Despite the United States applying blocking sanctions on MIPT as listed on the SDN, the university achieved a notable position, ranking third among Russian institutions in the Nature Index international scientometric ranking. This outcome was confirmed to socialbites.ca through the university’s press service, illustrating a resilience in research activity even under pressure.
The Nature Index (NI) measures scientific output by aggregating publications from 145 leading journals across natural sciences, engineering, and biomedical disciplines. It compiles country and organization scores each year, and the NI indicator serves as a benchmark for evaluating the research performance of universities on a global scale. For researchers, funding bodies, and policy analysts, NI data provide a lens into contemporary publication trends and institutional influence within the scientific community.
In 2022, sanctions correlated with a downturn in performance for many Russian universities and research institutions within the Nature Index framework. Yet MIPT and Skoltech exhibited relatively smaller declines in their publication activity compared to other top entities in the national and international landscape. This relative resilience helped MIPT maintain a third-place standing and Skoltech hold the fourth position among Russian universities, highlighting how selective institutions managed publication trajectories amid broader constraints.
Commenting on the results, the rector of MIPT, Dmitry Livanov, remarked that the rating demonstrates the sustained demand for Russian scientific work among leading international publications, despite external pressures. The message underlines ongoing contributions by Russian researchers and the enduring relevance of high-quality scientific inquiry in global discourse.
During the same period, the NI methodology recorded a 19% decline in the total number of publications attributed to Russian scientists, moving from 553.08 to 448.19 in the NI metric. The overall Russian position in the global ranking slipped by two places. Specific institutions experienced steeper drops in publication indicators, with ITMO University (-32%), the NRC Kurchatov Institute (-31%), and Saint Petersburg State University (-26%) showing the most pronounced declines. Nevertheless, two institutions in the top tier, JINR and the Higher School of Economics (HSE), still posted modest increases in NI scores in 2022, indicating pockets of resilience within the broader national research ecosystem.
On the international front, the top ten countries largely held their positions, with China recording the strongest growth, advancing to second place with a 20% rise in NI. Conversely, Japan and Germany faced declines within the top ten, with NI decreases of 7% and 6% respectively. The cumulative NI increase for the top ten countries stood at approximately 8.9%, signaling a modest overall improvement in relative national output within the leading journals. These shifts reflect broader global dynamics in science publishing and the uneven impact of geopolitical and economic conditions on research productivity across nations.
In related developments, Sirius reported the completion of the design phase for the second stage of a chemical and biological complex project. This forthcoming facility is planned to house more than a hundred laboratories and include a Resource Center dedicated to preclinical animal testing, spanning an area of 2.5 thousand square meters. The project highlights ongoing investments in infrastructure to support advanced scientific activities and translational research, reinforcing the ecosystem that underpins high-quality publications and international collaboration.