MGIMO University

Established in 1943, MGIMO University (Moscow State Institute of International Relations) is among the premier social science universities in Russia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and BRICS countries. In 1993, MGIMO pioneered Russia’s first ever international dual degree program with the French Sciences Po in Paris – and was the first to launch full-fledged English-medium Bachelor programs in International Affairs and International Business and Finance.

Today, MGIMO offers a vast array of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in 18 areas of study; as well as PhD, MBA, Executive MBA, and pre-university programs. It takes pride in its unique language learning opportunities with 53 foreign languages delivered full-time, which earned it a Guinness World Record for the largest number of languages taught at a university. MGIMO is reputable for the prominent role of teamwork, analytical thinking, critical reasoning, and strategic planning as key aspects of its training methodologies.

MGIMO is also a world-renowned, highly influential public policy think tank. It has been ranked the 8th best university-based policy think tank in the world by the 2020 UN-commissioned Pennsylvania University Survey.

As of 2020, the University offers, for international students, 30 dual/triple degree programs with top universities in Europe, America, and Asia; as well as undergraduate and postgraduate programs in English, French, Italian, German, and Chinese.

The University comprises 13 schools, a Lyceum, a pre-university professional training college and a Business School. MGIMO’s subject-focus ranges from international relations, regional studies, politics, governance, and diplomacy to world economy, law, journalism, foreign trade and management, energy affairs, linguistics, and environmental studies.

The University’s faculty to student ratio stands at 1 to 4, with over 1500 professors and lecturers teaching extensively in smaller groups and tutorial-type seminars. MGIMO’s faculty includes some 20 fellows of the Russian Academy of Sciences (the highest scientific honor Russia can bestow), about 250 full professors, and more than 700 Ph.D. degree-holders. Each year MGIMO invites over 100 international visiting professors. Some of them teach regular classes at MGIMO, e.g. a famous American foreign policy expert from Columbia University Robert Legvold and Professor of Government at Dartmouth College (USA) William Wohlforth. The University habitually welcomes prominent guests – Presidents, Prime Ministers, leaders of international organizations, who come to MGIMO to give open lectures to students.

Today, there are about 8,000 students at MGIMO from 74 countries. International students account for nearly 20 % of the total number of students. MGIMO spearheaded the establishment of Endowment Funds in Russia, thanks to the generous contributions from its graduates and worldwide known philanthropists. MGIMO Endowment today is the largest university foundation in Russia. It provides support to students’ projects and their overseas internships.

In 2016, ZEvA, Germany’s first accreditation agency, evaluated and accredited all University’s undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In 2019, the Advisory Board of the MBA Association (AMBA) accredited the MBA and Executive MBA programs of the MGIMO Business School. The same year MGIMO joined the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) –the most revered professional association in management and business education.

In 2020, MGIMO began to implement a new Development Strategy designed for the University by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) - a top global management consulting firm.

The University places an increasingly pronounced premium on distance learning and digital technologies in education. Since 2016, MGIMO has been recording and publishing its online courses on Coursera and Stepik. As of today, they cumulatively feature 25 courses and micro-masters by MGIMO Faculty. The University’s LMS (learning management system) is powered by Moodle.

Over the years, more than 60,000 students have become MGIMO graduates including more than 12,000 foreign citizens from over 80 countries. The University has a unique Alumni Association which numbers more than 45,000 people and alumni clubs in nearly 40 countries. Among MGIMO graduates, there are three Presidents, 12 Foreign Ministers, eight Prime Ministers, and more than 1200 Ambassadors of Russia and other countries. MGIMO alumni are also well known as leaders of international companies in various sectors. Presidents of France and Greece, Chile and Ecuador, Serbia, and Guinea, Indonesia and Finland, Azerbaijan and Jordan, Prime Ministers of Japan and India, General Secretaries of the United Nations and UNESCO have accepted honorary doctorates from MGIMO and lectured to its students. Established in 1943, MGIMO University (Moscow State Institute of International Relations) is among the premier social science universities in Russia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and BRICS countries. In 1993, MGIMO pioneered Russia’s first ever international dual degree program with the French Sciences Po in Paris – and was the first to launch a full-fledged English-taught Bachelor’s program in International Affairs.