Abstract:

Since the beginning of the 21 ^st century, Russia has embarked on an accelerated mode of advancing towards the goal of world first-class universities. Based on the ranking results of the QS, THE, and ARWU World University and Subject Rankings in the past five years, it can be found that the overall ranking of Russian universities has moved forward, and the traditional superior subjects continue to be maintained. But there are also some problems, such as uneven performance in different rankings and poor performance in many emerging frontier disciplines. This is related to the real dilemma that Russia faces when striving for world first-class universities: First, the international education market dominated by Western academic discourse is not compatible with the traditional Russian academic system; Second, the Russian economic strength is extremely weak and it is difficult to provide sufficient and effective financial support; Finally, while the world university rankings place special emphasis on scientific research indicators, Russian universities have weak scientific research traditions and poor overall strength. Therefore, there is a long way for Russian universities to enter the ranks of world first-class universities in form or essence and form large-scale influence.

Key words: Russian universities, world first-class universities, world university rankings