Rankings as a tool for the integration of universities into the global education space

The results of analysis of world and Russian university rankings are presented in this article. We have identified the causes, factors and criteria that have a decisive impact on improvement of the ranking positions of a university. It has been determined that a new model of interaction between government, business, and various industries - modern powerful scientific innovation clusters - is capable of becoming the breakthrough mechanism that can bring Russian universities to the world rankings. The main breakthrough mechanisms to improve university position in the global world rankings have been determined through the example of Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod - National Research University.