Дата:Докладчик: PROJECT ON COMPETITIVENESS ENHANCEMENT OF LEADING RUSSIAN UNIVERSITIES AMONG GLOBAL RESEARCH AND EDUCATION CENTERS 02/12/2014 Mikhail Antonov Date: Speaker :

PROJECT AT A GLANCE 2 Brief outline: academic excellence initiative, targeted at the leading Russian universities to foster their transition to the world class level Initiator: Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation Organizer and funder: Government of the Russian Federation Responsible governmental agency: Ministry of Education and Research of the Russian Federation Timeline: launched in 2013, to be continued up to 2020 Project budget: RUB 44 billion (about USD 1.0 billion) by in addition to several billion dollars of matching university funding and other federal programs

WORLD-CLASS UNIVERSITIES According to the 2014 ranking of Times Higher Education, the TOP 200 international universities are located in the following countries USA -77, UK – 31, Netherlands -12, Germany -10, France – 8, Australia, Canada and Switzerland – 7 each, Belgium, Sweden and Japan – 5 each, South Korea-4, Hong Kong and Denmark – 3 each, Israel, Ireland, China and Singapore – 2 each, and 8 countries with 1 each. Russian universities are outside the TOP 200 A world-class university is a scientific and educational institution whose superiority in the sphere of research and quality of educational services has been recognized A world-class university is seen as a national asset which provides its country with long-term competitive advantages in various spheres A group of universities which are among the top 100 universities according to the most reputable international ratings are usually considered to be world-class universities 3

4 OBSTACLES PREVENTING RUSSIAN UNIVERSITIES FROM GAINING A STRONG GLOBAL POSITION 1. Weak global academic reputation 2. Weak internationalization 3. Ineffective management system 4. Poor infrastructure AR – Academic reputation ER – Reputation among employers FS – Faculty-student ratio CF – Number of citations per faculty member IF – Number of international faculty members IS – Number of international students

PROJECT CONCEPT 5 Aim of the Project: competitiveness enhancement of Russian universities among the global leading research and education centers by a deep transformation of these universities according to the best international models and practices. This transformation is targeted at three key objectives. Changing the whole university environment, upgrading it to the world class level Reforming the university research Making Project universities much more attractive for the international recruitment of talented faculty and students, well known abroad.

6 PROJECT REGULATORY BASE Presidential Decree #599 dated Determines the goals of the project and its performance indicators Government Executive Order # 2006-r dated Specifies an action plan for implementation of the Presidential Decree Government Executive Order # 211 dated Specifies the measures and the procedure of government support and aid for the leading universities, establishes the system of project management Government support/aid is granted to a limited number of universities with potential of getting into global ratings of research universities on a competitive basis The development of each university-winner of the competition – is a separate project with its own Action Plan (“roadmap”) A Council on competitiveness enhancement has been set up to make reasoned decisions about the project

7 PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION SCHEME Competitive selection Monitoring of the results of the project and analysis of changes within the universities Decision to continue providing financial support to the participant Completed in 2013: 15 universities were selected from 36 candidates Implementation of the “roadmaps” Based on 2015 results the Council will decide which universities will continue with financial support

PROJECT COUNCIL 7

PROJECT UNIVERSITIES: SELECTION CRITERIA 9 The Project participants were selected by the all- national competition of 2013 for the combination of the following factors (a) the current strong background as the best Russian university in some particular fields, and (b) the perspective to become one of the best global universities in these fields by 2020

PROJECT UNIVERSITIES: GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 10 The Project participants include 4 universities of Moscow, 3 universities of Saint Petersburg, and 8 universities located in the other cities of many regions:

11 KEY LINES OF THE PROJECT Building research potential, production of world-class intellectual products Bringing the content and quality of educational programs up to the best international standards, integration of education, entrepreneurship and innovation, increasing the export of educational services Making a switch to international management practices, optimization of university structure, development of a long-term system of financing Internationalization of all spheres of activity, development of the infrastructure in order to bring in the best scientists, researchers, teachers, managers and students Active promotion of the Russian system of higher education in key markets, strengthening the position and the reputation in global communities, including ratings and rankings Development of brands and outstanding academic reputations of the leading universities by introducing breakthrough research and bringing in “celebrities”

12 CONTACTS: MIKHAIL ANTONOV Director of Project Office