Lev I. Jakobson

The first Regional State of Volunteering in Central Asia Review was presented at the UN Headquarters in New York as part of the annual High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. The preparation of this document included the research conducted by the HSE Centre for Studies of Civil Society and the Nonprofit Sector (CSCSNS), with Viacheslav Ivanov, the Chief Expert of the Centre, serving as the lead author of the review.

Evgeny Styrin, Head of the International Laboratory for Digital Transformation in Public Administration, took part in a round table on the topic "Theories and methods of public Administration research: current trends", organized by the journal "Issues of Public and Municipal Administration", including its editor-in-chief, Vice President of the Higher School of Economics L.I. Yakobson.

On March 19, the HSE Staff and Student Conference, which was attended by 727 delegates, took place at the Russia Expo. At the event, a vote for 87 candidates to the elected part of the HSE Academic Council was held, all of which received the required number of votes.

HSE University academics held a discussion with Maxim Oreshkin, presidential aide and graduate of the HSE University, as part of theXXIII Yasin (April) International Academic Conference. They talked about the current socioeconomic situation and the future of Russia's development. The discussion was moderated by HSE Academic SupervisorYaroslav Kuzminov.

What risks is the Russian financial system facing today? What is the Central Bank of Russia going to do to mitigate them? Why do we need a high key rate? Has the regulator changed its approach to the building of forex reserves? Will the regulator remain hawkish on cryptocurrencies? Ksenia Yudaeva, First Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Russia, answered these and other questions during a round table entitled ‘Russia’s Financial Sector under New Global Conditions’. The event was held as part of the XXIII Yasin (April) International Academic Conference.

In October, HSE University held the 10th Conference of Civil Society Researchers, organized by the Centre for Studies of Civil Society and Nonprofit Sector. The main topic of this anniversary forum was ‘The impact of the crisis on the development of the nonprofit sector and citizen self-organization in Russia: New realities and prospects’. The conference was co-organized by the Association "European University for Volunteering" (EUV) and the United Nations Volunteers Programme (UNV), a long-time partner of the centre.

On April 30, the XXII April International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development came to a close. This year it was organized jointly by HSE University and Sberbank, and the majority of the events were held online. HSE Vice President and Conference Programme Committee Deputy Chair Lev Yakobson spoke with HSE News Service about his initial takeaways from the event and its new format.

Experts believe that increasing productivity, diversifying the economy, as well as developing human capital and expanding non-resource exports will help boost Russia's economic growth. But the state policy has to be smart. This was discussed at a series of round tables and expert discussions on the topic of productivity at the XXII April International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development, organised by HSE University and Sberbank.

From April 13 to 30, HSE University is hosting the XXII April International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development, one of the most important annual events in Russian humanities. Profile talked to Lev Jakobson, co-chair of the conference organising committee and vice president of HSE University, about the challenges that researchers face today.

At the HSE’s XXII April International Academic Conference, Bart van Ark, Professor of Productivity Studies at the Alliance Manchester Business School and the Managing Director of the Productivity Institute (the University of Manchester), will deliver an honorary lecture ‘Perspectives on Productivity: Benefits to Economy, Business, Workers and Society’ on April 14. He will also be participating in the roundtable on Productivity, Diversification and Sustainable Economic Growth. The roundtable will be held on April 15 and will be chaired by Professor Jakobson.

As it entered its third decade of existence this year, HSE University’s annual April Conference experienced a first: it was held in an online distributed format. HSE News Service spoke with organizers and participants about the event.

On April 7, 2020, the XXI April International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development, organized by HSE University together with the World Bank, commenced. This year, the conference will be held in a distributed format.

Lev Jacobson, Deputy Head of the April Conference Programme Committee, explains the changes to the conference format.

HSE University, represented by the Center for Studies of Civil Society and the Nonprofit Sector, and the United Nations Volunteer Programme (UNV) signed a partnership agreement, under which they will regularly exchange information, carry out joint research, as well as organize conferences and other events.

Students, faculty, and alumni of HSE University and Erasmus University Rotterdam gathered to celebrate the 25th anniversary of educational cooperation between the two universities. Attendees reminisced about the past, discussed the future, and explored career opportuntiies at a roundtable, 'Building a Career with EUR'. The newly renovated Pokrovka complex in Moscow was one of many surprises for the participants, which included representatives of Nuffic Neso Russia and Erasmus University alumni.

On June 8, the conference ‘The State and the Charities: Together to a Common Goal’ took place at HSE. It was organized together with the Agency of Social Information, the Donor Forum, and the Blagosfera Centre. Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister of Russia, and Tatyana Golikova, Vice Prime Minister of Russia, took part in the conference.

Slower GDP growth rates over the last several years were brought about by changes on international markets and the exhaustion of transformational bonuses due to the transition from a planned economy to a market economy, and this slowdown proves the necessity of looking for new solutions for stimulating the economy. The authors of the paper ‘Structural Changes in the Russian Economy and Structural Policy’ conducted a large-scale analysis on structural policy in Russia and around the world, as well as on possible ways for this policy to develop further. The first presentation of the paper took place as part of the plenary session called ‘Structural Policy in Russia: New Conditions and a Possible Agenda,’ which closed out HSE’s XIX April International Academic Conference.

The search for consensus on antitrust law in the digital age, when traditional instruments stop working, is a complex affair. Participants in the plenary session ‘A New Phase of Antimonopoly Policy: Presenting the 5^th Antimonopoly Package’ at the HSE’s XIX April International Academic Conference, engaged in heated debate about the potential consequences of introducing fundamentally new legislative norms.

