The prestige of technical education is growing steadily both throughout the world and in Russia. Techies - nuclear physicists, oil industry workers, power engineers, IT specialists, builders - who have successfully graduated from Russian technical universities, are extremely in demand on the labor market. Many organizations and enterprises practice targeted training, which guarantees employment, and the prestige of a Russian diploma in the world today is only growing. All this indicates the prospects of technical education, but how to choose the right university?
Rating of the best technical universities in Russia
The ratings of the best universities in Russia and the world are annually compiled by various research and journalistic organizations. In Russia, the largest project belongs to the Expert RA agency. For 2016, a general rating of the best universities of the country and ratings for enlarged areas of training, including a list including the best higher technical educational institutions, have already been compiled. In the first place, which is very expected, Moscow State University. Despite the fact that this university is not purely technical, its corresponding departments are very strong.
In general, the top 10 is as follows:
- Moscow State University.
- MSTU named after Bauman.
- MIPT.
- SPbSU.
- Tomsk Polytechnic University.
- St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.
- MEPhI.
- Moscow Power Engineering Institute.
- Novosibirsk State University.
- Siberian Federal University.
By the way, in the next ten ranking equal number of metropolitan and regional universities. These are 5 universities from Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Rostov and Yekaterinburg and 5 universities in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
It is worth mentioning that, in addition to the Expert RA rating, there are other authoritative sources, for example, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation or the project “100 Best Russian Universities”, not to mention online surveys. Technical universities of Russia in all these ratings are generally the same, but the positions may be slightly different. One thing is clear: choosing any institution from this twenty, you can be sure of the quality of education.
Features of technical education
The list of technical specialties for which admission is conducted in Russian universities is so large that it is quite difficult to cover them all. There are more than 250 specialized faculties alone, and more than a thousand technical universities in the country can be counted.
All of them are united, of course, by the educational standard. According to him, all techies study for 5 years full-time (or 6 for correspondence), during which they will receive approximately the same courses in the humanities and social sciences (Russian and foreign languages, philosophy, history). Of course, all students will take a course in natural sciences, which will include matanalysis, linear algebra, computer modeling, etc. But highly specialized blocks in all areas will be completely different. The courses that students offer, for example, the Moscow Aviation Institute and the Gas and Oil Institute in Moscow, will differ. For future power engineers, railway workers, aircraft builders, motorists, nuclear scientists, oil workers and other techies, their own training programs and production practices have been developed.
Specialty
Before choosing a university, it is necessary to decide which direction the applicant is most interested in. Today, specialties related to the oil and gas and energy industries and computer technology are most in demand. And this is not surprising, because these are the most financially attractive areas of work. The rating of the most popular specialties looks like this:
- IT engineers and programmers - they are prepared by Baumanka, MIPT, MEPhI, NSTU, Tomsk Polytechnic or Don State Technical University.
- Oil workers - you can study at the Institute of Oil and Gas in Moscow or in regions where there are employers (in Yekaterinburg or Tyumen).
- Geologists - they are taught by “Baumanka” or MEPhI, as well as Kuban State Technological University, Tyumen Oil and Gas or Ufa Petroleum University.
- Mine surveyors - these specialists are trained in specialized mining universities throughout Russia.
- Energy specialists are trained by the Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University.
- Civil engineers - they are trained in every region of Russia, in Moscow, for example, this is Moscow State University of Civil Engineering.
How to choose a technical university
To decide on a university, you should not rely solely on its position in the ranking, although it is an important criterion. In technical universities, the presence of practical teachers and the level of scientific work are important, because modern technologies do not stand still, the university must be aware of new world developments. It is also important to have international cooperation and exchange of experience.
Pay attention to the adequacy of budget funding. For example, Novosibirsk State Technical University this year lost its prestige precisely because of a decrease in this indicator. And in the case of paid admission, a significant point is the cost of training. It is not as high as in economic or law faculties, but can range from 50 to 200 thousand a year, depending on the region and specialty. Moreover, over the past year, this figure has doubled due to the high cost of laboratory equipment, without which an engineer cannot be trained.
Multidisciplinary or highly specialized
Disputes about where technical education is better - at a specialized university or at a department of a multidisciplinary university - will never stop. However, do not be afraid of classical universities if the technical departments at them are strong and famous for decades. This is also proved by the rating - immediately 8 of these universities were in the top 20.
This is often explained by the fact that such universities have a large number of not only academic teachers, but also practitioners, which dramatically increases the value of education in any field, and especially in the technical field. In addition, the best specialized technical universities in Russia are located mainly in the capital, so applicants from the regions will have to either go to Moscow or enter their multidisciplinary universities in order to receive a prestigious education. True, this does not apply to Tomsk and Novosibirsk: their scientific traditions from Soviet times on the forefront of domestic science.
