1. HSE University’s Development from 2010 to 2020: Current Standing and Results. Target Model and its Defining Characteristics

1.1. Key Results of Development in the Previous Period and the Existing Potential

National Research University Higher School of Economics was founded in 1992 as a start-up university and was the first in Russia to begin training specialists in a wide range of professions required by the market economy in line with global trends; these professions included economists, sociologists, corporate finance professionals, marketing specialists, corporate lawyers and managers, business IT professionals, etc.

Due to the rapid development, leading countries need flagship universities that act as catalysts for innovation (e.g., MIT in the United States, Tsinghua University in China, and the University of Warwick in Britain), provide technological and socio-economic forecasting for the public sector and businesses, and offer appropriate solutions. Such universities create new R&D areas and new professions. For 1990s Russia’s economy which lacked dozens of professions, this was especially important. From the very beginning, HSE University has been proactively developing and putting into practice new learning contents and methodologies, administrative techniques and organizational instruments. In so doing, the University has not repeated the innovative practices of the others; rather, it has been offering brand new solutions, which reflect Russia’s both historical specifics and developmental objectives. Since 1999, a unique characteristic of the University has been its direct participation in developing national socio-economic programmes and driving key state policy changes.

HSE University completed implementing the goals of its 2020 development programme ahead of schedule in 2018, exceeding the overwhelming majority of its targets, and in 2020 completed the Russian Academic Excellence Project (Project 5-100). When implementing Project 5-100, HSE University maintained its leadership every year and received the highest rating from the programme’s International Advisory Committee. Participation in national development projects has allowed HSE University to become one of Russia’s largest universities that is able to compete both domestically and internationally.

By 2020, HSE University has turned into one of Russia’s largest modern multidisciplinary universities that teaches humanities, socio-economic, STEM disciplines, natural sciences, applied arts and engineering. Over the past 10 years, physics, chemistry, biology and biotechnology, geography, electronics and communications, computer science and computing, software engineering, computer and information security, media, communications, linguistics, cognitive sciences, education, and design have emerged as the new fields offered at HSE University. In most of these areas, HSE University is not only a national leader but is also highly ranked internationally. From the very start, the University has been designed as both multi-program and interdisciplinary institution. All educational programmes at HSE University include significant interdisciplinary content in the form of special subjects that are adapted to their particular focus (including the work with Big Data, economics, law, and soft skills), minors (must be selected by students as two-year additional specializations outside of their main subject area) and electives. One third of Bachelor's graduates select Master's programmes in fields that are new to them. Nearly 40% of HSE University’s research projects have interdisciplinary teams.

Between 2010 and 2020, HSE University transformed into a global research university and gained global recognition; currently, it is listed in the Top-40 global subject and industry rankings (QS, THE, ARWU). It is ranked in the Top-100 best universities in the world in 10 subjects, and in 22 subjects it is the only Russian academic institution to make it to the top rankings. In the QS Top 50 Under 50 ranking of young universities, HSE University is ranked 31^st, and it is ranked 57^th in THE Young University Rankings. HSE University is the only academic institution from Russia to make the Top-10 participants in Coursera, a global online education platform, both in terms of the number of courses and the number of learners.

Throughout its existence, HSE University has laid the significant groundwork in multiple areas (further information about this is provided in the respective subsections of Section 2 below).

1.2. Mission and Strategic Goal

HSE University's mission is to advance the global competitiveness of Russian science and education across a wide range of its activities, create and distribute new intellectual and educational products and technologies that can ensure Russia’s sustainability and evolution in a rapidly changing world, and provide the environment for the new talents to develop and realize their potential.  

HSE University’s mission is informed by the provisions of the Strategy for Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation, the National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation, the Strategy for the Spatial Development of the Russian Federation Through 2025, as well as the State Programmes of the Russian Federation (e.g., Education Development, Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation, Information Society), the Digital Economy national programme, the national projects (e.g., Science and Universities, Demography, Healthcare, Ecology, Culture, Housing and Urban Environment) and other national programme documents.

HSE University’s Strategic and Internal Goals

The strategic goal of HSE University is to strengthen Russia's position amidst heightened global competition for intellectual capital, achievements in science and technology, and economic and social efficiency and sustainability.

