Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) is Russia’s oldest university, founded in 1755 in central Moscow. It ranks #=115 in QS World University Rankings 2027 and is the only Russian university in the global top 150 across QS, THE and ARWU.
- QS World University Rankings 2027: #=115 globally, #1 in Russia
- THE World University Rankings 2026: #133 globally, #1 in Russia
- ARWU (Shanghai Ranking) 2025: 101-150 band globally, #1 in Russia
- QS WUR Ranking by Subject (aggregate): #=31 globally
Reading the rank pattern: MSU tops the Russian field across QS, THE and ARWU, but has slipped out of the global top 100 on every body since 2022. Its QS 2027 position of #=115 sits three places ahead of IIT Delhi (#118) and 19 ahead of IIT Bombay (#134). The degree stays globally visible, though the narrow rank gap with India’s top IITs means subject fit and fees should drive the choice, not brand alone.
Table of Contents
- Lomonosov Moscow State University Overall Rankings 2027
- Lomonosov Moscow State University Rankings: Bottom Line for Indian Students
- Lomonosov Moscow State University QS World University Rankings 2027
- Lomonosov Moscow State University Times Higher Education (THE) Rankings 2026
- Lomonosov Moscow State University ARWU (Shanghai) Rankings 2025
- Lomonosov Moscow State University Other Global Rankings
- Lomonosov Moscow State University Subject Rankings 2026
- Lomonosov Moscow State University Rankings: Indian Student Outlook
- Lomonosov Moscow State University Ranking FAQs
Lomonosov Moscow State University Overall Rankings 2027
Lomonosov Moscow State University is the only Russian institution placed inside the top 150 of QS, THE and ARWU at the same time, though every body now reports a softer position than in 2022.
| Ranking Body (current edition) | Lomonosov Moscow State University Rank |
|---|---|
| QS World University Rankings 2027 | #=115 |
| THE World University Rankings 2026 | #133 |
| ARWU (Shanghai Ranking) 2025 | #101-150 |
| U.S. News Best Global Universities 2025-2026 | #521 |
The 18-place gap between QS (#=115) and THE (#133) signals stronger academic reputation than research-impact scoring at MSU. The U.S. News rank of #521 reflects bibliometric data that takes 2-3 years to refresh, so it lags the recent QS and THE picture. Indian applicants get a degree still inside the top 8% of the global QS-ranked pool.
Key insight: three of the four bodies place MSU inside the global top 150, and the one that does not (U.S. News) trails because its citation-and-publication inputs react to the 2022 reset with a 2-3 year delay.
Lomonosov Moscow State University Rankings: Bottom Line for Indian Students
For an Indian applicant, Lomonosov Moscow State University rankings settle into a clear pattern: a global top-150 brand across three of the four big bodies, a subject-level signal much sharper than the world rank, and a softening trend on the research-heavy tables. The closest comparable Indian institute in QS 2027 is IIT Delhi, three places behind MSU.
| Indian-relevance signal | What Lomonosov Moscow State University shows | What it means for Indian applicants |
|---|---|---|
| QS 2027 global rank | #=115 | Degree carries top-150 QS visibility for Indian recruiters who track world rankings |
| MSU vs IIT Delhi (QS 2027) | #=115 vs #118 | MSU sits three places ahead; brand parity with India’s top engineering institute for entry-level recruitment |
| MSU vs IIT Bombay (QS 2027) | #=115 vs #134 | 19-place lead over IIT Bombay; useful when applying to global recruiters outside India |
| THE 2026 vs THE 2024 | #133 vs #95 | Research-impact softening; choose MSU for teaching depth, not citation-led PhD work |
| QS Subject aggregate | #=31 | Subject-level signal is 84 places ahead of the world rank; strongest read for any subject-fit decision |
Key insight
- Brand parity: QS 2027 #=115 sits three places ahead of IIT Delhi (#118), so MSU’s recruiter visibility in India matches a top IIT.
- Subject signal beats world rank: the QS subject aggregate at #=31 is 84 places ahead of the world rank, the widest gap of any Russian university.
- Floor estimate: U.S. News #521 is the worst-case visibility benchmark; MSU still sits inside the global ranked pool on every major body.
Lomonosov Moscow State University QS World University Rankings 2027
MSU’s QS line has moved 40 places in the wrong direction across five editions, the steepest five-year slide of any Russian university. The university still holds its #1 Russia spot for the 21st consecutive year.
| Year | Lomonosov Moscow State University QS World Rank |
|---|---|
| 2027 | #=115 |
| 2026 | #=105 |
| 2025 | #=94 |
| 2024 | #=87 |
| 2023 | #75 |
The sharpest drop, 12 places, sits between QS 2023 (#75) and 2024 (#=87), matching QS’s 2024 methodology revision year. Across five editions MSU averages roughly #=103, still inside the world’s top 110. The 2027 figure remains the lowest in the window but does not change the #1 national ranking.
