AbstractThe article deals with the innovative capacity of Russia's higher schools and its influence on the socioeconomic development of the region and the country as a whole. It analyzes the activity of five Russian universities and ranks them on the basis of such criteria as innovative institutional structure, number of publications, human and intellectual resources, etc. The analysis revealed the weaknesses and strengths of the universities and served as a ground for recommendations on enhancing the state policy in the sphere of managing the innovative activity of Russia's higher schools