Support The Moscow Times!

Moscow State University Climbs 35 Places Up the Times Rankings List

Main building of Moscow State University

Moscow State University climbed 35 places to 161st on the Times Higher Education world university rankings list for 2015-16.

MSU shares 161st place with the University of Miami in the United States, according to the ranking of 800 universities around the globe released Wednesday by the London-based magazine.

Phil Baty, the rankings editor, said Russian officials had sought to increase Russian universities' presence in the top 200, when they met with him during a conference the British magazine held in Moscow at the end of last year, Forbes reported.

But MSU is the only Russian university that made the top 200. It has made a significant advance, however, from 196th place in the Times Higher Education previous list for 2013-14.

Simon Marginson, professor of international higher education at the UCL Institute of Education, attributed an overall decline of Russia's research university in global rankings to the country's increasingly closed policies.

"Research depends on the free movement of both ideas and people, and countries that adopt a more closed stance pay the price in the end," he was quoted by the ranking as saying. "This is a prime cause of the substantial long-term declines in the global position of research in both Japan and Russia."

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysiss and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more