Rankings

Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) has been included in various international university rankings because of the student-oriented and international learning environment fostered at the university. The leading motivations for participating in the rankings are the opportunity to gain international recognition and to highlight strengths and certain features at the university that still need to be perfected on the path towards excellence in studies and research.

RSU plans its participation in rankings in a thoughtful way and implements them in conformity with the university’s strategic goals. International university rankings are mainly used as a tool for self-assessment, as the evaluation systems and criteria used by various rankings are different, thus, allowing for an analysis of the university’s performance from different perspectives.

The results of the world university rankings allow users to compare the level of academic and scientific performance, while the selected assessment criteria help understand global tendencies, which is essential as the university offers an internationally-recognised learning environment.

Prospective students may benefit from the rankings to help them gain a wider overview of a particular university in a global context. However, it should be noted that there are numerous university rankings and that each ranking has its own distinctive approach, therefore, the university’s position in different rankings may vary.

RSU’s highest achievements in the 2023/2024 university rankings

Times Higher Education World University Rankings

RSU is ranked among the world's top 1501+ universities in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2025.

THE World University Rankings are considered one of the most prestigious university rankings in the world, and has an emphasis on research. THE World University Rankings differs from other rankings in that only universities that are active in research are ranked and can be included. The analysis of the bibliometric indicators of universities is based on data extracted from Elsevier's Scopus database. THE rankings have been produced since 2004, providing students and their families, academics, university leaders, government and industry with reliable data on universities.

RSU entered THE World University Ranking for the first time in 2021. In 2023, the methodology for ranking the top universities in the world was substantially revised.

The latest THE World University Rankings results

The THE World University Ranking compares university performance in five areas:

teaching: the learning environment (29.5%),
research environment (29%),
research quality (30%),
international outlook (7.5%),
and industry income (4%).

Times Higher Education Ranking: RSU ranks top in Latvia and second in the Baltics

RSU ranks best in Latvia in Times Higher Education Ranking of emerging economies

RSU recognised as best university in Latvia by prestigious Times Higher Education Ranking

Times Higher Education World University Rankings by subject

RSU is ranked 801–1000 in the world by the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2024 in the clinical and health subject field.

The highest score was obtained in the international outlook indicator (70,7 points), which allowed RSU to take the leading position among all Baltic universities in this category.

THE ranks the world's most prestigious universities, as well as 11 different fields annually. THE Clinical and Health Rankings highlight universities that are at the forefront of medicine, dentistry and other healthcare fields and have a high research intensity.

RSU was included in the Clinical and Health Ranking for the first time in 2021. In 2023, the methodology for ranking the top universities in the world was substantially revised.

Latest THE Clinical and health subject ranking results

The THE Clinical and Health Ranking, like the World University Ranking, compares university performance across five areas, but tailors it to the specificities of each area. In the Clinical and Health area, the criteria have been weighted as follows:

teaching: the learning environment (26,8 %),
research environment (26,5 %),
research quality (35,2 %),
international outlook (7.5%),
and industry income (4%).

RSU Enters Times Higher Education Clinical and Health Subject Ranking

Times Higher Education Impact Rankings

RSU ranks 301-400 in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2024

RSU rates well in the SDG16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions and SDG17 Partnership for the Goals (201-300 place in both) and retains its high position in SDG5 Gender Equality (101-200).

The Times Higher Education (THE) is among the most influential university rankings in the world. THE is the UK’s publisher and reporter on issues related to higher education.

THE Impact Rankings is among the most recent THE rankings first published in 2019. Its criteria have been developed based on the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The ranking shows the social and economic impact of a university and is the only global ranking that assesses institutional operations and efforts made to achieve sustainable development goals.

RSU was included in this ranking for the first time in 2020.

Latest THE Impact Rankings

The ranking shows how efficient a university's performance is at reaching sustainable development goals through research, outreach, management and teaching. Each of the 17 goals has several distinctive criteria used to assess the level of the university’s performance.

RSU ranks second among Baltic universities in Times Higher Education Sustainability Rankings again this year

RSU ranks 12th in Times Higher Education Sustainability Rankings’ Good Health and Well-being Category

RSU's Sustainability Development Highly Ranked in Prestigious Times Higher Education Ranking

RSU Included in Global Ranking Measuring University Performance For the First Time

QS World University Rankings

RSU ranks 951-1000 overall in the QS World University Rankings 2025.
RSU received the highest ranking in international student ratio - 118th in the world (the best achievement among all Latvian and Baltic universities).

QS World University Rankings is among the most renowned university rankings in the world that has since 2004 been published annually by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a company specialising in analysing higher education institutions. The QS World University Rankings only include the 1,500 best universities from around the world.

RSU has been included in the QS World University Rankings since 2019 and has steadily maintained its position among the best universities in the world for the seventh year in a row.

RSU results on QS

Latest QS World University Rankings

With the 20th anniversary of the QS World University Rankings, the QS ranking has made significant changes to its evaluation criteria. Instead of the previous six, the world's best universities are now evaluated and ranked according to nine different criteria:

Academic reputation (30 %)
Employer reputation (15 %)
Faculty / student ratio (10 %)
Citations per faculty (20 %)
International faculty ratio (5 %)
International student ratio (5 %)
Sustainability (5%)
Employability (5%)
International research collaboration (5%)

Renowned QS World University Rankings Value RSU’s Internationality

RSU Retains Its Position in Prestigious QS World University Rankings for 2022

RSU Retains Its Position in Prestigious QS World University Rankings

QS ranking places RSU among world’s leading universities

RSU ranked by QS among top 1000 universities in the world

QS World University Rankings by Subject

RSU is ranked among the world's top medical universities in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024, and is ranked 651-700.
The highest score among Baltic universities is in the medical employer reputation indicator (70 points).

