ПРОБЛЕМЫ МИРОХОЗЯЙСТВЕННОГО РАЗВИТИЯ BRICS COUNTRIES IN INTERNATIONAL INNOVATION RANKINGS I. Rodionova, А. <...> Massarova, A. Epifantseva Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia Miklukho-Maklaya str., 6, Moscow, Russia, 117198 The BRICS countries (China, Russia, Brazil, India and South Africa) are the largest emerging markets which are undergoing the processes of economic modernization and restructuring and taking the leading positions on many indicators on the global arena, extending beyond the regional scale. <...> In the article, the positions of the BRICS countries in the international rankings of innovation capabilities will be considered in comparison with the leaders of the global economy. <...> Key words: BRICS, R&D, information and communication technology (ICT), innovative economy, emerging markets, international rankings, university. <...> There are two countries with more than a billion people in the BRICS group — China and India. <...> They are hardly comparable by territory size and existing natural resources potential, although the resource potential of the rest of the BRICS is also very considerable for the world economy. <...> But, yet, among the key features, which unite BRICS countries, the following should be noted: significant economic growth rates, huge human capital (population and intellectual resources), absolute leadership in each of their geographic region, and, the most important, the ability to make a profound impact on the world economy in the next 20—30 years. <...> All BRICS countries are actively transforming, modernizing and rebuilding, becoming from the regional leaders into the largest players in the global arena. <...> The comparison of the positions of the leading countries of the world economy and the BRICS countries in international rankings of the innovation development (Knowledge Economy Index (KEI), Networked Readiness Index (NRI), Informational Society Index (ISI), Global Innovation Index (GII)) was held. <...> The aim of the research is to evaluate the position of BRICS countries in international rankings of innovation development; to show that technological development and introduction of ICT are the long-term driving forces for the countries’ economic growth in the context of globalization; to identify the problem sides of modernization process of the BRICS countries during the transformation to innovative development. <...> While analyzing the positions of the BRICS countries and their universities in international rankings, it is important to reveal what actions should be taken by them for being <...>