SUMMARY
During the past few years, politicians and higher education institutions have developed the concept of excellence. Global university rankings as a measuring and evaluating tool of institutions and their activities have stimulated this concept and pushed the national governments to reshaping and strengthening policies for so-called world-class universities. The focus on enhancing institutions’ competitiveness causes, by necessity, the studying of external experience in implementing successful initiatives. A comparative analysis, which is of great interest for Russia, allows to take reasonable policy decisions about quality in higher education and on science and technology and related policies. The following article examines the way excellence is pursued in higher education systems of developed/developing countries. Concentrating resources available they are engaged in establishing or maintaining “Centers of Excellence” as a prestige arrangement for educational activities in higher education. The authors considers efforts of Germany, Spain, France, Finland, Turkey and others to achieve excellence and competitiveness and the first steps of Russian Universities to enter top-100 in world university rankings (The Russian Academic Excellence Project 5-100). The paper examines position of Kazan Federal University, its strategy, mission and results, comparative perspectives of ‘accounting of foreign experience’.