Research & Expertise

TheHuman Capital Multidisciplinary Research Centre and HSE University, in cooperation with the World Bank, held the conference ‘New Challenges of Demographic, Epidemiological and Medical-Technological Development: Search for New Models of Healthcare Development.’ The participants discussed whether the healthcare system was prepared to face the pandemic, how the latter affected lifespans and excess mortality rates, whether we can trust statistics, and what we should do to see ‘the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel.’     

The mega-grant awarded by the Russian government to the International Laboratory of Dynamical Systems and Applications at HSE University’s Nizhny Novgorod campus has been extended to 2022–2023. The Academic Supervisor of the laboratory is Dmitry Turaev, a leading specialist in the field of dynamical systems and Professor at Imperial College London. Professor Turaev spoke to the HSE News Service about the results achieved by the laboratory so far and its plans for the next two years.

Students can learn difficult material much more efficiently by collaborating than by studying individually. They help each other, share information, and build collective knowledge. However, things are not as simple as they may seem. Cooperation between students is effective for certain activities, but not others. As researchers from the HSE Institute of Education have shown, knowledge is absorbed more effectively through group work, but the same benefits are not found when it comes to the practical application of knowledge. 

November 25, 2021 marked the publishing of a corpus of Soqotri folklore texts. Translated into Classical Arabic, the texts are accompanied by a brief introduction explaining the basic principles of the Soqotri writing system, which is based on the Arabic orthography. The authors of the book are Soqotri native speakers Ahmed Isa al-Daarhi, Isa Gumaan al-Daarhi, and Maysoon Mohammed Aldarhi. It was published by Maria Bulakh and Leonid Kogan under the editorship of Prof. Vitaly Naumkin, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The publication was supported by the UAE Embassy in Moscow.

The mega-grant allocated by the Russian government to the International Laboratory of Social Neurobiology, has been extended for 2022-23. The laboratory was founded two years ago and is headed by Iiro Jaaskelainen, a leading neurobiologist from Finland. Laboratory Head Vasily Klucharev spoke to the HSE News Service about the results the lab has already achieved and the prospects for the next two years.

A group of researchers from the HSE Centre for Bioelectric Interfaces has studied the activity of the brain and other body systems during meditation. It was the first study to show that, when following the same instructions, some people relax, while others concentrate. The results of the study were published in the PLOS ONE journal.

The BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre at HSE University and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) have signed a memorandum of understanding. The agreement is aimed at developing cooperation between UNCTAD and HSE University in the field of competition, with a focus on the problems posed by cross-border cartels.

Unusual ways of investment, such as collecting toys, can generate high returns. For example, secondary market prices of retired LEGO sets grow by 11% annually, which is faster than gold, stocks, and bonds, HSE University economists say. Their paper was published in the Research in International Business and Financejournal.

Researchers from HSE MIEM and the Institute of Non-Classical Chemistry in Leipzig have proposed a new theoretical model of supercapacitors that takes into account the properties of a cation, which considerably impacts the electric differential capacitance of supercapacitors. This is the first publication of its kind in electrochemistry. The authors believe that the model will allow engineers to create more powerful energy sources in the future. The results of the study were published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. The study was completed with support from a grant by RSF.

Researchers from the HSE University Centre for Language and Brain have created and standardized a new test battery for diagnosing language disorders in people with brain damage. The test is the first standardized assessment tool in Russia in the field. The paper entitled ‘The Russian Aphasia Test: The first comprehensive, quantitative, standardized, and computerized aphasia language battery in Russian’ has just beenpublished in the PLOS ONE journal.