University of Tartu is one of the best in emerging Europe and Central Asia

In the newly published ranking list of universities from emerging Europe and Central Asia, the University of Tartu has reached the second place, which is also the highest among Estonian universities. The ranking list has been compiled by the international consultation firm Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).

QS has been ranking the best universities from emerging Europe and Central Asia since 2014. Lomonosov Moscow State University has been the first from the start. The University of Tartu has been among the top universities in all years, but this year’s second place is the highest so far.

“For the university, rising in international rankings has never been a goal in itself, but a side effect of working towards our substantial goals,” said Vice Rector for Development of the University of Tartu Erik Puura. “The new strategic plan of the University of Tartu, for instance, includes some objectives that may improve the position of the university but also some that do not contribute to that in any way. But I must admit that such ratings are nice to read. They demonstrate that the high level of the University of Tartu stands out internationally,” Puura added.

Saint Petersburg State University took the third place. Other Estonian universities in the ranking are Tallinn University of Technology (dropped to the 31st place compared to last year’s 22nd) and Tallinn University that has retained its 71st place among the 400 universities listed.

The ranking list includes universities from 30 countries. Apart from Estonia and Russia, only universities from Czechia and Poland made it to the top ten. The second among Baltic universities was Vilnius University with its 20th place.

When ranking the universities, QS considers ten indicators: academic reputation (30%) and employer reputation (20%), faculty-student ratio (10%), papers per faculty (10%), citations per paper (5%), international faculty and international students (2.5% each), academic staff with a PhD (5%), web impact (5%) and international research network (10%).

The QS EECA University Rankings 2021 are available on the QS website. In the QS World University Rankings published in June, the University of Tartu holds its highest position ever, the 285th.

Further information: Lauri Randveer, Senior Specialist for International Cooperation, University of Tartu, 512 9996, lauri.randveer@ut.ee