OREANDA-NEWS. November 10, 2009. The conference has been taking place on 1-4 November in Shanghai (China). It has brought together representatives of universities listed in Shanghai Rating (so-called World-Class Universities), researchers, experts, international businesses and media to discuss the criteria and requirements the universities must meet to join the Shanghai Rating. The trends in development of world-class schools and their role in the life of state and society are on the agenda as well. Other recognized international ratings of universities will be in the spotlight too.

Presentation of the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU called also the Shanghai Rating) was a key element of the conference.

"It's been a big honour for us to represent Ukraine as a part of Ukraine's delegation at this forum. It's been also a chance to tell the global educational elite about Ukrainian universities and higher education system as such, learn the leading international practices in education industry and university rating approaches", said SCM's Social Projects Manager, Natalya Krivulina. "Being a world-class university is the objective set to Ukrainian schools by the new era of education "internalization". As the biggest national investor, we are ready to contribute to achieving this objective. The last but certainly not the least of our actions is the national university ranking Compass, which we present at this conference. But our efforts alone are not enough to make Ukrainian schools into world-class universities - the universities themselves must be the first to get into the work".

Over 200 leading researchers and experts from all over the world including Ukraine attended the 3rd International Conference of World-Class Universities. The list of speakers includes Jan Sadlak, President of IREG International Observatory on Ranking and Academic Excellence. Jamil Salmi , Tertiary Education Coordinator at the World Bank; Philip G. Altbach, professor and director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College; Martin Vetterli, Vice-President for Institutional Affairs, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne; Isak Froumin, Academic Advisor for Education Development Institute, and Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank in Moscow, and many more.

"At SCM we will continue realizing programmes and projects in the area of education so that Ukrainian schools could be equal competitors to their foreign counterparts, take deserved places in international ratings and thus by right be called world-class universities, whose graduates would be a true "finding" for employers in Ukraine and beyond", added Natalya Krivulina. 

One of the most authoritative international conferences on education was organized by flagships of China's education industry - Center of World-Class Universities, Graduate School of Education and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.