Key insight: even after a 40-place slide, MSU stays 19 places ahead of IIT Bombay (#134) and three ahead of IIT Delhi (#118) in QS 2027. The rank-perception gap with India’s most-applied engineering peers is small enough to flip on subject choice.
Read More: Lomonosov Moscow State University Courses and Fees 2026 for Indian Students
Lomonosov Moscow State University Times Higher Education (THE) Rankings 2026
Times Higher Education shows a sharper decline than QS for MSU: a 38-place slide in two editions, against QS’s 40-place slide stretched over five. THE, which leans heavily on research citations and international collaboration data, is the more pessimistic of the two big bodies for MSU today.
| Year | Lomonosov Moscow State University THE Rank |
|---|---|
| 2026 | #133 |
| 2025 | #107 |
| 2024 | #95 |
THE weights research citations and international collaboration heavily. The 2022 international-collaboration cycle cut Russia’s joint research publishing sharply, which is the main driver behind the 2024-to-2026 fall. For Indian applicants, the THE rank is the more conservative of the two big bodies and a useful floor estimate of degree visibility outside India.
Trend signal: THE 2026 (#133) sits 18 places below QS 2027 (#=115), the widest cross-body gap MSU has shown in the last decade. The teaching-and-reputation side of MSU’s score stays stronger than its research-impact side.
Lomonosov Moscow State University ARWU (Shanghai) Rankings 2025
ARWU is the most stable read on Lomonosov Moscow State University rankings: four consecutive editions in the same 101-150 band after MSU dropped out of the top 100 in 2022. The body has not penalised MSU further since.
| Year | Lomonosov Moscow State University ARWU Rank |
|---|---|
| 2025 | #101-150 |
| 2024 | #101-150 |
| 2023 | #101-150 |
| 2022 | #101-150 |
| 2021 | #97 |
ARWU ranks universities mainly on Nobel and Fields prize counts and highly-cited research papers, the slowest measures to react to the 2022 reset. The four-year flatline in the 101-150 band shows that the research backbone has not eroded further. For an Indian applicant choosing MSU for a research master’s or PhD, ARWU is the closest body to a stable signal.
What it signals: MSU has moved one band in five years (#97 in 2021, 101-150 since 2022). The research backbone is steadier than the QS and THE narratives imply, useful context for PhD-bound applicants.
Lomonosov Moscow State University Other Global Rankings
Beyond QS, THE and ARWU, MSU appears on the U.S. News Best Global Universities list, where only the current edition is publicly verifiable today. The U.S. News position is the lowest of the four bodies and acts as a floor estimate for any non-QS recognition check.
| Ranking Body | Lomonosov Moscow State University Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. News Best Global Universities 2025-2026 | #521 |
| U.S. News, Russia national rank 2025-2026 | #3 |
U.S. News ranks universities mainly on how many research papers a university publishes and how often those papers are cited. Its rank therefore lags the most recent QS and THE picture by 2-3 years and reflects publication cycles that began before 2024. The #521 figure is the floor estimate Indian applicants should expect for any non-QS, non-THE recognition check.
Lomonosov Moscow State University Subject Rankings 2026
MSU’s subject-level placement is sharper than its world rank suggests. The QS WUR Ranking by Subject aggregate (#=31) sits 84 positions ahead of QS World 2027 (#=115), and Linguistics is the single strongest discipline at #=19 globally.
Key insight
- Aggregate vs world rank: the QS subject aggregate at #=31 sits 84 places ahead of the QS world rank (#=115), the widest gap among ranked Russian universities.
- Strongest subject: QS Linguistics #=19 is MSU’s best discipline-level placement and the only subject inside the global top 25.
- Natural sciences lean: MSU’s historical strength in physics, mathematics and chemistry keeps the subject aggregate well inside the global top 35.
| QS Subject Ranking 2026 | Lomonosov Moscow State University Rank |
|---|---|
| QS WUR Ranking by Subject (aggregate) | #=31 |
| QS Linguistics 2026 | #=19 |
The 96-place gap between MSU’s subject aggregate (#=31) and its QS world rank (#=115) is the widest in the Russian university field. Indian applicants targeting humanities or natural sciences see a subject-level signal closer to a global top-30 institute than to a top-115 one. Linguistics at #=19 is the single strongest discipline and MSU’s best-ever subject placement on QS.
India-relevance: the 96-place subject-vs-overall gap means an Indian applicant who matches the subject (humanities, languages, natural sciences) gets a degree carrying global top-35 subject signal, not the top-115 brand the world rank reads as.
Lomonosov Moscow State University Rankings: Indian Student Outlook
For Indian applicants, the Lomonosov Moscow State University ranking for Indian students reads as a top-150 global brand with a sharper subject signal underneath. MSU’s QS 2027 #=115 places it three places ahead of IIT Delhi (#118) and 106 places ahead of IISc Bangalore (#221), so brand visibility for Indian recruiters tracks a top IIT, not a regional Russian institute.
