How to strengthen position in international rankings of universities? Do Russian universities need to participate in it? Why does Russia need its national ranking? Rector of the National Research Nuclear University “MEPhI” Mikhail Strikhanov answers these and many other questions.
A publisher of a global ranking THE World University Rankings, devoted to prospects of Russian universities, has held a master class in Moscow. According to its results MEPhI rector Mikhail Strikhanov told a correspondent of RIA Novosti Yulia Osipova how MEPhI is going to strengthen its position in this ranking.
– Why do Russian universities need to participate in international rankings, in particular in the rating Times Higher Education?
– Any international ranking is an external judgement of the University, a benchmarking or a marketing intelligence. Every developing and successful University is always interested in such an assessment. We think that in context of all pros and cons ranking results need to be carefully analyzed and considered. And international rankings are not the only, but a very important and demonstrative method of accounting activities of a University. Ratings adjust Russian education to recognized international standards, rigidly discipline team of a University, and set a frame that University should fit.
– How do you assess the quality of information collection for this study?
– It is always a controversial issue. Ratings are based on opinion of an expert community. Typically, this is a very significant and authoritative sample. It certainly needs to be taken into account. However, expert opinions are not always objective, especially since most experts are not Russian specialists.
– Which of the five groups (“teaching”, “internationalization”, “income from industry”, “research”, “citation”) do you consider as the main forte of your University? And where are the main gaps?
– Our University has succeeded in citation. I attribute it to the area which we are professionally engaged in. I am talking about high energy physics and nuclear technology. Our nuclear physicists are cited all over the world.
The main problem of Russian universities is low visibility – they are poorly recognized in the international arena. A University must be of a good reputation in order that a foreign student or professor comes to Russia.
However, until recently the strongest Russian universities with a good reputation have not carried out a professional and active campaign to broadcast their brands abroad. Now in the context of a Programm of international competitiveness increase of Russian universities, known as the “Program 5-100”, we understand that we need to take an active role in it. And we certainly are going to do it. It has already had some funds for it. Russia's leading universities will receive state support in the amount of 10.5 billion rubles in order to increase their competitiveness among the world's leading research and educational centers. And it is prestigious international rankings – QS, Times Higher Education, etc., which will assess success of this project.
– Do you already have some recipes to improve your positions in these rankings? What are success factors of Russian universities?
– A success factor of all successful Russian universities is about the same. Firstly a good history and traditions – we originally have a strong basis. Secondly we’ve started professionally understand mechanisms of ranking.
We try to combine all the parameters in such a way as to gain maximum overall value. There are plenty of nuances. For example, if we reduce the number of teachers, it seems to win funding, but at the same time we lose in the rating, as any study has an indicator showing how many students there are per teacher. As soon as we expand the number of students or teachers the proportion of ancillary staff immediately grows.
We try to consider all the values that empirically determine the size of service structures by the size of the University. We have ambitious plans. We are changing the infrastructure, revising the system of people motivation, conducting quite a rigid personnel policy. We want to make a structure and management of the University similar to a business structure, like in the State Corporation “Rosatom”, but taking into account a characteristic of education as a rather conservative process.
– What do you think if Russia needs its own national University rankings?
– We support an idea of creating its own national ranking; however, we recognize that this is a very difficult task. It’s difficult, but practicable.
Indeed, it’s of concern that international rankings don’t adequately assess Russian universities for whatever reasons. Of course, we should participate in the international rankings, but we should not unconditionally trust and blindly faith in a position, which a particular University occupies. We have no reason to suspect that we will be placed in a biased way within the ratings – international experts simply don’t have such interest. But if to take Russian universities in general, there is a risk that they will be in underrated positions.
Original interview: RIA Novosti (in Russian)
