MOSCOW, May 22. /TASS/. Moscow’s Peoples Friendship University (RUDN) will hold the QS WorldWide higher education conference on May 22-23, which is expected to attract over 800 higher education experts.

"This is the second time the QS WorldWide forum is taking place in Russia, but Moscow will host it for the first time," RUDN Rector Vladimir Filippov told TASS. "Its goal is to bring together the world’s universities that implement a strategy to move up in global rankings. Such meetings facilitate an exchange of experiences and top practices. And what is particularly important, leaders in higher education from various parts of the world meet at the forum," he emphasized.

Filippov pointed out that experts invited to take part in the event included members of the QS company, scholars and state officials, namely QS CEO Nunzio Quacquarelli; Executive President of the Chinese Society for Education Development Strategies Weifang Min; University of Cambridge Professor John Green; and Advisor to the head of Russia’s Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation, Dmitry Guzhelya, among others.

RUDN’s press service noted that the QS WorldWide forum’s agenda included an exhibition and three discussion panels dubbed "University Development Strategies: Rankings," "Creating a Global University Brand" and "International Cooperation and the Internationalization of Education." "QS WorldWide is a platform for sharing experiences, signing agreements and finding foreign business partners for implementation of scientific, academic and socially significant projects of world's leading universities," the press service said in a statement.

Great Britain’s Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) company, established in 1990, issued its first university rankings in November 2004 in partnership with Times Higher Education. Starting from 2010, QS has been issuing rankings on its own. Apart from global ratings, the company also releases rankings of universities founded less than 50 years ago (the QS Top 50 under 50 Ranking), as well as regional and industries standings.

Peoples Friendship University of Russia, founded in 1960, currently includes five faculties, ten institutes and one academy. It is Russia’s most multidisciplinary university, which boasts the largest number of foreign students (9,000 out of its 32,000 students come from abroad). The university offers 472 programs, including 73 in English and Spanish, and teaches 12 foreign languages. Its research infrastructure comprises 200 laboratories and interdisciplinary centers.