OREANDA-NEWS. June 17, 2016. In the latest ranking of Eastern European and Central Asian universities by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), one of the world’s leading compilers of university performance ratings, the University of Tartu scored a high fifth place, maintaining the highest rank among Estonian universities.

QS ranked the Eastern European and Central Asian region’s best universities for the third year in a row. The University of Tartu has figured prominently in the rankings in all three years, with fourth place in 2015 being its highest to date.

The top spot is held by the Lomonosov Moscow State University, second belongs to Novosibirsk University, and third, the Saint Petersburg State University. Charles University in Prague also comes right ahead of Tartu.

From the Baltics, the Tallinn University of Technology and Tallinn University also appear in the table – 30th and 87th place, respectively. Seven Lithuanian universities and three Latvian ones are also listed in the ranking.

QS takes into consideration opinion surveys conducted with academic leaders and employers, university and faculty ratios, the number and influence of journal citations, the university’s online presence, and the proportion of staff with doctorates and of foreign teaching staff and students.

The University of Tartu stands out in the ranking in terms of its academic reputation (98/100), citations per paper (96.9/100), papers per faculty (96.2/100) and web impact (93.8/100).

For more information and the rankings themselves, “QS University Rankings: Emerging Europe and Central Asia – EECA Ranking”, visit the QS website. Visit this link for more on the University of Tartu’s place and strengths.

The University of Tartu is the only Baltic university to place among the top 200 universities, in the 181-190 range (Times Higher Education (THE) 2016). In 2015, Tartu placed in the top 351-400 in THE’s rankings of the world’s top 400 universities. The University of Tartu was 400th in the latest (2015) “QS World University Rankings.”