International Partnerships in 2025

On March 5, 2025, the HSE campus on Pokrovka hosted a meeting on the development of the university's international partnerships. Representatives of the internationalisation subdivisions informed staff responsible for international activities across all university campuses about the current state and prospects of scientific and academic cooperation with foreign partners. They also presented a study titled ‘Priority Directions for Partnership Development in Distant Foreign Countries Amid the Formation of a New Global Order.’ More than 90 staff members participated in the meeting, including those attending online.

In her opening remarks, HSE Vice Rector Victoria Panova outlined the strategic directions, key goals, and priorities of the university’s internationalisation subdivisions. These include maintaining the trend of expanding partnership geography and strengthening cooperation with leading universities across different world regions. She also highlighted the importance of collaborative efforts and their tangible results: ‘Despite working under conditions of geopolitical instability and ongoing challenges for Russian education, we strive to enhance HSE University's global standing. Together, we conduct international-level research and expand the geography of our partnerships with leading scientific and educational institutions.’

Among the key priorities, Victoria Panova also emphasised the launch of new double-degree programmes, the promotion of mirror laboratory projects, the establishment of new inter-university consortia, and the recruitment of top international specialists and talented students. ‘Our goal is not only to strengthen HSE University's position as the best university in Russia and make it one of the world's leading educational centres but also to provide every student with the opportunity to gain unique international experience—at least once—visiting a foreign educational institution through a mobility programme,’ she recalled, echoing the words of Rector Nikita Anisimov.

Ksenia Shevtsova, Head of the HSE International Partnerships Office, outlined the priority countries for partnership development and provided recommendations on selecting and working with partners. She also highlighted that the university maintains cooperation and exchange agreements with its partners, covering double-degree programmes, academic exchanges, and scientific collaboration. ‘Currently, HSE University has 403 active agreements. The leading regions include the CIS, China, European countries, Japan, India, Brazil, South Korea, Turkey, Vietnam, and Mexico,’ stated Ksenia Shevtsova. She added that over the past two years, HSE has expanded its partnership geography and established connections with top universities in several countries, including Vietnam, India, China, Iran, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Indonesia, and Malaysia. For example, in the past year, HSE University has gained new partners from Oman, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Ghana, the Dominican Republic, and Turkmenistan.

Kirill Kisel, Director for Internationalisation at HSE University, summarised the university’s outgoing and incoming mobility trends over the past four years. He noted that the highest number of HSE students studying at partner universities abroad was recorded in 2021 and 2022: ‘Students' interests are shifting towards universities in Asia and the Middle East. We see a positive trend in outbound mobility, but the profile of incoming students at HSE has changed: today, the majority come from the CIS and China, often viewing their studies as a language immersion experience.’ He particularly emphasised the need to deepen cooperation with China and prioritise engagement with leading universities in friendly nations.

Leonid Issaev, Deputy Director of the Centre for Stability and Risk Analysis at the HSE Faculty of Social Sciences and Professor at the Department of Political Science and International Affairs at the Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences, presented a unique study on priority directions for partnership development in distant foreign countries. The research is based on data analysis from over 60 countries using 30 different criteria, including comparisons of international cooperation with Russia, foreign policy, education system characteristics, internal risks, economic potential, and more. ‘We hope that the database, developed in collaboration with colleagues from the internationalisation subdivisions, will become a key tool for adapting to new realities. The report is based on both quantitative statistical data and expert assessments from HSE University’s country specialists, as well as experts from the Russian Academy of Sciences and other leading think tanks in Russia,’ he stated.

HSE Vice Rector Victoria Panova added that the aim of the project was to create a database of country-specific materials to identify the most favourable nations for developing international partnerships, providing a useful resource for those responsible for international activities within the university’s departments. ‘However, the situation is changing rapidly. Materials that were relevant a year ago may no longer be as applicable today. That is why we welcome HSE’s country specialists with field experience, not just theoretical knowledge,’ Victoria Panova emphasised.

Among the initiatives already in progress are the Consortium of BRICS Law Schools, launched by the HSE Faculty of Law, and the updated DAFES platform for international projects, created by the HSE Art and Design School at the Faculty of Creative Industries.

To conclude the meeting, Sofia Sadykova, Deputy Head of the International Partnerships Office, introduced the division’s updated website. The platform now provides materials to streamline collaboration with international partners, including agreements, guidelines, and templates for use across all university departments and campuses. She also presented a new event calendar, designed to help HSE’s partners stay informed about conferences, seminars, and other university events available to international collaborators. Sofia Sadykova encouraged departments to submit event announcements for publication on the website. Additionally, she highlighted that the website now hosts information materials (brochures and presentations) in English and 12 other languages, developed in cooperation with the International Promotion Unit within the Multilateral Strategic Projects Office.

The participants of the meeting also discussed key topics such as visa and migration policies, government-level grant applications, collaboration with Rossotrudnichestvo, online programmes and visas for their students, financial aspects of international activities, and strategies for attracting international students through English-taught programmes and summer schools. Attendees from various HSE campuses and departments, who joined the meeting remotely, also raised questions.

Summarising the discussion, Victoria Panova noted that the active participation and questions from colleagues demonstrated the importance of engagement and continuous communication between HSE University’s departments and the internationalisation subdivisions. She highlighted the need to update the research on priority partnership directions and to strengthen internal collaboration within the university to further develop international partnerships and create new opportunities in key countries.

March 13