Popular programs Indian students choose at Lomonosov Moscow State University:
- MBBS (Faculty of Fundamental Medicine): the largest Indian-applicant cohort at MSU; ranking relevance comes through the broader QS subject aggregate (#=31) rather than a dedicated medicine table.
- Computer Science and Computational Mathematics (CMC): the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics is the most QS-aligned route for engineering-leaning Indian applicants; sits inside MSU’s strong natural-sciences cluster.
- Physics: historically MSU’s deepest research domain and a core contributor to its ARWU 101-150 band stability.
- Mathematics and Mechanics: consistently MSU’s top-tier QS subject area; the natural-sciences pull is what drives the #=31 aggregate.
- Linguistics: the single strongest subject at QS #=19, useful for Indian applicants targeting translation, modern-language or area-studies careers.
| Signal for Indian applicants | Lomonosov Moscow State University data |
|---|---|
| MSU QS 2027 vs IIT Delhi QS 2027 | #=115 vs #118; three places ahead |
| MSU QS 2027 vs IIT Bombay QS 2027 | #=115 vs #134; 19 places ahead |
| MSU QS 2027 vs IISc Bangalore QS 2027 | #=115 vs #221; 106 places ahead |
| Subject vs overall gap | QS subject aggregate #=31 vs QS World #=115 (84-place gap) |
| 5-year QS trend | #75 (2023) to #=115 (2027); 40-place slide |
| Strongest discipline for Indian applicants | QS Linguistics #=19; natural-sciences cluster anchors aggregate #=31 |
Key insight
- Brand parity with IIT Delhi: three-place QS lead in 2027 keeps MSU comparable to India’s highest-ranked institute for entry-level recruiter visibility.
- Subject signal is the strongest read: the QS subject aggregate (#=31) is 84 places ahead of the world rank, so subject-fit applicants get a top-35 degree signal, not a top-115 one.
- Stability anchor: ARWU has held the 101-150 band for four straight editions, the steadiest of MSU’s rank signals and the most relevant body for research-leaning PhD applicants.
- Floor estimate: U.S. News #521 is the worst-case visibility benchmark; even at the floor, MSU still sits inside the global ranked pool.
Lomonosov Moscow State University enters QS 2027 at #=115, the only Russian top-150 placement on every major body, and its subject aggregate sits 84 places ahead at #=31. For Indian applicants the real choice is subject fit at MSU versus a top IIT or a higher-ranked European peer on the same INR budget, not a question of whether the degree itself is recognised.
Lomonosov Moscow State University Ranking FAQs
Ques. What is the QS ranking of Lomonosov Moscow State University in 2027?
Ans. Lomonosov Moscow State University ranks #=115 in QS World University Rankings 2027, released on June 18, 2026. It is the highest-ranked Russian university and sits three places ahead of IIT Delhi (#118) in the same edition.
Ques. Is Lomonosov Moscow State University still in the QS top 100?
Ans. No. MSU exited the QS world top 100 in QS 2024 (#=87) and now sits at #=115 in QS 2027. The slide spans 40 positions over five editions, though MSU has kept its #1 Russia spot throughout.
Ques. Where does Lomonosov Moscow State University rank in Russia?
Ans. Lomonosov Moscow State University ranks #1 in Russia across QS 2027, THE 2026 and ARWU 2025 simultaneously. U.S. News Best Global Universities 2025-2026 places it third in Russia at #521 globally.
Ques. How has Lomonosov Moscow State University’s THE ranking changed in the last three years?
Ans. The university has moved from #95 in THE 2024 to #107 in THE 2025 and #133 in THE 2026, a 38-place decline. THE leans on research citations and international collaboration, both of which were affected by the 2022 international-research cycle.
Ques. What is the best subject ranking of Lomonosov Moscow State University?
Ans. MSU’s single strongest subject placement is QS Linguistics 2026 at #=19. Its overall QS WUR Ranking by Subject aggregate stands at #=31, which is 84 places ahead of its QS world rank.
Ques. How does Lomonosov Moscow State University rank compared to IITs and IISc?
Ans. In QS 2027, MSU at #=115 sits three places ahead of IIT Delhi (#118), 19 ahead of IIT Bombay (#134) and 106 ahead of IISc Bangalore (#221). The rank-perception gap with India’s top IITs is narrow enough that subject fit, not brand, drives the choice.
Ques. What is the ARWU Shanghai ranking of Lomonosov Moscow State University in 2025?
Ans. Lomonosov Moscow State University holds the 101-150 band in ARWU 2025, the same band it has occupied for four consecutive editions. ARWU is the most stable of MSU’s ranking signals because its methodology weights long-tail research output that reacts slowly to year-on-year shifts.
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