The Three University Missions Ranking

Last updated
The Three University Missions Ranking
EditorDmitry Grishankov
Categories Higher education
FrequencyAnnual
PublisherAssociation of Rating Makers
First issue2017
Country Russia
Language English, Russian
Website www.mosiur.org

The Three University Missions Moscow International University Ranking (MosIUR, also referred to as the Moscow Ranking) is a global ranking of academic universities developed by the Russian Association of Rating Makers, with the participation of the international association IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence. The ranking evaluates the quality of education and scientific work, and for the very first time in international practice, a university's contribution to society, as well — a criterion, rarely assessed by other academic rankings. Another unique feature of the ranking is the consideration of the “Number of alumni with an individual article about them on Wikipedia”.

Contents

The ranking is published annually since 2017. [1]

History

Plans were first announced in 2016 in Russia for the development of a new international ranking that would evaluate not only the quality of education and research, but also the level of international cooperation as well as the contribution to sustainable development and distance learning. [2] The non-profit Association of Rating Makers, established by RAEX International Group and leading Russian rating agencies and ranking compilers, acts as the ranking’s operator. [3]

The pilot version of the ranking was published in December 2017. [4] It included 200 universities from 39 countries. [5]

The second issue of the ranking, published in November 2018, included 333 universities from 53 countries. The 2019 table included more than 1200 universities; in 2020, the number has risen to 1500 universities from 97 countries and territories. [6] In 2021, there were 1,650 higher education institutions represented in the ranking. [7] In 2022 the list has been expanded up to 1,800 universities and in 2023 - up to 2000.

In 2022, the latest ranking issue served as a basis for the creation of the “Three University Missions” Ecosystem, which incorporates following ranking projects: MosIUR (global ranking of academic universities), RAEX-100 [8] (top 100 Russian universities), Subject Rankings of Russian universities (in 35 subject areas), [9] Local Rankings (universities from each of the 8 Russian Federal Districts) [10] and Special Rankings (devoted to specific aspects of universities activities, such as influence, [11] media activity etc).

In November 2022, the decision has been made to establish a joint Working Group on the development and implementation of the “Three University Missions” Ecosystem between Russian Union of Rectors (RUR) and Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). It is planned for the Russian Academy of Education (RAE) to join the Working Group later on, as well.

Methodology

Methodology development

The ranking methodology was developed in collaboration with more than 100 organizations: universities, councils of rectors, rating agencies and expert associations, notably the IREG Observatory on Academic Rankings and Excellence and the Russian Union of Rectors. [12] The Expert Council of the ranking comprises experts in the field of higher education from 25 countries, such as the Belgium, Brazil, China, India, Iran, Italy, Poland, South Africa, Turkey, USA, UK, and Russia. [13]

Indicators

According to the current version of the methodology (2023), the ranking uses 16 indicators divided into three groups: Education, Research, and University & Society. The total weight of indicators per group is 45% (Education), 25% (Research) and 30% (University & Society).

"Education" group indicators

1.       Number of student wins in international student contests.

2.       Percentage of international students.

3.       University budget to student ratio.

4.       Student to academic staff ratio.

"Research" group indicators

5.       IREG List awards won by university academic staff and alumni

6.       Average normalised citation impact (global level)

7.       Average normalised citation impact (national level)

8. Research income per academic staff member

"University and Society" group indicators

9.       Number of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

10.       Share of the university in total national publications

11.       Total pages of a university's website indexed by the leading search engines

12.       Views of the university's page on Wikipedia

13.       University's followers in social media

14.       Number of alumni with an individual article about them on Wikipedia

15.       University website reach

16.       Transparency

International audit

In May 2018, the ranking received a report on its audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). [14] The “Three University Missions” ranking thus became the second global academic ranking, after Times Higher Education (THE), that has passed this procedure. [15]

Rankings

The 2017 pilot ranking comprised 200 universities from 39 countries, including 13 Russian universities. The most widely represented nations in the ranking were universities in the United States, the UK, and China, with 41, 18, and 14 universities in the top 200, respectively. [16]

The 2018 ranking represented 333 universities from 53 countries, including 17 Russian universities. In the top 333 of the ranking’s second issue were 61 universities from the USA, followed by 29 British and 25 German universities. [17]

The 2019 ranking table featured 1,200 universities from 79 countries. [18]

The fourth issue (2020) listed 1,500 higher education institutions from 97 countries. The US, China and Russia were the most represented countries with 200, 122, and 101 institutions in the ranking, respectively. [19]

The fifth issue included 1,650 higher education institutions from 97 countries and territories. [20]

The sixth edition of MosIUR (2022) included a record high of 1,800 universities from 103 countries. [21] Russia was represented by 146 universities. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Saint-Petersburg State University and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology were among 50 world best universities.