Budget policy remains one of the government’s key tools for improving quality of life and solving problems concerning poverty and inequality. But in order for the budget to grow, additional sources of revenue are needed. The first plenary session of the XIX April International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development featured a discussion of what these sources might look like.

Lead analyst at the HSE’s Institute of Social Policy Lidia Prokofieva and HSE Professor at the Faculty of Physics Alexei Starobinsky have been honored by the French government for their contribution to science and education.

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.

From May 24 – 25, 2016, HSE hosted an international human rights conference dedicated to the 20^th anniversary of Russia’s accession to the Council of Europe. The conference entitled ‘Human Rights Education and Research in the Promotion of the Council of Europe Standards’ was organized by HSE (Department of Theory and History of Law), the Council of Europe, and the Presidential Council on the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC). The forum attracted Russian lawyers and professors involved in human rights studies, their colleagues in Europe, as well as officials and diplomats involved in Russia’s accession to and work in the Council of Europe.

Three HSE journals — Public Administration Issues (Voprosy Gosudarstvennogo i Munitsypal’nogo Upravleniya), Psychology. Journal of the Higher School of Economics (Psychologiya. Zhurnal Vysshey Shkoly Economiki) and The Russian Sociological Review (Sociologicheskoye Obozreniye) — are to be indexed by Scopus. The editorial boards of these journals have already been officially notified by Elsevier.

The XVII April International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development hosted by the HSE with support from the World Bank will start in Moscow on April 19th, 2016. Deputy Chairmen of the Conference Programme Committee Lev Jakobson and Andrei Yakovlev discuss the new format of the April Conference’s plenary sessions and share their views on some of the new themes and particularly noteworthy guest speakers.

On December 23, 2015, the 15^th Golden HSE Award ceremony took place at the Central House of Artists.

A conference at HSE on 11th & 12th November discussed the issue of relations between the state and non-profit organisations. In the column ‘An Academic’s View’ HSE Vice-RectorLev Jakobson considers how to approach this problem as subject matter for academic discussion.

The chapter ‘Giving in Russia: The Difficult Shaping of the New Nonprofit Regime’ was published in the monograph ‘The Palgrave Handbook of Global Philanthropy’ (Palgrave Macmillan).

On April 24, Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia (2008-2012) John Beyrle gave a lecture at the Higher School of Economics on American and Soviet cooperation in the Second World War. The lecture also commemorated the 70^th anniversary of Elbe Day, when Soviet and American troops met at the River Elbe on April 25, 1945.

On 28 November, the Higher School of Economics, together with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Russian Federation held the conference “Enhancing the effectiveness and performance of public civil servants”. The conference was a practical event and was devoted to planned innovations in HR technologies and the public civil service.
More than 350 people took part in the conference, predominantly heads of HR departments in federal and regional authorities and representatives of the majority of scientific and educational establishments engaged in issues pertaining to public services.

At a meeting of the HSE Academic Сouncil on October 31, five members of the University staff were given awards recognizing their achievements at HSE.

The new makeup of the Expert Council to the Russian government has been confirmed. It includes 366 members, 23 of whom are HSE staff.

The Third Summer School of the HSE’s Centre for Studies of Civil Society and the Nonprofit Sector (CSCSNS) took place in July. Its topic was ‘Theoretical and Empirical Studies of Social Innovation as a factor for Developing Civil Society, the Nonprofit Sector, and Volunteerism’.

At a meeting of HSE’s Academic Council on May 30, Evgeny Yasin was reelected as the university’s academic supervisor, and Alexander Shokhin — as HSE’s president.

Today, HSE Academic Supervisor Evgeny Yasin celebrates his 80th birthday. The HSE News Service congratulates him, and in honour of the celebration, is publishing an extract from Andrey Kolesnikov’s book ‘Dialogues with Evgeny Yasin’.

On June 26, 2013, a conference ‘Studying Institutions and Development in Russia: New Data and New Approaches’ began at the HSE. Andrey Yakovlev, Director of the HSE Institute for Industrial and Market Studies, told us about the aims and purpose of the conference.

The XIV HSE April International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development started in Moscow on April 2, 2013. HSE Academic Supervisor Evgeniy Yasin addressed the first plenary session on the Global Economic Crisis and the Russian Economy.

On 13 September the Higher School of Economics presented the report On development of an anti-corruption declaration system in Russia, prepared using research conducted at the HSE Institute of Public and Municipal Management.
Discussion of the report involved representatives of the Presidential Administration, the Government Office, key ministries and departments, the Accounts Chamber, the relevant committees of the State Duma and Federation Council, and expert and business communities.

The list of members of the Expert Council under the RF Government has been approved. Its 200 members include staff from the Higher School of Economics.

On June 19^th Charles Buxton, manager of regional programmes in Central Asia and post-Soviet countries of the International NGO Training & Research Centre — INTRAC, spoke at the HSE on ‘Civil Society at a Crossroads: View from the Development Sector’ at a seminar organized by the HSE Center for Studies of Civil Society and Nonprofit Sector (CSCSNS).

The Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, has awarded honours to some researchers from the Higher School of Economics for their work on the Strategy 2020 expert groups, including organization of the groups, the preparation of suggestions on topical issues for Russian socio-economic strategy up to 2020 and their personal input into the expert and analytical work

On June 28^th the international APPAM (Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management) conference ‘Improving the Effectiveness of Public Services’ started at the HSE. The event was organized by the HSE Faculty of Public Administration and the University of Maryland School of Public Policy.

On May 30^th a meeting of the International Advisory Committee of the HSE Development Programme took place at the HSE. The committee was formed in early 2010 and this was its first full assembly.