To achieve this goal, the University must reach a position that allows it to compete on an equal footing with the best universities in the West and rapidly rising universities in Asia, led by China. This implies:

• the forward-looking development of fundamentally new solutions in the field of organizing scientific research and education (including the solutions provided by the science and technology (hereinafter “S&T”) and socio-economic-based forecasting), which will allow to outpace better funded foreign universities that have invested their resources in traditional tools and areas;
• introducing methodological and digital tools that provide better feedback from each student, thus increasing the success rate of mastering educational programmes (completion rates) up to 80-85%;
• building new networks of academic exchange and centres for academic excellence, starting new academic journals and conducting conferences with the countries with rapidly growing universities (“expanded BRICS”);
• maximizing the potential of digital solutions and remote-access solutions;
• participating in the most significant international collaborations;
• proactive investment in comparative research in social and economic sciences, including the research on the basis of applied problems that have been solved;
• expanding HSE University’s cadre potential through new mechanisms for recruiting practitioners and young academics, on the one hand, and distinguished young researchers from the global market on the other (by streamlining formats of international competitions, winter and summer schools, seed recruitment technologies).

HSE University’s internal strategic goal is its transformation from a research university into a global project and research university, which implies:

• transitioning to a predominantly project-based student education, with a high degree of individualization of their educational tracks;
• integrating up-to-date applied project-based approaches and involving respective distinguished practitioners from “non-academic” fields (e.g., business management, public administration, engineering, developers of digital solutions and resources, design, communication and media, applied arts, social NGOs) into University’s practices;  
• consistently raising the effectiveness of basic and exploratory research and its share in transformational work (that expands the horizons and leads to new directions) and translational research (quick transfer to commercial application or other forms of social appropriation of research results);
• designing integrated S&T programmes and “big projects” aimed at producing results that can be used for capitalization purposes or substantiating and developing state and corporate policies, as well as educational models;  cultivating a global “public domain of scientists”: academic toolsets in the form of original equipment bases, new research methods, knowledge and databases, and digital libraries;
• “seamless” convergence of scientific, educational, project and consulting activities; an active policy of forming educational and consulting markets, outpacing effective demand (“investments in markets” through a free and subsidized supply of new products and tools);
• implementation of models to transfer social and humanities’ technologies to the economic, political and public life; new forms for those technologies’ commercialization and social appropriation, including those based on digital solutions.

Many of the specified tasks will be performed for the first time not only in the history of Russian, but also global higher education. As HSE University pursues this goal, it will transition from trying to catch up to becoming a leader and making a notable contribution to Russia’s S&T development and global competitiveness.

1.3. Key Characteristics of HSE University’s Target Development Model, Comparative Benchmark Analysis of the University’s Target Model

 HSE University is a young, dynamic university that plays a leading role in Russian higher education. In a number of subject areas, it is ranked among the top universities in the world. The University is focused on research leadership and moving up in the hierarchy of the global higher education space. At its new stage of development, HSE University compares itself with global leading universities, which, in their characteristics and development tools, align with HSE University’s target model and their understanding of their own development trajectory. The academic institutions selected and their characteristics are presented in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1. Global universities with characteristics and development tools that can serve as useful reference points for HSE University’s target development model

At the same time, HSE University cannot focus exclusively on external examples. Its development model should be original, not only from the perspective of Russia’s specific challenges, but, above all, from the standpoint of its own innovative potential.

As we can see, the leading global universities are developing areas that are either the key ones to HSE University, or are those that are being identified today as the most important areas of its development. Direct copying of their experience and their institutions would be an attempt to repeat the successful policies of the past decade in the next decade; however, with significant differences in resources and existing institutions. To catch up with and overtake the leaders, HSE University will study their experience and develop its own original solutions and mechanisms.

New Conditions for HSE University’s Development: Vision-2030

By 2030, the University will be operating under fundamentally new conditions.

Sustainability, both environmental and economic (resource limitation) and social (pressure limitation) will become the top public and government priority. This will not only place new restrictions on economic growth, but will also put forward completely new parameters (areas) for the desired changes.

