |
| MGIMO University | 348 | – | – |
| ITMO University | 360 | 501 | 901 |
| Kazan Federal University | 370 | 601 | 901 |
| Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University | 401 | 301 | – |
| Tomsk Polytechnic University | 401 | 801 | – |
| National University of Science and Technology MISiS | 428 | 601 | 901 |
| Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) | 493 | 1001 | – |
| Saratov State University | 521 | 1001 | – |
| Altai State University | 571 | – | – |
| Southern Federal University | 591 | 1001 | – |
| Samara University | 591 | 1001 | – |
| Lobachevsky University | 601 | 1001 | – |
| Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University "LETI" | 701 | 1001 | – |
| Plekhanov Russian University of Economics | 751 | – | – |
| South Ural State University | 801 | 1001 | – |
| Novosibirsk State Technical University | 801 | 1001 | – |
| Perm State University | 801 | 1001 | – |
| Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) | 801 | 1001 | – |
| Ufa State Aviation Technical University | – | 1001 | – |
| Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics | – | 1001 | – |
| Siberian Federal University | – | 1001 | – |
| Sechenov University | – | 1001 | – |
| Samara State Technical University | – | 1001 | – |
| Saint-Petersburg Mining University | – | 401 | – |
| Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University | – | 1001 | – |
| Perm National Research Polytechnic University | – | 1001 | – |
| Omsk State Technical University | – | 1001 | – |
| North-Eastern Federal University | – | 1001 | – |
| National Research University of Electronic Technology (MIET) | – | 1001 | – |
| Moscow Technological University | – | 1001 | – |
| Moscow Power Engineering Institute | – | 1001 | – |
| Moscow Aviation Institute | – | 1001 | – |
| Kazan National Research Technological University | – | 1001 | – |
| Kazan National Research Technical University | – | 1001 | – |
| Irkutsk State University | – | 1001 | – |
| Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University | – | 1001 | – |
| Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas | – | 1001 | – |
| Voronezh State University | – | 1001 | – |
| Volgograd State Technical University | – | 801 | – |
| Belgorod State National Research University | – | 1001 | – |
| Bashkir State University | – | 1001 | – |
The QS World University Rankings are among the most important, most-referenced rankings. The QS ranking relies heavily on its academic survey, asking thousands of academics worldwide about the reputation of universities.
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings (or the THE Rankings for short) compile a wide range of statistics. Equal weight is put on teaching quality, research excellence, and research impact through citations (meaning how often a university’s research is referenced elsewhere).
The Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University (often just Shanghai Ranking, or ARWU) focuses on research output and quality, for example measured by the number of published and cited scientific papers and the number of staff or alumni winning the Nobel Prize or Fields Medal.
Plenty of exciting study options await international students in the largest country on earth: Russia offers high-quality education at world-renowned institutions, and is rapidly internationalising its university sector. Dozens of Russian universities offer a variety of study programmes in English.
Read more about studying in Russia
