Lomonosov Moscow State University took the 116th place in a rating of Quacquarelli Symonds (QS World University Rankings) of the best universities of the world, having lost four positions in a year. Moscow State University follows University of Lausanne and is before University of Maryland in the list of this year. In the rating of QS of 2010 Moscow State University took the 93rd place, in 2009 — the 101st. St. Petersburg State University in QS rating of 2012 takes the 253rd place. Last year St.Petersburg State University occupied the 251st line.
There are 700 educational institutions in the list of this year.
The rating of the best universities of the world according to the QS version for the first time headed Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is followed by the leader of last years — Cambridge and Harvard.
Earlier the Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Dmitry Livanov declared that we need about 15 years to restore international competitiveness of the Russian higher education institutions and to occupy leading positions in world ratings. According to him, they need about a year to make key decisions.
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From editorial board: In fact some "key decisions" have been already made and they directly affected rating of Moscow State University and others. Independent status of the university and selectivity of its rector remained during more than two centuries since 1804. On November, 11, 2009 the president Medvedev signed the law regulating activity of two leaders of higher educational institutions of Russia — Moscow State University and St.Petersburg State University. According to the law, the rector of Moscow State University is appointed by the president of the Russian Federation. The president received powers to renominate to a new term or to dismiss ahead of schedule the rector. Divisions which had status of legal entities (among them large faculties and institutes) were attached to Moscow State University.
Thus in 2012 Moscow State University failed to enter 100 leading universities of the world of the reputational rating of The Times Higher Education at all. Though in previous year Moscow State University took in that rating the 33rd place in the world.
In 2010 Moscow State University occupies only the 415th place in the international rating High Impact Universities on index of successful research activities.
Universities of Russia lag behind not only educational institutions of Europe and the USA, but also behind higher educational institutions of Brazil, Turkey, a number of the countries of Asia and Israel.
The government plans to deprive about 20 percent of the Russian higher educational institutions of the status of higher educational institutions that, of course, in the most "salutary" way will affect the state of things in other 80 percent. After all chairs and laboratories will cease their work, total number of scientific works will be reduced.
Actually, serious falling of ratings of the Russian higher educational institutions started after the ruin of the USSR and destruction of the Soviet system of the higher education. Now, probably, we observe already the second phase - destructions of the Russian system as it is. Earlier students from China, Turkey, India, Poland, Hungary and other less developed countries studied in Russia. Now we need to go to them to receive good education.
Anatoly Baranov, editor-in-chief of FORUM.msk
