Top 10 Universities in Emerging Europe & Central Asia 2019

Location: Poland

A new entry in the top 10, Jagiellonian University climbs from joint 14^th to seventh in this year’s EECA ranking, and also climbed to 411^th place in the recently released QS World University Rankings® 2019. Jagiellonian is one of the oldest universities in Europe, having been established back in 1364 as the University of Kraków, and it’s educated some particularly notable figures such as Nicolaus Copernicus and Karol Olszewski. Courses are mainly taught in Polish but there are some options in English or German.

Poland was included in our list of 10 of the most affordable places to study abroad – find out which other destinations we’d recommend for those on a budget here.

Location: Poland

Retaining its position of sixth in the EECA ranking in 2019, the University of Warsaw, which celebrated its 200^th anniversary in 2016, is the largest university in Poland, currently hosting around 48,500 students. Also ranked joint 394^th in the most recent world rankings, the university achieves a near-perfect score for its academic reputation (third in the whole EECA ranking) and also comes sixth for the web impact indicator. Students have a broad spectrum of programs to choose from, with courses in 37 languages, including 26 programs available in English.

Location: Estonia

The national university of Estonia, the University of Tartu (UT) is down slightly in this year’s EECA, but nonetheless stays in the top five. It gets its highest score (fifth) in the new international research network category, demonstrating its success in producing international research collaborations with other universities. UT was founded in 1632 by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and has since established itself as one of the most prestigious universities in the region, attracting 13,000 students. The official language of the university is Estonian, but there are 23 English-taught programs available, mainly at master’s level. It also offers joint programs with universities in Estonia and beyond in subjects such as human rights and cyber security.

Location: Russia

Up one place to rank joint third in EECA, Saint-Petersburg State University (SPbSU) gets the fourth-highest score in the academic reputation indicator, and also features in the top 10 for web impact. SPbSU, which features at 235^th in the world rankings, was founded in 1724 by Peter the Great, making it the oldest university in Russia. It’s known for producing some of Russia’s most notable political elite, including current president Vladimir Putin, as well as several Nobel Prize winners. And looking at the most recent QS World University Rankings by Subject, SPbSU is ranked among the world’s best for 15 subjects, including the top 100 for modern languages, linguistics and mathematics.

Location: Czech Republic

Consistently the highest-ranked university in the Czech Republic, Charles University climbs two places to rank joint third with SPbSU in this year’s EECA ranking, and is also ranked joint 317^th in the world university rankings. It gets the highest score in EECA for the international research network indicator, and is also ranked second for its academic reputation. Charles University was established in 1348, making it the oldest university in Central Europe, and it’s also the largest institution in the Czech Republic, with more than 49,000 students (7,000 of whom are international).

Location: Russia

Back to Russia, Novosibirsk State University (NSU) continues to be the second-highest ranked university in the EECA ranking, and is also ranked 244^th in the world university rankings. Known as one of the strongest Russian universities, particularly for science subjects, NSU is located in the Akademgorodok (Academic Town), the educational and scientific center of Siberia, which comprises 35 research institutes and numerous community amenities. Education is carried out in close relation with world level scientific achievements, and there are 17 English-taught programs available for international students, as well as 28 research internship opportunities.  

Location: Russia

Ranked number one in Emerging Europe and Central Asia for five years in a row, Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) achieves first place for three indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation and web impact. It’s also been steadily climbing in the QS World University Rankings® in recent years, now ranking within the global top 100 at 90^th. Founded in 1755, MSU has been associated with 13 Nobel Prize winners in its history, and is the alma mater of numerous distinguished writers, politicians, mathematicians and physicists. It offers English-taught courses in business, economics, geology, biology and politics, and is currently ranked among the world’s best for 28 subjects.

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