Along with basic economic and legal knowledge, both digital culture and culture of “soft skills” will become core components of any education and a requirement on labour markets. For the vast majority of professionals with high qualifications (corresponding to higher education) the job market will become global, which will result in a shortage of staff in countries that lag behind in terms of income and quality of life.

For Russia, traditional sources of export revenue will have been largely exhausted, and the task of “nurturing growth” will arise in all sectors of the economy without any priorities and exceptions.

The options of budgetary stimulation (co-financing) of the economy will have been almost completely exhausted, which will require a new market organization. In particular, markets will need to be de-monopolized, with ensured protection of property and business. Production and the labour market will be largely re-oriented towards private demands; the demand for innovation will shift from the public to the private sector.

Social policy will become strictly targeted in nature, and programmes for demographic stimulation and “universal” social support will be partially curtailed.

The public higher education system will be largely weakened by competition from both commercial providers of specific qualifications and short programmes and from global universities offering effective online degree programmes.

Progress in machine-aided translation will completely remove the barrier of foreign languages ​in education and professional activity. As a result of this, large foreign providers will be rapidly branching out into the national education markets (the “Microsoft effect of the 1990s”) and elimination of the weakest participants in the domestic educational market. Efforts made by the state are likely to focus on preserving the national model for basic general schooling and the national cultural tradition. Not only tertiary and secondary vocational education, but even high school will be subject to strong competitive pressure (usually in the form of online programmes).

As a result of the digital revolution, the effectiveness of general education will increase significantly. Educational success will go up from 75% to 85-90%, which can reduce the demographic deficit of young people in the labour market and, above all, drive a significant increase in demand for educational programmes.

It is possible to foresee the rapid development of blended education that includes significant elements of online and digital learning along with practical and project-based activities (internships) held in-person, and development of “composite” academic degrees and network formats of instruction. Leading universities will start offering a large number of online programmes and individual courses, and their educational markets will be both providers and recipients of such products. There will be a diffusion of universities (along with commercial providers) into high schools, where they will take on specialized and pre-professional training.

New digital services for educational coaching and consulting, design of educational programmes, customization of educational trajectories, and independent assessment of analytical and professional competencies will be emerging on educational markets. The adult education market itself will grow significantly due to an increase in the share of learners aged 25-45 to 65% and aged 45-65 to 30% (compared to the current Russian level of 20%). Another new segment is training programmes for narrow professional qualifications (i.e., “micro-degrees”), which will both complement the core degree programmes and become elements of those programmes.

Research and project work will be developing much faster in large companies, and less intensely in universities. At the same time, the system of state-financed scientific research (pretty much as the private one) will likely focus on the most promising areas with transformational and translational potential: a system of S&T information and forecasting will be created to identify such areas. Due to the continuing rise in the cost of experimental science and experimental manufacturing, there will be rapid growth in international collaboration, with ensuring access thereto for national science becoming a new foreign policy objective. In addition, computer simulations of experiments and prototypes will be accelerated, which will trigger a “supercomputer race”.

It is possible to see a trend towards more rapid development of interdisciplinary research areas, including, among others, social sciences and humanities’ research and art projects, which can be translated into integrated technologies that are aimed at prompt commercialization.

With regard to specific technologies and professions, however, a certain forecast will only be relevant for 5 years since 10-year forecast has proven to be highly unreliable as the experience of 2010-2020 has demonstrated.

Key Characteristics of the HSE University’s Target Model

A rather high level of uncertainty of development for the period of 10 years or more sets an orientation towards basic and exploratory research with a good transformational or translational potential, deep analytical training of students and creating a flexible system for organizing science and education that is capable of quick restructuring.

HSE University will direct its efforts and resources on implementing an advanced interdisciplinary research agenda in the context of global challenges and national interests in line with the country’s national development goals, the priorities of the Science and Technology Development Strategy of the Russian Federation, and the National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation.

HSE University will use its strategic advantages in the area of scientific and technological analysis and forecasting, not only to advance this area but to build the forecasting capability for environmental, economic and social processes by 2025, both in the interests of the state and corporations and society at large. Effective tools will be created for S&T policy, environmental and socio-economic forecasting based on AI and qualitative (semantic) analysis of databases and knowledge bases. In turn, analysis and forecasting of the subject field will become a required element of all new scientific and educational projects at HSE University.

