Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 26 December (BelTA) - The international prestige of Belarusian State University (BSU) increases from year to year, BSU Rector Academician Sergei Ablameiko told BelTA when commenting on the Ranking of Universities in CIS Countries, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia 2013 where BSU is ranked second among 450 universities from 15 countries.

“The ranking methodology considers education, research and international activity. It is very difficult to estimate the quality of education. The research can be measured. After all we can count articles published in scientific journals. Education cannot be measured quantitatively. Education was analyzed based on reputation appraisals from a panel of international academic experts, a panel of international employers and recruiters. In terms of the quality of education BSU goes third behind only Lomonosov Moscow State University and St. Petersburg State University, and this shows that the international prestige of Belarusian State University grows every year,” said Sergei Ablameiko.

In the research category BSU is second only to Lomonosov Moscow State University. According to employers, the BSU is fourth after Moscow State University, Bauman Moscow State Technical University and Kazan Federal University.

"At the international level, the Belarusian State University is doing very well. From year to year the number of foreign students in our university increases. Now the university has 2,630 foreign students. A total of 1,119 foreign nationals have been enrolled in the university this year. This is a 25.4% increase from last year and is the highest result in the history of the university,” said the Rector.

In addition, BSU signed about 330 cooperation agreements with universities from other countries. About 1,000 students travel to other countries every year as part of student exchange programs. The university’s export of educational and scientific services has been increasing too. In 2013, it totaled about $9.5 million. In 2012, it was $7.5 million.

Moscow Lomonosov State University topped the ranking, with St. Petersburg State University going third. The top five also included Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv and Vilnius University. Twenty one universities of Belarus have been rated. Belarusian State Technological University was ranked 24th, while Belarusian National Technical University took the 32nd position. According to the country’s representation in the ranking, Belarus ranked third behind Russia and Ukraine.

The university ranking of the CIS, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia uses the key methodological approaches of QS World University Rankings, which has compiled its rankings for the last 10 years.