The British company QS Quacquarelli Symonds has released the seventeenth edition of the QS World University Rankings - the world's most popular source of comparative information on the quality of education in popular universities in the world.
When compiling the rating, the following criteria are used:
- How high is the academic reputation of this or that university?
- What is the reputation of the university among employers.
- Is the citation index high (here scientific publications are taken into account).
- The ratio of learners and educators.
- Are there many students from other countries at the university?
- Number of international employees.
We will tell you about the top ten winners, as well as which of the Russian universities became the best in the top universities in 2020.
10. University College London
From the day of its foundation (February 11, 1826) and the first in England, University College London began to accept people, regardless of their social status and religious views, which differed from its main competitors - Cambridge and Oxford. Today, UCL has 18,000 students from the UK and 150 countries.
The university offers over 675 postgraduate, research, and teaching programs. On account of its graduates and professors there are 29 Nobel Prizes, of which more than half are for discoveries in the field of medicine.
Interesting fact: at UCL's main building, a glass box houses the mummy of the university's spiritual, if not practical, founder, Jeremiah Bentham. The philosopher himself bequeathed his body to the temple of science and left orders for its storage. On solemn occasions, he even attends meetings of the Academic Council, in this case they write in the minutes: "Mr. Bentham was present, but did not vote."
9. University of Chicago
One of the Top Overseas Universities of 2020 has a distinguished reputation for its professional schools, including the Pritzker School of Medicine, Booth School of Business and Harris School of Public Policy Research.
Today, about 16 thousand students study at the University of Chicago, a quarter of whom are foreigners.
Interesting fact: there is a sculpture by Henry Miller called Nuclear Energy on campus. It was created to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the world's first controlled nuclear chain reaction. This work eventually led to the creation of the atomic bomb.
8. Imperial College London
The four pillars of this university are science, business, medicine and engineering. Teaching in it is closely related to research, which puts students in the face of real problems with no simple answers.
And the focus on the practical application of research - especially in solving global problems - and a high level of interdisciplinary cooperation make education at ICL extremely effective.
Interesting fact: the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London has the largest collection of human brains in the world - 296 organs. They serve as material for the study of Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis. All of them were donated voluntarily.
7. University of Cambridge
A huge library containing over 15 million books, a commitment to extracurricular activities and sports (and 80 sports are engaged here) have provided Cambridge not only with fame as a temple of science, but also a place for all-round personal development.
By almost all criteria, except for the citation index (69.2 points) and the number of foreign students (97.4), the university received 100-point marks.
Interesting fact: The University of Cambridge is not a single monolithic building, so the question of visitors about where, in fact, the university is, locals have not been surprised for a long time. This university consists of 31 autonomous colleges, which are distributed throughout the city.
6. Swiss Higher Technical School of Zurich
The successful combination of a cosmopolitan worldview with national roots made this institution one of the driving forces of industrialization in Switzerland: it brought the necessary knowledge to the country, trained technicians and helped create a revolutionary national infrastructure.
The modern ETHZ has 16 faculties that offer academic education and research in subjects ranging from engineering and construction sciences to chemistry and physics.
Interesting fact: from the walls of one of the oldest and most prestigious educational institutions in Europe, 2 Pritzker Prize winners, 21 Nobel laureates (including Albert Einstein) and 1 Turing Prize laureate came out.
5. Oxford University
Within the walls of the oldest university in the English-speaking world (founded in 1117), about 22 thousand students study, of which 40% are foreigners. And this is not surprising, because Oxford is a symbol of prestige and a kind of Mecca for golden youth from all over the world.
Here, the necessary acquaintances with representatives of the elite are made and comprehensive knowledge of politics, economics, philosophy and other popular disciplines is acquired.
Great attention in Oxford is paid not only to mental, but also to physical development. The most prestigious sport here is eights rowing. Tennis, squash, cricket and football are also popular.
Interesting fact: under the treaty of 1610, any book, magazine, or other publication published in Britain must be accompanied by a copy sent to the Oxford Library. Thanks to this, 4000-5000 new editions are added to the library every week.
4. California Institute of Technology
The specialization of this university, as its name implies, is exact sciences and engineering. Even the mascot was chosen appropriately - a beaver, because in the wild, beavers build dams and are such engineers by nature.
KTI also runs the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is part of NASA. It is within the walls of this laboratory that many of NASA's unmanned spacecraft are created.
Interesting fact: Albert Einstein was a visiting professor at the California Institute of Technology for three winter semesters - 1931, 1932, and 1933.
3. Harvard University
Ask people to name the best American university without hesitation, and most of them will probably think of Harvard first. Located near Boston, this institution is the oldest university in the United States and is consistently ranked as one of the best tertiary institutions in the world.
The cliché that going to Harvard University is an incredibly difficult process is actually quite true. Of all the people who go to Harvard every year, only 6% are students. Maybe they should try buying a lottery ticket while luck is on their side!
Interesting fact: Harvard officials have twice tried to ban football due to concerns that it is too violent and dangerous a sport. However, despite these efforts, pressure from alumni and students forced them to accept the sport. Harvard's first concrete football stadium was built in 1903.
2. Stanford University
The world's second best university for 2020 is located in the heart of Silicon Valley, with many graduates joining Google, Hewlett-Packard, and other leading tech corporations right after graduation. This makes it one of the best job placement universities.
Given Stanford's focus on fostering leadership in its students, it's no surprise that its alumni list includes 2 former Japanese prime ministers, former US President Herbert Hoover, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Crown Prince of Belgium, and President of the Maldives Mohammed Wahid Hassan.
Interesting fact: until 1930, all training at Stanford was free. Now the cost of training is about $ 50,000 per year.
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
According to QS Quacquarelli Symonds, the best university in 2020 is currently being trained by over 11 thousand students and graduate students (including from Russia), and about 1000 teachers help them to gnaw the granite of science.
MIT is renowned for its excellent scientific and technical background and research in many fields, including biology, medicine, physics, chemistry, robotics and other sciences. Its many laboratories and research centers include a nuclear research reactor, a computing center, geophysical and astrophysical observatories, a space research center, an artificial intelligence laboratory and an international research center.
In addition, since World War II, the institute has maintained close ties with military and corporate clients that fund military research. Currently, MIT is the world's largest research structure (among those that are not affiliated with commercial structures) in terms of the annual volume of orders for military research
Fun fact: the famous Tony Stark from "The Avengers" was a graduate of MIT, although he said that he graduated from the institute with honors, while there are no honors degrees in the institution.
Best Russian University in 2020 - Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU)
One of the oldest and, perhaps, the most prestigious higher educational institution in our country has become the best of the representatives of Russia in the list of QS World University Rankings 2021. About 47 thousand students study in it, and 4000 foreign students enroll annually.
Moscow State University is on the 74th line and this is the best result in the entire history of the rating, which has been conducted since 2004. According to the authors of the rating, such a good result was achieved due to the increased reputation of Moscow State University in the world academic community.
The best university in Russia received high marks from QS Quacquarelli Symonds experts in four out of six criteria at once.
- The academic reputation of Moscow State University received 77 points.
- Reputation with employers - 82 points.
- Foreign students - 76 points.
- The number of students at the faculties is 99 points.
Curious fact: The largest clock in Russia is installed on the main building of Moscow State University; the diameter of its dial is 9 meters, larger than that of the chimes on Red Square.