QS World University Rankings by Subject is one of the best-known global ratings by the higher education company QS, which ranks the world’s top universities in individual subject areas. Only the top 720 universities in the field of medicine enter the ranking

RSU was the first Latvian university to be ranked among the world's top medical universities in the QS Medical Ranking in 2021.

Information on RSU’s results in the QS rankings

Latest results for Medicine in the QS World University Rankings by Subject

The ranking covers a total of 55 disciplines that are grouped into five broad subject areas. In total, only around 1,560 higher education institutions from around the world enter one of the field lists compiled by the QS. The ranking was first compiled in 2011 and since then, the number of lists has increased from 25 to 55 disciplines.

To be included in the QS World University Rankings by Subject list, universities have to demonstrate globally competitive results in four areas. In the field of medicine, the following assessment criteria are applied:

academic reputation (40%),
employer reputation (10%),

as well as three indicators for evaluating scientific activity (obtained from the Scopus database):

research citations per paper (20%),
the Hirsch index (20%), and
international research network (10%).

QS Rating ranks RSU among world's leading medical schools

RSU Ranks Among the World’s Best Universities in QS Medical Rankings

QS Europe University Rankings

RSU is ranked 354th in the QS Europe University Rankings 2024.

The highest results are achieved in two indicators: the share and diversity of international students, and outgoing exchange students, ranking 28th and 29th in the region respectively. RSU has been ranked highest among Latvian universities in both of these indicators.

The QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024 is one of the newest regional university rankings from Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the world's leading provider of higher education and career development services. The QS Regional Ranking Europe includes 688 top universities from 42 places in the region. RSU has been in the QS Europe Regional University Rankings since 2023.

Further information about RSU's results in the QS rankings

Latest QS Europe University Rankings rankings

The QS Europe rankings are based on twelve assessment criteria, which differ from the QS World University Rankings:

academic reputation (30%),
employer reputation (15%),
citations per paper (10%),
international research network (10%),
papers per faculty (5%),
faculty student ratio (5%),
international student diversity (5%),
international faculty ratio (5%),
employment outcomes (5%),
sustainability score (5%),
outbound exchange student ratio (2,5%),
inbound exchange student ratio (2,5%).

SCImago Institutions Rankings

RSU is ranked 3rd in Latvia and 5,375th in the world in the SCImago Institutions Rankings 2024 out of a total of 9,054 institutions.
The highest ranking for RSU is in the indicators that measure impact on society, ranking 4410th in the world.

The institutional rating SCImago Institutions Rankings evaluates the scientific activities of not only universities but also of research institutions around the world

It has been published annually since 2009, and was developed by the Spanish research organisation SCImago Lab in close cooperation with international partners. SCImago Lab has also developed the widely known SCImago Journal & Country Rank, which allows comparisons between the scientific indicators of journals and countries obtained from the information contained in Scopus (Elsevier B. V.) database.

RSU has been ranked in the SCImago Institutions Rankings of international academic and research institutions since 2015. In 2023, the ranking process was revised, resulting in a specific ranking for each institution, with the number of rankings roughly matching the number of institutions.

The latest SCImago Institutions Ranking results

A combined indicator is used to rank academic and research institutions combining three sets of criteria:

research achievements (50 %),
innovation results (30 %),
and societal impact (20 %).

SCImago International Ratings Rank RSU as Best University in Latvia

RSU ranks as Best Latvian University in SCImago International Rankings for third year

RSU places first among Latvian universities in SCImago rankings for second year running

U-Multirank University Rankings

RSU has received a total of 12 A grades, as well as 9 B grades in the U-Multirank 2022 ranking of higher education institutions.

RSU received good results in the U-Multirank 2022 institutional rankings in all five defined areas of activity: research - 5 As and 2 Bs; regional engagement - 3 As and 1 B; international orientation - 2 As and 2 Bs; teaching and learning - 1 A and 3 Bs; knowledge transfer - 1 A and 1 B.

In the U-Multirank World University Ranking 2021-2022 by Subject, RSU received a total of nine As in the medical rankings and was nominated in the Innovative forms of teaching and assessment category and was ranked among the top 25 universities in the world.

U-Multirank is an international ranking with a different approach to comparing institutes of higher education in that it allows users to create personalised rankings according to their own preferences. U-Multirank differs from other rankings by not producing tables of the best rankings, but rather allows comparison between institutions with a similar institutional profile. U-Multirank was proposed by the European Commission and the first U-Multirank ranking results were published in 2014. This ranking covering around 850 universities from 74 countries. The number of universities ranked increases every year and in 2022, the ninth year of publication, 2,202 universities from 96 countries were included.

RSU has participated in the institutional rankings every year since 2014. RSU was first included in the U-Multirank subject rankings in 2021, in the medical ranking. While the U-Multirank institutional rankings are published annually, the subject rankings are published periodically.

RSU's latest U-Multirank ranking

RSU's latest ranking in U-Multirank medicine category

U-Multirank assesses universities' performance against more than 30 different criteria that are grouped into five performance areas: