Jorge Luis Méndez-Martínez, Research Fellow at the International Laboratory for Logic, Linguistics and Formal Philosophy, was named the winner of a competition of the National Council for Sciences, Technology and Humanities of Mexico. The HSE News Service talked to Mr Méndez-Martínez about the competition, his projects,and how playing the guitar helps him conduct research.

Crafts master classes, fencing sessions, and folk singing lessons—discover these and much more on the Where History Is website created by Maria Ukolova, Project Head of the Youth Policy Laboratory at HSE University. Maria spoke to the HSE News Service about the new project.

Ekaterina Alexandrova, Academic Supervisor of the Egyptology programme at HSE University, has studied the funerary practices of ancient Egyptians. Traditionally, it was believed that Egyptian religion was built on the fear of death. However, an analysis of texts reveals that ancient Egyptian beliefs were not merely reflections of a fear of death, but a complex system aimed at preserving order and stability both in life and the afterlife.

In competitions, esports players, like other athletes, face stress and show worse results due to pressure. This effect, however, is mitigated in online competitions compared to live events. A study by a team of authors from HSE University’s Moscow and Perm campuses and European University Viadrina explores the phenomenon of choking under pressure within the context of esports.

Researchers from HSE University have introduced a new tool to assist in building career paths—the Jobs and Skills Navigator. This service ranks available vacancies and the corresponding skills in the context of current labour market requirements. It aims to simplify the identification of competencies needed for mastering a new profession and streamline interactions between employers and job seekers.

Han Zhang, from China, has worked at the International Laboratory for Evaluation of Practices and Innovations in Education at HSE University-Moscow since 2023. In October 2024, she successfully defended her PhD thesis on the relationship between collaborative peer editing and the quality of academic writing in a second language. She spoke with the HSE News Service about why she chose to join HSE University and how her research can be used to improve student writing performance.

On November 23, 2024, the final round of the Innovations in Education Contest took place, marking the 11th season of the initiative that unites innovators in education. The competition is organised by HSE University and Alfa-Bank. This year’s event was the largest in its history, with over 1,000 applications from more than 3,000 participants across all federal districts of Russia. The final showcased 12 innovative projects, with winners receiving awards, including the grand prize of 1 million roubles.

Learning Russian is one of the challenges international students face when they come to Russia. HSE University helps them not only with Russian classes, but with informal events such as the Russian Speaking Club, where they can absorb the language in a relaxed and non-competitive setting. The HSE News Service talked to the organisers and participants of the club about their impressions of the first meeting and plans for the future.

In early November, HSE University hosted an autumn school and a conference on logical pluralism as part of a collaborative project uniting Russian and Brazilian philosopher-logicians and mathematician-logicians. The project’s leaders and participants, Elena Dragalina-Chernaya, Itala Loffredo D'Ottaviano, Marcelo Esteban Coniglio, and Evandro Luis Gomes, shared their insights about the initiative.