ARWU, published by Shanghai Jiaotong University, lists 500 best universities in the world.

ARWU is one of the most well-known rankings in the world. The assessments are made based on the following six criteria, among them the number of Nobel or Fields laureates, publications in Nature and Science, and some others. 500 of about 1200 universities make it to the final list.

Moscow State University (position 86, minus 2 compared to the 2014 ranking) and Saint-Petersburg State University (position 301 – 400, unchanged) are the only two Russian universities to be mentioned in this year's ranking.

Five other Russian universities were in contention and are therefore listed in 500+ category. These are Kazan Federal University, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Novosibirsk State University, Saint-Petersburg State Technological Institute, and Ural Federal University.