Also, in modern market conditions, there has been a tendency towards enlargement and universalization of universities. Thus, technical universities in Russia are beginning to train managers and economists, and economic universities are training technicians. However, while this does not happen very successfully, neither of them can compete with specialized institutions. Unless the Higher School of Economics, having absorbed the Institute of Energy and Mathematics, became multidisciplinary and even got into the top 20 best universities in Russia.
Moscow
Naturally, metropolitan universities are in many ways ahead of regional universities. level of education. Getting a technical diploma in Moscow is best done at Lomonosov Moscow State University. It prepares bachelors at the faculties of mathematics and cybernetics, physics and fundamental engineering.
You can also get specialized education at Bauman MSTU, MIPT, Moscow Engineering Physics Institute and other reputable institutions. However, it is worth considering that the passing score on the budget in them is very high, as well as the cost of paid tuition. If you want to get a technical education in the capital, but you don’t have enough points, or it seems too expensive, you can enter one of the less “stellar”, but still quite prestigious universities. For example, at Moscow State University of Civil Engineering. Demand for construction specialties now, when the whole country is massively built up with kilometers of new housing, is standardly high.
Universities that train machine builders or aircraft builders stand apart. For example, Moscow Aviation Institute.
St. Petersburg
In the Northern capital, the best is St. Petersburg University. This is a classic multidisciplinary university, which has strong technical faculties - mathematical and mechanical and applied mathematics.
The next on the list is the specialized university - St. Petersburg Polytechnic. He confidently strengthens his position on the world stage, increasing the competitiveness of his students in the market and developing scientific work.
ITMO University is a European-level university, attracting students to organizational life, giving the opportunity, as they say, to “pump” their business and managerial skills, and this is in addition to basic education, which, of course, increases the value of a future graduate’s diploma.
Regions. Ural
In the Urals, in connection with the specifics of local industry, a large number of universities are represented that train mining, metallurgical specialists. Also, the Ural technical universities devoted the last year to strengthening ties with similar educational institutions in China within the framework of the recently created association of Russian-Chinese technical universities. universities.
The leaders can be called primarily the universities of Yekaterinburg: Yeltsin Federal University, Mining University, but other cities also have educational institutions that are in the top 100 best in the country.
So, in Ufa applicants waiting for the Petroleum Technical University. Its advantage is in strengthening international relations and in targeted training of students for the oil enterprises of the region. A similar university profile educates students in Tyumen - this is the Tyumen Oil and Gas University.
Magnitogorsk Technical University trains specialists in mechanical engineering, energy and mining. The university is not included in the top 100 best universities in Russia, but in online surveys it occupies a confident position among other technical universities in the country.
Siberia
Since Soviet times, Tomsk and Novosibirsk were considered the flagships of Russian science, which is confirmed by the positions of local universities in all ratings. The most advanced techies are trained at Novosibirsk and Tomsk State Universities, as well as the Tomsk Polytechnic. At the same time, Novosibirsk State Technical University in 2016 so worsened its position in the overall ranking that it is a leader in losing positions in all of Russia. Reduced funding, deterioration in scientific activity adversely affected the prestige of the institution.
As for other cities, a traditionally good technical education can be obtained at the Siberian Federal University (departments of mining, construction and engineering, oil and gas, information and even space technology) in Krasnoyarsk.
central Russia
Central Russia also has technical universities that train worthy personnel. However, they have not yet been included in the rating. Perhaps the point is in proximity to Moscow, where the most promising applicants are rushing. So, Ivanovo University of Chemical Technology from 2014 left the top 100, having previously only 91 places.
South
But the Southern Federal District is represented in the ratings by several universities from Rostov and Krasnodar. This year, 2 Kuban universities immediately got into the ratings thanks to surveys of students and the scientific community. And among them there is one technical, namely the Kuban State Technological University, where specialists are trained, road builders, oil workers, gas workers, machine builders, as well as computer system engineers.
Of Rostov universities, two are particularly distinguished: one is specialized Don State Technical University, the other is a multidisciplinary Southern Federal University with technical areas of training, such as piezotechnics, nanotechnology, computer technology, information security, instrument engineering and others.
Volga region
Kazan universities are particularly distinguished in this region.The city is confidently developing its science and university training, so Kazan Technological University was in the top 20 best technical universities in the country, and took 54th place in the overall ranking.
The Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University, which trains engineers for mechanical engineering, energy, the IT sector, as well as specialists in nuclear energy, deserves attention.
Problems of technical universities of the country
The level of quality of technical education is traditionally high due to the continuity of Soviet methods and scientific developments. However, experts consider the average age of the teaching staff to be the main problem. In technical universities and departments, it is quite high and amounts to 53 years, which is 7 years more than that of teachers in other fields.
On the one hand, this speaks of great scientific and teaching experience, and on the other, the absence of fresh minds and young cadres. It is possible that soon the teaching staff will completely change in this branch of education.
In general, the prospects for techies are most promising - according to the estimates of recruiting agencies, there is an increased demand for technical specialists with a general deficit in the labor market. For comparison: economists' supply exceeds demand by 80%.
