HSE University Welcomes New Members Hired Through International Recruiting Procedures
In December 2024, HSE University welcomed successful candidates for tenure-track positions and postdoctoral fellowships. This year, the university strengthened its teaching and research teams with 39 international faculty members, each holding a PhD from leading international institutions such as Maastricht University, the University of Pennsylvania, École Polytechnique, Xi'an Jiaotong University, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Hunan University, and many others.
The current intake includes 11 tenure-track professors and 28 post-doctoral researchers.
Vice Rector Alexey Koshel extended a warm welcome to the new international faculty and provided an overview of HSE University, highlighting its international faculty recruitment programmes and the career opportunities available to overseas candidates.
Professor Koshel pointed out that ‘HSE University, though relatively young, has already positioned itself as one of the leading universities both nationally and internationally. Founded in 1992, HSE started as a small economics school dedicated to preparing economists for the new Russia. Today HSE is a large, classical university with a broad spectrum of fields and over 60,000 students across four campuses—Moscow, St Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, and Perm along with the online campus. I would also like to mention that the current international faculty recruitment campaign has experienced a surge in applications, indicating the first increase since the post-Covid-19 pandemic period.’
HSE University remains deeply committed to internationalisation, both in education and research. HSE actively encourages international specialists to publish in top peer-reviewed journals and seeks to expand collaboration with global partners and researchers from various countries.
The university is continuously enhancing its international recruitment programmes, namely:
Tenure Track Recruitment (launched in 2006);
the Postdoctotral Fellowship Programme (established in 2013);
the Part-Time Senior Programme (introduced in 2017);
the Digital Professors Programme (established in 2020).
These initiatives aim to attract leading international professionals to conduct research and teaching at HSE, including via remote environments.
‘The 2025/26 International Tenure-Track and Postdoctoral Fellowship recruitment are well underway, and we expect applications from PhD graduates of leading international universities worldwide,’ noted Deputy Vice Rector Ekaterina German.
Towards the conclusion of the meeting, Professor Koshel encouraged the newly appointed faculty members to fully engage with university life through their research, publications, teaching, and involvement in committees and dissertation councils.
Participants expressed positive impressions after the meeting.
Dr Pietro Shakarian, Research Fellow, Centre for Historical Research, HSE Campus in St Petersburg
‘I joined HSE University-St Petersburg in 2022 as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Historical Research. The St Petersburg campus has a strong reputation for being a centre for the study of multiethnic Russian history, which is my scientific focus. When I arrived in Petersburg, I found a history department that was extremely innovative, creative, and dynamic. I should add that I made friends very easily with my Russian colleagues, most of whom are my age. Once I began the third year of my postdoctoral fellowships, the question arose about my future. I considered several variants, including pursuing job positions in the West, in particular in the US. However, I soon found that no option was as good as what I already had at HSE Petersburg.
I must say that I enjoyed the meeting with Vice Rector Alexey Koshel. Overall, the meeting itself was very well-organised and I learned much about the university, its international standing, and the procedures for hiring and promoting faculty. It was very good to learn that HSE Moscow is interested in my research as well, and that Moscow appreciates the work that I am doing here!’
Dr Sabarathinam Srinivasan, Assistant Professor, School of Data Analysis and Artificial Intelligence, Faculty of Computer Science
‘I began my journey at HSE University in 2021 as a postdoctoral researcher in the Faculty of Computer Science. Over three intellectually rewarding years, I delved into complex systems modelling and control, contributing several research articles aligned with the themes of my laboratory. My decision to join HSE University stemmed from its strong commitment to interdisciplinary research and its vibrant academic ecosystem, which perfectly complemented my interests in mathematical modelling, artificial intelligence, and time series analysis. During this time, I had the privilege of learning from esteemed professors and researchers whose guidance has been invaluable to my career growth.
The transition from a postdoctoral researcher to a tenure-track faculty position has been both challenging and fulfilling. It required showcasing significant research contributions, building a robust teaching portfolio, fostering collaborative networks, and aligning my work with the university’s strategic goals. I deeply appreciate the support and opportunities HSE University provided throughout this journey. In my current role, my research emphasises advancing data analysis and artificial intelligence, focusing on areas such as language modelling, time series prediction and forecasting, and addressing critical questions in AI. I am also eager to initiate and engage in collaborative projects both within and beyond the university, contributing to a broader research impact.
Reflecting on the recent meeting with the respected vice rector, I found the discussion to be both inspiring and thought-provoking. The vice rector articulated a compelling vision for fostering academic excellence and supporting faculty development, which deeply resonated with me. His comprehensive responses to the questions raised during the meeting were enlightening and demonstrated the administration’s dedication to transparency. His remarks reinforced the university’s commitment to innovation and its efforts to cultivate a dynamic and inclusive environment for research and teaching, strengthening my enthusiasm for contributing to HSE’s mission.’
Dr Mikhail Strokan, Assistant Professor, School of Politics and Governance, Faculty of Social Sciences
‘I always intended to pursue a career as a global scholar, and during the past 10 years I was lucky to receive my training in some world-class programmes: I was admitted to the number one department of public administration in the US (and the world at the time) for a master's programme at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University, worked at various global think-tanks, and finished a rigorous PhD programme at a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia—the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). This professional and educational background opened a variety of future career paths for me; however, in the present tense geopolitical environment, it just felt right that I should be in my home country during this critical historical time. I felt that my diverse experience, training, and skills would be best applied for the benefit of Russia.
There is only a handful of top universities in Russia where political science is studied at a world-class level, and in my view, HSE University is the leading institution among them. By the time I was about to finish my PhD programme, I had no qualms about where I wanted to work.
I believe that HSE University is precisely the place where I can realise all of my research and teaching potential: it has a vibrant environment, highly professional and like-minded scholars and intellectuals, and it is a university with a strong international reputation and a commitment to academic excellence with a global outreach.
The hiring process also struck me by its seriousness and professional approach. I conducted several successful job talks at prestigious US universities and can compare that experience with going through the hiring process at HSE and I can attest that it was very similar to the top global programmes, especially in terms of transparency.
Recently, the cohort of newly admitted tenure-track assistant professors was able to meet with Vice Rector Prof. Alexei Koshel and ask him any work-related or personal questions directly. Prof. Koshel shared his vision of HSE University’s uniqueness and success strategy. This meeting proved helpful and answered many questions of mine about career opportunities in the HSE University system for scholars with foreign degrees: the vice rector listed many examples where rapid career promotions for such faculty became a possibility and promised to assist in the realisation of all ambitious plans.’