‘I Can Definitely Recommend HSE University to International Students’
Rakib Hassan Pran, from Bangladesh, is currently doing his Master’s in Applied Statistics with Network Analysis at the HSE International Laboratory for Applied Network Research. Before enrolling at HSE, Rakib worked in information security wing of a Bank (Exim Bank BD) in Bangladesh. He got a leave from his job to study at HSE University in Moscow.
Rakib Hassan Pran
I first learnt about HSE University after passing the first round of Open Door Scholarship Project—HSE university sent me an email, from which I came to know about the master’s programme that I'm studying in now.
Open Doors International Olympiad gives international students an opportunity to enroll in Master’s and doctoral programmes at leading Russian universities. Winners receive full-tuition scholarships in their chosen field of study. Registration for the Olympiad is open until December 10, 2020.
At the time, I was looking for master’s programmes in network analysis. I had found only a few universities in the whole world offering such programmes. So, I decided to apply to HSE University. It turned out that Russian government scholarships were not available for the programme of my choice, so I decided not to take part in the second round of Open Doors Olympiad as I’ve already passed the portfolio competition for HSE’s Master’s in Applied Statistics with Network Analysis. During the application process, I communicated a lot with an HSE representative, who was extremely helpful, so the whole process was quite smooth and well-organised.
I can definitely recommend HSE University to international students because it’s a good university as per world university ranking and has plenty of good research in a variety of fields.
The best side of my master’s programme is the connection between applied statistics and network science. In this programme, we not only study Machine Learning and Data Mining courses, but also Advanced Network Analysis. I found the combination of these three subjects very effective and useful in solving problems in information security. This is because besides working on information security data, you can also analyse the complex systems of information security through network science.
The techniques that we are learning in our master’s programme are not only effective in data analysis but also in operational research and management science.
Living in Russia
I can say that Moscow is a beautiful city. To me, metro is the most interesting part for Moscow daily life and I found the New Year eve in the Red Square to be the most wonderful event. I’m really looking forward to this year’s New Year celebration.
I haven’t learnt much Russian yet but I’ve picked up some words and phrases for everyday communication. I’ve also tried some typical Russian dishes—pelmeni (dumplings), kasha (oatmeal or other cereal), pirozhki (little pies), and ice cream are among some of my favourites.
Unfortunately, I haven't had any chance to travel across Russia but I hope to do so during my time here. I have been staying in the dorm most of the time—because of the pandemic. This year most of our classes are online. It’s easier to ‘go’ to such classes because you don’t actually need to travel anywhere but I do miss real life interaction with my classmates. However, we have a good student community at the dorm— I live in Dorm 9. I often socialize with other students outside classes. And in the dorm we often arrange parties, share our food, make different types of national dishes, play table tennis, talk a lot, and so on. The main thing is that we care about each other, which helps a lot in these difficult times.
International admissions are now open. You can submit your application online. To learn more about HSE University, its admission process, or life in Moscow, please visit International Admissions website, or contact the Education & Training Advisory Centre at: inter@hse.ru, or via WhatsApp at: +7 (916) 311 8521.