USMF "Nicolae Testemițanu" ranks first among country’s universities for academic performance

Nicolae Testemițanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy (USMF) ranks first among the country’s universities in terms of academic performance and excellence, according to a ranking published by the Ministry of Education and Research (MEC).

The evaluation of universities was carried out based on 17 indicators grouped into four categories: quality of teaching, scientific research, internationalization and social orientation. Among these indicators are: the number of doctoral supervisors, the number of young teaching staff, graduates’ employability, research and innovation, and the internationalization of studies.

At USMF “Nicolae Testemițanu”, the highest number of doctoral supervisors is registered, representing 13% of the total number of teaching and teaching-research staff. At the same time, 25% of the academic staff are young specialists, which is the best result recorded.

The university also ranks first in terms of the number of students holding baccalaureate diplomas with an average grade of 8.0 or higher, accounting for 69% of the total number of candidates enrolled for the 2025–2026 academic year.

USMF “Nicolae Testemițanu” also occupies first place in the ranking for graduates’ employability, with a labor market insertion rate of 67%.

In the research and innovation, USMF “Nicolae Testemițanu” is the national leader in terms of the number of articles indexed in the Web of Science/Scopus databases and ranks third for the volume of research funds attracted from national and international projects, as well as from the Horizon Europe research program.

At the same time, the institution holds the top position for the number of foreign students and teaching staff who hold English/French language proficiency certificates at levels B2–C2.

In 2025, USMF “Nicolae Testemițanu” also invested the largest amount of its own financial resources in the modernization of student dormitories, compared to other higher education institutions – about 11 million lei.

According to the MEC, public higher education institutions that operate under financial autonomy (subordinated to the Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Culture) will receive in 2026 state budget allocations totaling 1.1 billion lei, about 108 million lei more than in 2025, in order to maintain and develop universities. Of this amount, over 198 million lei represents performance-based compensatory funding, depending on the indicators achieved – funds granted to support university excellence. For this reason, in 2026 the largest compensatory budget allocations will be directed to USMF “Nicolae Testemițanu”, in the amount of 43,538.78 lei.

In addition to compensatory performance funding, universities will receive money based on two other components: standard funding and complementary funding. Standard funding, amounting to over 827 million lei, is directed to the educational process, with an allocation per student of 19,900 lei, calculated on the basis of adjustment coefficients (study cycle, form of education, language of instruction and study program). At the same time, complementary funding, with a budget of over 77 million lei, is aimed at improving students’ quality of life: renovating dormitories, modernizing the material and teaching base, providing computers/software/equipment and supporting cultural and sports activities.