Hannah Kanu, from Sierra Leone, is a student of the Master’s in Law of International Trade and Dispute Resolution at HSE University. With 2024 coming to an end, the HSE News Service has asked students to reflect on the year gone by and their time at the university in general. In this instalment, Hannah talks about discovering Russia and the rewards and challenges of studying in Moscow—including the Russian word she finds the most difficult.

Polina Makarova initially planned to pursue a career in programming but soon shifted her focus to theoretical linguistics. In this interview with the HSE Young Scientists project, she discusses her research on grammatical agreement in the names of professions, the importance of emotional intelligence, and the benefits of keeping an eublepharid, or leopard gecko, as a pet.

Men are three times more likely than women to commit traffic violations while driving and to be involved in accidents. Perhaps it comes down to cultural norms and the different attitudes men and women have toward driving. These are the conclusions reached by Anton Kazun, Assistant Professor at the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences, and Research Assistant Mikhail Belov.

In the run-up to the New Year, HSE University is participating in the Wish Tree charitable initiative for the third time. The project brings together people eager to do good deeds. Students, professors, and staff can pick a bauble from the tree in the atrium of the Pokrovka campus and fulfil a child’s dream.

Dr Gerwin Schalk is a professor at Fudan University in Shanghai and a partner of the HSE Centre for Language and Brain. Dr Schalk is known as the creator of BCI2000, a brain-computer interface system. In this interview, he discusses modern neural interfaces, methods for post-stroke rehabilitation, a novel approach to neurosurgery, and shares his vision for the future of neurotechnology.

Ikenna Mbata, from Nigeria, is a student of the Master’s in Science, Technology and Innovation Management and Policy at ISSEK in Moscow. As part of a series of articles in which HSE students reflect over the past year and look to the future, Ikenna told the HSE News Service about the admissions process that led to him winning a full-tuition scholarship, how his courses are relevant to current events, and why learning Russian is not for the faint-hearted.

In support of World AIDS Day 2024, the HSE Spanish Club and the HSX Student Club organised a lecture in English dedicated to the fight against the disease in Russia and Spain. The event was attended by students from Spain, Bolivia, El Salvador, and Colombia.

As we look forward to 2025, FES professors have prepared a video message for students and colleagues. In this heartfelt address, they convey their warmest wishes, congratulations, and aspirations for a year filled with fruitful endeavors and remarkable accomplishments.

Researchers at the HSE Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience have investigated how the emotional impact of advertising affects the amount people willing to donate to support animal welfare. The findings indicate that willingness to donate is most accurately predicted by heart rate and facial muscle activation. The study has been published in Social Psychology.