For the fourth time in a row, Irkutsk State University was listed in one of the most prestgious rankings of higher education institutions in the world – QS World University Rankings, published annually by the British company Quacquarelli Symonds.

In the general list, ISU occupies 1401+ place and is the only university from the Irkutsk region. The same place is also taken by such leading Russian universities as Russian Technological University MIREA, Moscow City Pedagogical University, Don State Technical University, Russian State Agrarian University - Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy and Russian State University for the Humanities.

Alexander Schmidt, Irkutsk State University Rector:

Joining the QS ranking is an indicator of the university’s high status, confirming its position as a leading center for research and higher education in the Baikal region, Russia and the world. The University is becoming more and more recognizable in the global scientific and educational space. One of the direct effects of this is the growing interest in the university from foreign applicants. There already are students studying at ISU, who have chosen the university because of its high positions in global rankings.

The first place in the ranking was again taken by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which has been taking that place for thirteen years in a row.

More than 5,660 universities applied for participation in the QS World University Rankings 2025, but only 1,503 from more than 100 countries entered the global ranking, among them 47 Russian universities.