HSE Enters Top 50 in QS Emerging Europe & Central Asia 2016 Ranking
HSE increased its overall score this year from 73.9 in 2015 to 74.9, allowing it to take 35th place in the ranking.
This year’s ranking took a considerable portion of data from last year’s ranking without making any changes, including bibliometric data (2010-2014) and reputation (2011-2015). The updated data include the faculty/student ratio, the share of international students and faculty, and the share of faculty staff members who hold a PhD. HSE has become increasingly more internationalized in comparison with the previous year.
The method of counting publications has also changed in the ranking. Last year’s method did not take into account publications that were the result of a broad collaboration (i.e., co-authored by more than 10 institutions), which primarily affects researchers in physics. In 2016, it excluded 0.1% of publications with the greatest number of co-authoring institutions in each subject. This means that universities in the humanities, social and economic sciences are now more negatively affected. For example, in finance and political science the rating did not take into account publications co-authored by more than six institutions, and in economics, business, philosophy, linguistics, and statistics – by more than seven institutions. As a result, the change in method negatively affected the record of HSE’s bibliometric data.
The Emerging Europe & Central Asia ranking takes into account local higher education systems and serves as a reference point for students, researchers and local government agencies interested in international mobility. In comparison with last year, the 2016/17 ranking includes a much longer list of universities that have not been part of it before (primarily Turkish universities).
Russia is represented by 64 universities in the ranking, which is the highest number among all the participating countries. This year, the number of Russian universities grew in comparison with previous years: in 2014 there were 26, and in 2015 – 48 universities from Russia.