HSE University’s strategic and institutional projects will reflect the institution’s comparative advantages: a very high level of cadre potential, interdisciplinary focus, connection with economic practice and policy, and opportunities to concentrate resources (reinvesting the University’s revenue).

In its strategic projects, the University will focus on developing its “points of growth”, where, first, HSE University has the most academic advantages in Russia, second, its R&D work is in high demand both by the state and by the business community, and, third, where it largely meets the today’s global agenda of S&T frontiers. In addition to forecasting activities, the following areas will also be pursued:

• modelling sustainable growth and inclusion of the majority of the citizens in social policy development;
• evidence-based urban development combining transport, environmental, economic and social modelling;
•  “human enhancement”, i.e. development of the individual’s personal abilities and talents with a  focus on digital, cognitive, biological, medical, engineering, cultural and educational technologies;
• key digital technologies (AI, IoT, CPS, CV); their technological, social, economic and environmental effects, as well as researching the effectiveness of respective investment therein.

A key improvement achieved by strategic projects will be possible thanks to the activities at the intersection of academic disciplines, a seamless translation of results into educational programmes, start-ups, economic and social practices.

In certain areas, including strategic projects, HSE University will create its own centres of excellence – frameworks for distinguished academics, the most promising graduate students and postdocs, as well as regular research Olympiads and schools for talented learners from around the world. A key feature of these centres shall be the development of conditions for high-quality researchers, who, in their respective fields, will be able to collaborate with each other. The first of these centres of excellence will be based at the University’s Faculty of Mathematics in Moscow (further information about this can be found in Appendix No. 9 “Creation of International Centres of Excellence at HSE University (the example of the Faculty of Mathematics)”.

Apart from strategic research projects, a “Big Projects” portfolio, which commenced in 2020, will continue to operate, implemented on an interdisciplinary (inter-faculty) basis and engaged in solving socio-economic and technological tasks that are crucial for clients from outside of the University. A significant part of the Big Projects will be focused on the development of new academic tools, including new original equipment base, new research methods, knowledge bases and databases, and digital libraries that can be used by academics from other institutions. A key feature of the University’s Big Projects is the “seamless” inclusion of the results into the real-life educational process through students’ project work and the development of special courses. By 2030, at least 25 such projects will be implemented, involving at least 20% of researchers and doctoral learners, as well as 5% of the University’s students. 

Strengthening positions in the R&D market and increasing revenue from this activity will occur through the development of full-cycle projects, ranging from fundamental ideas to the creation of high-demand products and services (including the development and justification of state, regional and corporate policies). By 2030, the volume of R&D will be 10 billion rubles, nearly double of 2020 R&D.

An increase in the transformational and translational potential of research developments by HSE University’s scientists will lead to the increase in their global recognition. By 2030, the number of publications indexed in quartiles 1 and 2 of Scopus and WoS will exceed 2,000 units, and the share of HSE University academic staff who have such publications will come close to the share of those who have any publications in these international databases in 2020 (60% and 65%, respectively).

The result will be an increase in HSE University’s involvement in addressing global research agenda in partnership with leading global and Russian universities and research centres. University's entry into global and regional (interstate) academic collaborations, including initiation of such collaborations by HSE University itself will be particularly important.

The University’s translational policy will be underpinned by the development of science-intensive and social entrepreneurship, expansion of commercialization and social appropriation of the results of innovative activities in all areas of the University's R&D work. By 2030, HSE University’s direct commercial revenue alone from traditional intellectual property in engineering and natural sciences will amount to at least 100 million roubles. At the same time, in new fields, such as computer and cognitive technologies, the items of intellectual property have not been formalized in a traditional sense due to the short life of technological solutions, while social and humanities’ technologies, as a rule, have an alternative to the commercialization form of social appropriation. By 2023, HSE University will develop, in 2024 it will reach an agreement with the founder and key partners, and starting from 2025, it will introduce a form of recognition and fixation of intellectual property in the areas not related to traditional regulation of intellectual rights.

