Eighteen Russian universities made the list of the best 800 educational institutions in the world this year, according to the 10th annual World University Rankings compiled by QS Quacquarelli Symonds.
Moscow State University remained in the top 200 despite moving back four spots compared with last year, from 116 to 120.
By contrast, St. Petersburg State University, 240th, the Moscow Bauman State Technical University, 334th, and the Novosibirsk State University, 352nd, improved their rankings, moving up by more than a dozen positions.
Four institutions were included in the QS rankings for the first time this year: Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University, Southern Federal University in the Rostov Oblast, and Voronezh State University.
The top 10 places in the list of the best world universities are traditionally held by six American and four British universities, with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology dominating the rankings.
The British-based QS Quacquarelli Symonds has established itself as the leading global provider of specialist higher education and career information and solutions. Its activities span across 50 countries, working with more than 2,000 of the world's leading higher education institutions and more than 12,000 employers.
The QS World University Rankings have been compiled every year since 2004 and currently include 800 universities. The drafters of the list evaluate schools on six criteria: reputation in the academic world, cited publications of the university, the ratio of teachers to students, the ratio of graduates to employers, and the relative number of foreign teachers and students.
