The HSE-NES Undergraduate program in economics offers admitted students a wide range of courses in economics, mathematics, social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences and is thus one of the most popular undergraduate programs in Russia. Since 2011, two-thirds of the winners of the All-Russia High School Competition in Economics – who are, by law, guaranteed admission to any undergraduate economics program in Russia – have chosen HSE-NES. The program provides a superlative opportunity to network with the future intellectual leaders of Russia and beyond. Besides, with a strong Western liberal arts orientation, HSE-NES aims to tailor the learning experience for every student through small class sizes and frequent interactions between students and faculty via advising, tutoring, and supervised independent research. Our faculty are focused not only on students’ learning but also on the development of their social skills, critical thinking, and communication abilities.  While the economics curriculum covers the more universal questions in economics, it also includes courses in social sciences and humanities that address the subfields of transitions economics, economic and cultural history of Eastern Europe, political studies of the post-Soviet regime, and Russian history and literature.  In addition, the faculty includes established experts in these disciplines. More than 20% of the program alumni go on to the graduate program at top Western as well as top Russian universities

According to the educational standard of 2014

The graduate of the program is ready to solve the following professional tasks:

a) design and economic activities:

- preparation of initial data for carrying out calculations of economic and socio-economic indicators characterizing the activities of economic entities;

- carrying out calculations of economic and socio-economic indicators based on standard methods, taking into account the current regulatory framework;

- development of economic sections of the plans of enterprises of various forms of ownership, organizations, departments, etc.;

b) analytical and research activities:

- critical understanding of empirical processes in the economy and the financial sector, theoretical and applied methods of their analysis; - search for information, collection and analysis of data necessary for carrying out specific economic calculations;

- processing of arrays of economic data in accordance with the task, analysis, evaluation, interpretation of the results obtained and justification of the conclusions;

- construction of theoretical and econometric models of the studied processes, phenomena and objects related to the field of professional activity, analysis and interpretation of the results obtained;

- analysis and interpretation of indicators characterizing socio-economic processes and phenomena at the micro and macro levels both in Russia and abroad;

- preparation of information reviews, analytical reports;

- conducting statistical surveys, surveys, questionnaires and processing their results; - systematic study of economic and social processes using the necessary tools for quantitative and qualitative analysis;

- participation in the development of design solutions in the field of professional activity, preparation of proposals and activities for the implementation of the developed projects and programs;

c) organizational and managerial activities:

- participation in the development of options for management decisions, justification of their choice based on the criteria of socio-economic efficiency, taking into account the risks and possible socio-economic consequences of the decisions made;

- organization of the execution of the assigned stage of work;

- operational management of small brigades and groups formed for the implementation of a specific economic project;

- participation in the preparation and adoption of decisions on the organization of management and improvement of the activities of economic services and divisions of enterprises of various forms of ownership, organizations, departments, etc. subject to legal, administrative and other restrictions.

According to the educational standard 2019, a graduate of the program has the following professional competencies:

- Able to set research economic tasks in the scientific or practical field (PC-1).

- Able to build and analyze theoretical and econometric models, meaningfully interpret the results obtained (PC-2).

- is able to analyze and interpret financial, accounting and other information contained in the statements of enterprises of various forms of ownership, organizations, departments, etc.; knows how to use such analysis to find and make optimal management decisions (PC-3).

- Able to formulate and substantiate his own point of view on the socio-economic processes in Russia and the world. Able to analyze socially significant problems and processes taking place in society, and predict their possible development in the future (PC-4).

- Able to present the results of analytical and research activities, including using modern technical means and information technologies (PC-5).

- Able to be guided by the principles of professional honesty and social responsibility in professional activities (PC-6).

Graduates of the educational program (regardless of the edition of the educational standard) are ready to work in large national companies and branches of foreign firms, in large Russian and transnational banks and insurance companies, in government organizations and government agencies, in Russian and international audit and consulting companies, in research centers and marketing services.

Graduates are able to work with the key theoretical concepts of modern economics and possess the technical skills required to conduct fundamental economic research.

Graduates can use their knowledge of economics to solve practical problems that will arise in their future work.

Graduates are able to think critically, that is, they do not take on faith the ideas and concepts proposed by them, but question them and are able to analyze them in the appropriate social, historical and theoretical context.

Graduates are able to speak and write fluently and competently not only in Russian, but also in English. Graduates are able to present and defend their ideas and research results in various formats (scientific article, analytical report, etc.), understand the differences between these formats, and know how to choose the right format for a given situation.

Alumni of the program are intolerant of all forms of fraud, including plagiarism and cheating.

Duration of study: 4 years (8 semesters).

The academic program consists of the "core" of mandatory economic and mathematical courses and English language courses, as well as a set of special economic courses and a set of elective courses from a variety of disciplines.

The core of Economics and mathematics plus special courses make up about half of the course load in four years, and the other half are English courses and General elective courses.

Mathematics is the part of the core, as modern economic science is a rather heavily mathematized discipline. Special emphasis is made on the study of optimization methods necessary for the study of economic theory, as well as the theory of probability and mathematical statistics used intensively in econometric courses.

English is part of the core, as a modern economist cannot do without knowledge of English, no matter what field of activity he chooses. Fluency in English is a mandatory requirement for graduates of our program.

The core of the program provides the basic knowledge of the student in the field of Economics, Mathematics and English, sufficient to listen to special advanced courses offered in the third and fourth years of study, including taught in English.

