HSE Enters ARWU Ranking for the First Time

The Higher School of Economics has entered the Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) for the first time. The ranking is known for its strict selection criteria. This year, 12 Russian universities, including 10 participants of Project 5-100, entered the ranking. Until 2016, only 2 representatives of Russia were included- MSU and St. Petersburg State University.

HSE occupies position 901-1000 and is the only young Russian university to have made the ranking.

‘Entering the ARWU is a great success for such a young university. HSE is only 25 years old, and until recently, specialized in the social sciences and economics. According to the number of publications in the top 10% of highly cited journals, HSE ranks first among the participants in Project 5-100 in the social sciences and humanities, as well as in mathematics, despite the fact that mathematics has only been offered at HSE for the last 10 years. This is what enabled such a young and ambitious university to enter this prestigious world ranking. HSE is also in the top 100 in sociology and mathematics in the Shanghai Ranking and is the leader among Russian universities in economics, political sciences and management’, explained Irina Karelina, Director of Strategic Planning at the Higher School of Economics.

The ARWU has been compiled since 2003. In 2018, it expanded to include 1000 universities. The most frequently ranked universities are those in China and the USA. In the top 500 of the Shanghai Ranking there are about 1.5 times fewer young universities (founded no more than 50 years ago) than in the top 500 of the QS Ranking.

ARWU evaluates higher education institutions according to parameters such as the number of publications in Nature and Science and in the top 10% of the best Web of Science journals. It also takes into account the number of Nobel Prize laureates and winners of the Fields Medal among university employees and graduates, as well as the number of frequently cited scientists.