Ural federal university: UrFU’s IT Expertise Improved University’s Position in QS Rankings by 100 Positions
Ural Federal University has grown by 100 positions in Computer Science and Information Systems in the new subject ranking of the international agency QS. Now the university is included in the 451-500 group. Such a leap is associated with the great work that the university is doing to study the IT sphere and attract talented schoolchildren and students to it.
“If we give an objective assessment of the reasons why we managed to move up 100 positions, then it should be noted that this is due, first of all, to the high level of reputation of UrFU graduates among employers in the field of information technology. In recent years, the Russian IT market has been developing rapidly, the growing demand for IT specialists leads to an increase in salaries, which attracts the most talented and motivated applicants to these areas. In turn, they support the alma mater after graduation, when they themselves become leading specialists and managers at enterprises and can vote in the rating of employers,” said Vasilii Borisov, associate professor of the Institute of Radioelectronics and Information Technologies – RTF.
On the other hand, Vasilii Borisov notes, the relatively low place is due to the fact that it is one of the most competitive subject rankings. The scientific and technological revolution taking place in the world is information and digital – and the direction of Computer Science and Information Systems is now a priority frontier of science for all universities in the world.
“There are also objective difficulties. For example, when assessing the citation rate of works, it is necessary to take into account that, according to the QS method, the Hirsch index is calculated for two sets of publications: publications related to one subject area (for which the rating is calculated), and multidisciplinary publications. When calculating the aggregated Hirsch index, the weight of publications from one subject area is twice as high as the weight of multidisciplinary publications. Many UrFU publications in the field of Computer Science and Information Systems are interdisciplinary in nature, which reduces the impact of this indicator, ” Borisov explained .
In the near future, it can be expected that, given the implementation of programs for digital transformation of the economy and development of the IT sector in Yekaterinburg, which will require more and more highly qualified graduates of UrFU, the growth of the university’s position in the Computer Science and Information Systems ranking should continue.
Ural Federal University is one of the leading universities in Russia that celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2020. UrFU is located in Yekaterinburg, the capital of the World Summer Student Games 2023. The University has initiated the establishment of the Ural Interregional Research and Education Center — ‘Advanced Industrial Technologies and Materials’ and is its project office designed for solving tasks of “Science” National Project.