RAEX Rankings: MAI Entered the Top 25 Universities of Russia
On June 5, the VI International Forum of leading universities Global Competitiveness, organized by the Expert RA (RAEX) credit rating agency, opened in Moscow. Rector of Moscow Aviation Institute Mikhail Pogosian took part in the panel discussion of the event.
The forum presented the rankings of the best Russian universities in 2019 according to the RAEX. In the overall ranking of the best universities in Russia, MAI entered the top 25 for the first time. At the same time, MAI demonstrated the second dynamics of growth among universities in the top thirty over the past year. Since 2016, the Moscow Aviation Institute has already risen by 10 positions.
The overall rating is based on an integrated assessment of three groups of parameters: “the level of research activity”, “conditions for obtaining quality education” and “the relevance of graduates by employers”. The latter is an independent rating product. In it, MAI took the 15th place in 2019, first of all, due to the built practice-oriented system of training specialists, which are in demand in high-tech industries and able to navigate the new, rapidly digitizing working environment.
According to the groups of parameters “the level of research activities” and “conditions for obtaining quality education”, the MAI also showed a positive trend.
The first published ranking of the best universities in Russia in the field of information technologies was also presented, in which MAI came very close to the top ten, taking 11th place right away.
Such high results were achieved thanks to the systematic work on the transformation of the university: a significant increase in the volume of research and development, increasing the volume and quality of publications in international citation systems, attracting highly trained Russian and foreign applicants, opening new popular programs for business needs, developing complex partnerships with high-tech leaders Russian industries, including the information technology sector.
Agency RAEX encourages universities for the high results observed through a rating prism. This year the Moscow Aviation Institute was awarded a diploma in the nomination Development of International Integration. Recall that last year MAI was also awarded a RAEX diploma in the nomination Employers' Graduate Demand.
Each year, the university forum Global Competitiveness becomes a platform for an open and meaningful dialogue about the scientific and educational strategies for the development of universities. In his speech at the event, Rector of MAI Mikhail Pogosian noted a high level of demand for engineering by employers who will also have competencies in high technology and in IT.
“I believe that today we are seeing a large shortage of such personnel. And one of the key directions of development of MAI is precisely the training of specialists possessing both engineering and information technology competencies. The high level of interdisciplinary training of such students will enable them to choose whether to develop after graduation: in the direction of software development or at the design office,” - said Mikhail Pogosian.
Rector of MAI also emphasized the importance of international activities, which is a key element in the competitiveness of the university.
“Thanks to the successful international cooperation programs, MAI has the opportunity to attract its students to participate in interesting international projects, which is an additional incentive and motivation for young people,” - the Rector said in his speech.
Discussing with other participants of the forum the prestige of engineering education in Russia today, Mikhail Pogosian emphasized that over the past three years, the average score of the Unified State Examination of students enrolled at MAI increased by eight points, and the level of preparation and motivation of applicants is getting higher.
“We believe that work with schoolchildren in higher education institutions should be started as early as in grades 7-8, when children think and develop creatively, without adjusting for the stress of soon passing exams. In our activities with schoolchildren, we make up programs that provide an opportunity to comprehensively develop our competencies and skills, have a broad outlook and achieve success in various areas of knowledge,” - said Mikhail Pogosian.
