Methodology
Moscow International University Ranking "The Three University Missions"
About
The first draft of the Moscow International University Ranking “The Three University Missions” (MosIUR) methodology was developed following a large-scale public discussion with over 100 collective contributors, such as universities, rector councils, expert associations, and rating agencies. The list of ranking criteria was submitted for consideration to the ranking’s International Expert Council, comprised of 25 renowned higher education experts from Belgium, Brazil, China, India, Iran, Italy, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, and the USA.
Expert discussions continued after the release of the MosIUR pilot version, December 2017. Following the feedback, some ranking indicators were adjusted, and the shortlist of participating universities was expanded to 500. In 2022 the shortlist featured over 2200, in 2023 — over 2300, and in 2024 and 2025 – over then 2500 higher education institutions (HEIs), representing more than 150 countries and territories.
The MosIUR 2025 shortlist was largely comprised of about 2500 HEIs shortlisted in 2024. The number of institutions representing any given country was meant to be proportional to the country’s contribution to the world economy. Universities with leading positions in global university rankings and/or national academic rankings listed in the IREG Inventory of National Rankings were included in the evaluation list. In some cases, the selection was based on the number of the university’s academic papers academic papers over a four-year period. Furthermore, narrow-focused HEIs, i.e., those without educational programs in at least two out of six research areas according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) classification, and HEIs with no Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD programs or their equivalents were excluded from consideration. Higher education institutions with a student body of less than 500 were excluded from the list as well.