“BRICS certainly reflects an environment where there is clearly an appetite for improving inbound and outbound mobility”

UK-based Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) will publish the first pilot rankings on 17 December on TopUniversities.com, using the same indicators employed by the world universities rankings, along with two new additions: papers per faculty and staff with PhDs.

“The BRICS nations are investing heavily in higher education, research and development as they recognise that creating knowledge and nurturing talents is essential to fuel the growth of their rapidly-expanding economies,” said Zoya Zaitseva, project director for QS University Rankings: BRICS

“The new ranking will increase their visibility and allow these universities to become more recognised on a global level.”

The BRICS rankings will judge institutions on academic and employer reputation, faculty student ratio, citations per papers and proportion of international faculty and students. Compared to the world rankings however, weightings assigned to each of these indicators will vary for BRICS universities.

Academic reputation will account for 30% of the BRICS rankings score, unlike the QS world ranking system, where its worth 40%.

Proportion of international students and faculty will account for the least proportion of the score – a mere 5%, same as the world rankings.

Speaking of how the new title will influence student mobility in BRICS countries, Ben Sowter, head of research at QS, told The PIE News: “BRICS certainly reflects an environment where there is clearly an appetite for improving inbound and outbound mobility.”

“However, it would require more long-term strategic planning and action from institutions themselves in order to see any “game changing” effects within the region,” he added

QS says the idea has received support from ministries of education and higher education institutions around the world.

Russia in particular has supported the BRICS universities ranking, following president Vladimir Putin’s announcement in May last year to have at least five of the country’s universities in the top 100 in global university rankings by 2020.

Interfax and QS will also be launching pilot rankings for universities in Commonwealth of Independent States countries.