In 2023 the Three University Missions Ranking included 2000 universities from 112 countries. Russia along with the USA and China preserved its top-3 leadership in representation status. Meanwhile in 2023, for the first time in this ranking history, Asia surpassed Europe in number of participants in the list of world best universities. [22]

Moscow International universities'rating «The Three University Missions», 2025 - Top-20 [23]
RankNameCountry
1Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUSA
2Harvard UniversityUSA
3University of OxfordGreat Britain
4University of CambridgeGreat Britain
5Stanford UniversityUSA
6University College LondonGreat Britain
7Imperial College LondonGreat Britain
8Columbia UniversityUSA
9ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ZurichSwitzerland
10University of TokyoJapan
11Johns Hopkins UniversityUSA
12Duke UniversityUSA
13University of EdinburghGreat Britain
14University of ChicagoUSA
15New York UniversityUSA
16Yale UniversityUSA
17Lomonosov Moscow State UniversityRussia
18University of PennsylvaniaUSA
19École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)Switzerland
20University of MichiganUSA
Leading Russian universities in Moscow International universities'rating «The Three University Missions», 2025
Rank (Country list)NameRank (Global list)
1Lomonosov Moscow State University17
2Saint Petersburg State University47
3Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology59
4National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE)137
5National Research Nuclear University MEPhI174
6Novosibirsk State University238
7Tomsk State University269
8RUDN University284
9Bauman Moscow State Technical University290
10-12Moscow State Institute of International Relations301-350
10-12MISIS University301-350
10-12Ural Federal University301-350
13-15Sechenov University351-400
13-15Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)351-400
13-15ITMO University351-400
16-17Tomsk Polytechnic University401-450
16-17Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University401-450
18-19Pavlov First St. Petersburg State Medical University451-500
18-19Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University451-500
20-21Kazan Federal University501-550
20-21Innopolis University501-550
22-23Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University)651-700
22-23Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation651-700

Reaction

The ranking attracted the interest of a number of representatives of the rating community and researchers, who particularly noted the innovativeness of the ranking in terms of its assessment of the “third mission” (interaction between university and society).

According to the president of the Perspektywy education foundation, Waldemar Siwinski, the ranking "goes beyond traditional ranking criteria, adding some new, more socially oriented elements". [24]

In an interview with the Brazilian publication Folha de S. Paulo, the president of the international association IREG Observatory on Academic Rankings and Excellence, Luiz Claudio Costa, noted that “the new Moscow International University Ranking represents the second generation of academic rankings and <...> poses correct and important questions by its search for indicators to evaluate the quality of teaching and the interaction of the university with society”. [25]

The president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA, USA), Judith Eaton, called the release of the ranking timely, in view of the growing recognition that the social role of a university is one of its key functions. She views the ranking as an attempt to move away from the elitist approach of evaluating universities, instead paying special attention to the social responsibility of higher education. [26]

An expert on academic rankings from the University of Groningen (The Netherlands), Jules van Rooij, criticized the ranking, noting that, despite a number of "good ideas," "[the compilers] of the ranking measure only what they want to measure" and "quality can't be assessed with simple linear lists". [27]

Jack Grove, columnist for World University Rankings, was also skeptical about the ranking, noting that the exceptional achievements of Russian universities in the ranking had Russian roots. [28]

The ranking was discussed in a number of academic studies [29] [30] [31] [32] along with the leading global university rankings – Times Higher Education, QS, ARWU, etc. An article by Ivančević & Luković (2018) points out that the Moscow International University Ranking is the only global academic ranking considered in their study that covers all “performance dimensions.” Zadorozhnyuk et al. (2018) noted the innovative use of the “University and Society” group criteria in the ranking. The ideas of the rating are displayed in some researchers' works. [33] In addition to “The Three University Missions” ranking, the assessment of the university's contribution to society is also used by the Washington Monthly College Rankings and THE Impact Rankings. [34]

References

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  3. "Ассоциация составителей рейтингов :: Проекты ассоциации".
  4. "Moscow International Ranking "The Three University Missions" released - IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence". www.ireg-observatory.org. December 11, 2017.
  5. "First Moscow International University Ranking The Three University Missions Released – Moscow International University Ranking News". December 11, 2017.
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