HSE University’s research community will grow relatively modestly - by 20-25% - in its ‘core’ population (full-time staff), but it will more than triple due to the research-track Master’s and doctoral students, foreign researchers from partner laboratories and colleagues from Russian universities and research organizations.

HSE University’s educational model will change significantly by 2030. The main driver of this change will be the digital revolution, which brings radical changes both to the labour market (at least, its upper segments, which are targeted by HSE University) and the content of the programmes of the full secondary education, higher education and continuing professional education (hereinafter “CPD programmes”), as well as educational resources and teaching methods, linked thereto.

Figure 2 - Changes in the HSE University student enrolment in 2020-2030

HSE University is not interested in rapidly increasing the number of students in core degree programmes (see fig. 2) given both personnel and infrastructure constraints, and not willing to lower the quality of admitted students (for Bachelor's programmes in Moscow and St. Petersburg they currently score 95 out of 100 points for government-funded admissions and 85 out of 100 points for the students who pay their tuition). Growth in the student population will be due to: (a) continuing education programmes; (b) network programmes, including HSE University’s micro-degree programmes with other Russian and foreign institutions; and (c) students from online programmes around the world. This policy will prevent dilution of the HSE University brand, strengthen the educational influence of the University, and increase revenue.

A specific feature of the University's target model is the formation of a single distributed campus, which will ensure a uniform selection of educational products and services, accessible at all geographical locations of HSE University, while retaining its own identity at every location thanks to developed specializations and existing research teams.

The key priority of HSE University’s open data policy includes a single open educational and scientific space that is equally accessible to all potential target audiences and that provides all participants in the University's digital ecosystem with resources and services of digital infrastructure, open data and open interfaces. HSE University will form a shared open data portal on the University's website based on the standards adopted by the University and taking into account relevant international practices.

HSE University’s key priorities in the development of its financial model are:

• making sure the University maintains its position as a provider of quality education, expert analysis and consulting services, while generating products with high margins; maintaining a “reputational limit” (i.e., making sure only high-quality applicants are admitted);
• capitalization of accumulated intellectual capital through entry into new markets for education, science and technology; creation of highly profitable educational and consulting products;
• preserving a model for revenue distribution, with at least 25% of the University’s cumulative revenue going to development project implementation; at the same time, redistribution of revenues generated by earning subdivisions shall be regulated by their capacity to invest in their own respective development;
• boosting internal productivity and efficiency, through optimizing the University’s programme portfolio, modernizing its administrative processes through IT application, and introducing a new accommodation model for international and non-Moscow-resident students.

HSE University’s revenues will increase at an even faster rate thanks to its new digital products and services, e.g., offered on the global market, as well as new types of continuing education programmes, provided in a package along with consulting services. In turn, the University will consider the possibility of offering tuition-based programmes for high Lyceum-type schools, taking into account that such programmes are highly profitable.  At the same time, it appears impossible to forecast, with certainty, a stable growth in revenue from the export of higher education in traditional formats.

By 2030, the cumulative gains on the University’s annual revenue (excluding Capex) shall be at least 80%; the University will be allocating at least 25% of its total revenue each year to implement the development projects.

1.4. Unique Characteristics of the University’s Strategic Positioning and Development Areas

Cross-curricular Connections. At the new stage, HSE University will develop as a comprehensive academic institution with a high level of interdisciplinarity where social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and engineering, mathematics and computer science develop, enrich and complement each other. A priority shall be given to the projects at the intersection of academic disciplines and the inclusion of a mandatory “going beyond one’s career path” approach in degree programmes. 

While maintaining its leadership as a national research and methodological centre for the development of economic and social policies, HSE University will expand its analytical toolset thanks to research in computer and natural sciences, cognitive sciences, humanities and arts. At the same time, the University will invest in comparative studies of policy and international collaboration in statistics and sociology. 

The global presence of HSE University, representing Russia in 40 global subject ratings, allows the University to take the lead in recruiting high-quality international students, doctoral students and postdocs, e.g., from the countries with mature university systems.  

As one of the global leaders in online education, HSE University creates the potential for a qualitative expansion of educational opportunities of each instructor and student, thus transforming the University into an open educational space, which will make the majority of HSE University educational products and services available to a wider audience outside the institution’s physical premises.