 Economics: 

• Introduction to Economics (1st semester), 5 credits
• Microeconomics (2nd and 3rd semesters), 11 credits
• Macroeconomics (3rd and 4th semesters), 12 credits
• Econometrics (5th semester), 6 credits

Mathematics: 

• Calculus (1st and 3rd semester), 13 credits
• Linear algebra (2nd semester), 6 credits
• Probability theory and mathematical statistics (4th semester), 6 credits

 English:

• English for beginners, 12 credits
• Intermediate English, 12 credits
• Advanced English courses (at least two semesters of the student's choice), 12 credits

Courses for beginners and advanced students must be completed within the first two years of study. Students who are proficient in English at a sufficient level may be exempted from the first or first two levels of the according to the test results. In this case they must take other courses of their choice to the same extent. All students should take two advanced courses.

Special economic courses

These courses provide depth of knowledge in Economics, sufficient to enable the student to continue their studies at the master level or to start analytical work in the field of Economics immediately after the bachelor's degree. These courses are offered mainly in the third and fourth year, although some may be taken earlier, depending on what prior knowledge of microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics and mathematics the teacher of a particular course requires.

The student must complete at least seven courses from the following indicative list (6 credits each):

• Development Economics
• Economic Growth Theory
• Labor Economics
• International Macroeconomics
• International Trade
• Public Economics
• Introduction to Finance
• Institutional Economics
• The Theory of Industrial Organization
• Economic History
• Contracts, Information and Incentives in Organizations
• Behavioral and Experimental Economics
• Economics of Natural Resources
• Economics of Information
• Law and Economics
• Times Series Econometrics
• Financial Instruments and Portfolio Management
• Game Theory
• Recent Advances in Auction Theory
• Applied Microeconometrics
• Fundamentals of Business Analysis

Data Culture

The aim of Data Culture courses is to provide the undergrads insight into the latest technologies used in data analysis. The students of the Joint HSE & NES Program in Economics are offered with the following list of courses:

·        Data Science – 6 credits, mandatory course at the 2^nd year of study

·        Machine Learning – 6 credits, elective course for 2^nd-4^th year students

General elective courses

General elective courses are designed to ensure that the student has a broad education and a good understanding of the disciplines beyond the economic and mathematical profile. This breadth is necessary for the overall development of the individual, and for his professional development – modern economic science and practice in contact with almost any sphere of activity.

The specific choice of courses and the time of their listening is determined by the student in the learning process.

The student must attend at least one course in history and one in philosophy. At the same time, several courses within these disciplines may be offered.

The student has the right to replace the rest of the General elective courses with additional special courses in Economics and mathematics, with the approval of the co-Directors of the program.

The list of General elective courses varies each year and is largely dependent on the research interests of the professors reading these courses (including visiting professors). These courses are social science disciplines (history, law, sociology, political science, psychology, demography), natural science and mathematical disciplines (logic, information computer systems, differential equations, optimal control, game theory, risk theory), Humanities (literature, history of religions, history of art). 

Each General elective course weighs 6 credits and thus has the same weight and importance for each semester as the specialized courses.

General scheme of the program

The student must gain 60 credits each year. Thus, a student must take five courses each semester for the first three years and three courses for the fourth year.

During the first two years of study, a student can take no more than two courses in one field of study in each semester, including mandatory courses (to find the field of study for the courses please consult the course catalog of the program).

Requirements for the implementation of the academic program

The student in the process of learning creates an individual academic program, which must meet the following requirements.

To obtain a diploma, a student is obliged to gain 240 credits in four years.

The student is also required to meet the following requirements for academic courses:

Economics: ECON 110, 201-206 (in specific semesters specified in the catalog) and at least seven elective courses.

Mathematics: MATH 110, 112, 210-212 (in specific semesters specified in the catalog. The student may be exempted from the requirement to attend the course of MATH 110 (Calculus-1) based on the results of testing conducted before the start of training. In this case, he/she can instead of the course MATH 110 (Calculus-1) register for the course MAT-211 (Mathematical analysis-2), or take any other course of choice.

English: English 101-102 not later than the first year (12 credits), ENGLISH 201-202 not later than the second year (12 credits) and two courses of the 300th level at any time in the learning process (12 credits).

According to the results of testing conducted before the start of training, the student can be exempted from the requirement to listen to ENGLISH courses 101-102 and 201-202.

If a student is exempted from the courses of ENGLISH 101-102 on the results of testing, it is strongly recommended to take the courses of ENGLISH 201-202 in the first year of study.

If the test results the student was released from the courses of ENGLISH 201-202, he/she is obliged to take the course of ENGLISH 301 (Academic writing) to listen to other courses of the 300th level in English.

General courses: 6 credits in history (HIST) and philosophy (PHILOS).

This degree programme of HSE University is adapted for students with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities. There is a specially designed Physical Education course available for such students (Syllabus of the adapted Physical Education course). Special assistive technology and teaching aids are used for collective and individual learning of students with SEN and disabilities. The specific adaptive features of the programme are listed in each subject's full syllabus and are available to students through the online Learning Management System.

All documents of the degree programme are stored electronically on this website. Curricula, calendar plans, and syllabi are developed and approved electronically in corporate information systems. Their current versions are automatically published on the website of the degree programme. Up-to-date teaching and learning guides, assessment tools, and other relevant documents are stored on the website of the degree programme in accordance with the local regulatory acts of HSE University.

I hereby confirm that the degree programme documents posted on this website are fully up-to-date.

Vice Rector Sergey Yu. Roshchin

Summary of Degree Programme 'HSE/NES Programme in Economics'