Elena Vakulenko

More than 200 future bachelor’s and master’s students from around the world spent the last two weeks of summer improving their mathematical knowledge and honing their problem-solving skills. The free online classes have been held for the fourth year in a row. They allow first-year students not only to succeed in their studies, research, and project activities at HSE University’s Faculty of Economic Sciences (FES), but also to quickly integrate into the international community of students, graduates, and teachers.

This year, HSE University held the Mirror Laboratories project contest for the fourth time. A total of 19 applications were submitted to the contest from 16 HSE University research departments partnered with 16 organisations from 14 Russian regions. Following the contest results, 10 research projects received support.

The cost of apartments in Vladivostok, the volatility of cryptocurrencies, the consumption of ferrous metals in different countries, the communications of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, the results of state motherhood support measures — these and many other diverse issues were covered in theses by ‘Economic Analysis’ graduates, which they defended in mid-June.

Is it possible to study economics and programming at the same time, and more importantly, why is it necessary? Arina Ogurtsova is studying on HSE University’s full-time online Master’s programme in Economic Analysis while also taking the Python Developer course at Yandex Practicum. In their interview, Arina and the staff of the programmes talk about how economics and IT are inseparable and why combining disciplines is useful.

Experts have calculated that the number of international students in Russia has grown six times over the last decade, and researchers say that many of those who are studying today would like to stay in the country. This, alongside issues such as why Google Trends are worth looking into, were covered at the HSE XXIV Yasin International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development section on demography and labour markets.

In the last two weeks of summer, the HSE University Faculty of Economic Sciences invites future bachelor’s and master’s students to prepare for their upcoming studies. More than 200 international and Russian applicants have signed up for online classes in mathematics, probability theory, and statistics. The classes also allow first-year students to advance their academic achievements, build a foundation for getting involved in the faculty’s research and project activity, and foster cooperation between Russian and foreign students.

In a webinar for the Faculty of Economic Sciences, Professor Konstantin Sonin talked about the impact of income, social status and political beliefs on mask-wearing compliance, social distancing and willingness to get vaccinated.

In 2010, HSE University launched the Full-time Advanced Doctoral Programme, an innovative programme for doctoral students at that time. At the beginning of 2021, an alumna of the programme’s first cohort became the first programme graduate to earn her Doctor of Sciences degree: Elena Vakulenko, Assistant Professor at HSE University’s Faculty of Economic Sciences. In an interview with HSE News Service, the professor discussed her academic career.

Vladimir Podolskii, Head of HSE’s Big Data and Information Retrieval School, and Elena Vakulenko, Assistant Professor at the Department of Applied Economics, have both received awards for research in mathematics and labour studies, respectively.

The 12^th International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) Conference took place in Stockholm and was entitled ‘The Third Sector in Transition:Accountability, Transparency, and Social Inclusion’. The conference is held biannually and is a major academic event in its field.