In the University’s Orbit. Individual educational trajectories of students at HSE University are not restricted to student time. The point at which students enter the University is not rigidly tied to their life trajectory, and the exit from the University, taking into account continuing education programmes and the involvement of graduates in research, project and educational activities, can be delayed for a long time.

Having significant potential as a research and project university, HSE University will implement a fundamentally new educational model based on the rapidly growing capabilities of digital technologies (where the University is now a leader) and on the existing potential of socio-economic areas closely related to practice. The University’s global competitiveness and reputation will allow it to quickly advance in the regional and global higher education markets, opening new educational products and formats. The network educational products conceived by HSE University in partnership with regional universities will be key to bridging the gap in education quality in the capital cities and regions, while also building a general high-quality educational space throughout Russia.

The University will continue relying on cumulative potential and maintain proven tools for identifying and developing talent: Olympiads, subject schools, lecture sessions for applicants to Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes, HSE Lyceum educational programmes.  HSE will expand the geography of its presence through partner schools in most Russian regions and internationally using flexible approaches to selecting and recruiting applicants – primarily through a variety of forms of intellectual competitions – and introducing online and blended formats of communication with both school students and applicants. Strengthening interaction with professional communities of subject instructors and increasing the number of centres for identifying talent abroad will contribute to an increase in the level of training of international applicants.

Recruiting the strongest and most motivated students, HSE University is focused on nurturing conditions for the success of each of them, fostering professional and civic ethics, understanding and supporting national and corporate interests and values and mutual assistance. The University will put in place conditions to involve students in research, educational and extracurricular projects, develop a system of mentoring and student volunteering, and expand opportunities for alumni to participate in the life of the University, in mentoring and loyalty programmes.

Having proposed a number of approved HR policy tools for the Russian higher education system, HSE University is prepared to develop and implement new forms and mechanisms for organizing and developing employees, including the transition to a differentiated and flexible system of professional trajectories for academic staff and raising the professional requirements for employees through providing new opportunities to develop competencies, increasing the University’s social responsibility as an employer, and improving the social protection of staff.

HSE University provides systemic support for regional academic institutions by implementing a wide range of tools. Its innovative approaches are open to regional education systems. The University Partnership project, which was launched in 2020, includes activities aimed at developing cadre of partner universities; internships for instructors, researchers and administrators; Russian postdoc programmes; “mirror” research laboratories; joint research projects; and supporting the research output and network educational programmes. The presence of stable partnerships will allow HSE University to develop these tools and other new ones, thereby narrowing the existing gap in the quality of education in the capital cities and regions.

1.5. Major Constraints and Challenges

At this stage of development, the University faces a number of internal and external challenges, including:

• growing competition for the best researchers in both the domestic and international academic markets due to demand from leading Russian universities and the targeted policy pursued by a number of states to create world-class universities;
• uncertainty in the creation and development of the world-class research teams and ensuring the University's presence in the top lists of international ratings in an unstable geopolitical situation;
• limitations of the tools to transfer knowledge and technologies that have been developed in the academic market and the related problems of the translational potential of research (mostly in the humanities and partly in the social sciences, but also in computer technology);
• high cost of equipment and supercomputer clusters to ensure global competitiveness; the phenomenon of constant functional depreciation of the IT infrastructure in relation to the current levels of digital services;
• significant infrastructure restrictions (only 50% of the need of Russian universities in classroom and laboratory spaces and dormitories is currently covered), which create obstacles to developing continuing education programmes and recruiting international students. In 2020, the estimated lost income of HSE University in these two areas amounted to approximately three billion roubles; extrapolating the restrictions for 2030, it is likely to amount to seven to eight billion roubles per year;
• significant uncertainty driven by the COVID-19 pandemic in the global education market and stringent restrictions on educational migration that undermine the options for academic institutions focused on the global (i.e., going beyond the Russian-speaking) student market, including HSE University. This factor will be felt until at least 2023 and, because of that, the University will likely see a significant drop in its traditional higher education export numbers compared with the baseline values for 2019. Restoration of sustainable growth (taking into account psychological factors) may occur only from 2024.

'Priority 2030' Development Programme