HSE Outranks Russian Universities in 10 QS Subject Rankings

HSE University has made the 2020 QS World University Rankings by Subject in 23 broad and specific subject areas, which is four more than last year. HSE now ranks in 19 of the 38 subject rankings in which Russian universities are represented; as well as in four out of five broad subject areas. HSE has entered the list of the world’s top 100 universities in five subjects, including History and Social Policy & Administration, where it has ranked for the first time.

1st

place among Russian universities in terms of subject ranking improvements

2nd

place among Russian universities in number of subject rankings

1st

place in 10 subjects among Russian universities

in 5

subjects HSE ranks among the world’s top 100 universities

4/5

HSE ranks in 4 of the 5 broad subject areas

1st place among Russian universities in terms of subject ranking improvements

HSE University has improved its standing in seven subjects and three broad subject areas, and it has entered three additional subject rankings for the first time. These additional rankings include Social Policy & Administration (where it immediately ranked in the top 100), Art & Design, and Statistics & Operational Research (where it ranked in the 151 -200 group).

2nd place among Russian universities in number of subject rankings

The three highest represented Russian universities in the subject rankings have not changed from last year. Moscow State University makes 30 subject lists, HSE University makes 19, and St. Petersburg State University makes 16. 80% of the top 15 Russian universities placing in the QS subject rankings are participating institutions of the Russian Academic Excellence Project 5-100.

1st place in 10 subjects among Russian universities

HSE University now outranks all Russian universities in 10 subjects: Art & Design, History, Psychology, Accounting & Finance, Business & Management, Economics & Econometrics, Education, Sociology, Social Policy & Administration, and Politics & International Relations. HSE is also the only Russian university to be represented in the Social Policy & Administration and Art & Design rankings.

In 5 subjects, HSE ranks among the world’s top 100 universities

This year, HSE added two additional subjects to its list of top 100 world-ranked subject offerings, thereby bringing it to a total of five: History; Politics & International Relations; Economics & Econometrics; Sociology; and Social Policy & Administration. HSE also ranks in the top 100 in the broad subject area of Social Sciences & Management, where it rose to 59^th place. HSE’s highest ranking – 48^th – is in Politics & International Relations. As we can see, these subjects all fall within the core academic disciplines the university has offered since its founding.

HSE ranks in 4 of the 5 broad subject areas

The QS rankings include five broad subject areas. This year, HSE University increased its presence in the lists by ranking in the Natural Sciences category. This new placement is significant given that HSE’s faculties in this field were launched only recently. For example, the Faculty of Geography was created in 2019, while the Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology and the Faculty of Chemistry were created in 2018. So far, HSE’s position in the Natural Science category is largely due to its ranking in the Mathematics subject ranking, where it places in the top 150.

36 Russian universities are included in the 2020 QS Subject Rankings, with 15 of them being participants of the Russian Academic Excellence Project 5-100. Eleven Russian universities rank among the world’s top 100 universities in various subjects, and five of these are participating universities of Project 5-100. Together, Russian universities hold a total of 190 places in the subject rankings, with 60% of them being occupied by Project 5-100 universities.

‘Certainly, one of the success factors in these rankings is a significant improvement in the global reputation of Russian universities, primarily due to the Russian Academic Excellence Project, which aims to promote the competitiveness of Russian universities,’ says Irina Karelina, Senior Director for Strategic Planning at HSE University.

The QS World University Rankings by Subject are based upon four indicators: academic reputation, reputation amongst employers, publication citations, and the H-index, which is based on the number of articles per researcher and the quantity of citations in other publications they receive.

Tatiana Rivchun, Deputy Dean, Faculty of Communications, Media, and Design

When HSE opened its track in Art and Design in 2012, it was a single undergraduate programme with 130 students. At that time, our goal was to place in the top 200 programmes by 2020. A lot has changed since then. Now, in the Art and Design School, we offer three bachelor’s programmes, six master’s programmes, a doctoral programme, and continuing education programmes. We have more than 2,500 students enrolled in our programmes. Every year, we hold an international conference and host prominent artists and designers from all over the world who give lectures and lead workshops. Our students not only participate in international competitions, but often win. In addition, we are proud to provide our faculty and students a creative atmosphere: we opened our Gallery of Modern Art, and we are currently sending two student groups to the Prague School of Cinema. And this is only the beginning. Within the next decade, we hope to place amongst the top universities in art and design worldwide.

Leonid Gokhberg, First Vice Rector, Director, Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge

HSE’s top 200 ranking in statistics is quite logical, I think. HSE is Russia’s largest educational and research centre in this area, and we have been widely recognized in the international community. We not only offer high-quality educational programmes that attract international students, but many of our experts participate in international studies and the development of statistical standards at world renowned organizations (in areas including statistics of science, innovation, digital economy, education, employment, demography, and market research). Additional big contributors to HSE’s reputation have been our international conferences held here on campus, our regular publication of statistical collections, and our training programmes for statistical services in various countries.

Andrey Klimenko, Academic Supervisor, Institute for Public Administration and Governance

Over the past year, we have launched two new master's programmes as well as Russia’s first doctoral programme in public administration and governance. Our research journal, Public Administration Issues, now publishes issues in English, and our foreign colleagues actively publish their research with us.

Alexander Kamenskii, Head of School of History

HSE has come to be home to a unique team of historians recognized by the international academic community. Their many books and articles are well known and widely cited by our foreign colleagues. Thanks to our research centres and laboratories, HSE is known to historians around the world for its conferences and research projects, as well as the lectures and lecture courses that our faculty members present all over the world.

Andrei Melville, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences

The Faculty of Social Sciences has made significant progress and is a leader in all QS 2020 indicators. We now rank 48^th in the world in Politics and International Relations and continue to rank 1^st in this area amongst universities in Russia for the second year in a row. In Sociology, we continue to rank amongst the world’s top 50, and we have been Russia’s leading university in this area for 3 years now. And this year, we have had a pleasant surprise: for the first time, we placed among the top 50 universities worldwide in Social Policy and Administration. In this subject, too, we are now the number 1 Russian university. What can attribute this progress to? I think we can attribute it to a lot of things: our publication citations, our professional reputation, our international laboratories and projects, our active participation in international professional associations, our new degree awarding system, and much more.