Research & Expertise

The idea for the project, which studies the crisis experience, was born at HSE University’s Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs last spring, when it became clear that the pandemic and lockdown had given rise to a new systemic crisis, based on numerous contradictions that have accumulated in the world over the past decades. The results of the scientific Lessons from the Crises of the Past project have been presented to the portal's news service by Igor Makarov, Head of HSE University’s School of World Economy.

In Russia, 43.1% of the adult population experiences loneliness. This share is comprised mostly of older people, but quite often young people as well. At each age, loneliness is experienced in its own way, and at certain times it becomes especially painful.

Whether we like it or not, talking with a robot on the phone is now part of our everyday lives. What is the right way to respond to a mechanical voice, who should we blame when communication fails, and could AI make an ideal conversationalist? HSE sociologist Alisa Maksimova answers these questions and more, based on findings from her study of interactions between humans and robots presented in the book Adventures in Technology: Barriers to Digitalisation in Russia.

On January 14, at the 2021 Gaidar Forum, which was held at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), HSE University Rector Yaroslav Kuzminov and leaders of three other institutions signed an agreement to establish the Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center (HCMRC). The other co-signers were RANEPA Rector Vladimir Mau, MGIMO University Rector Anatoly Torkunov, and Dmitry Funk, Director of the N.N. Miklukho-Maclay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The Center will focus on that key areas of human capital studies that are of current global importance.

The paper by Yury Budkov, Professor at HSE MIEM School of Applied Mathematics, co-authored with Andrey Kolesnikov from Leipzig University, was initially published by a Russian journal, Polymer Science. Its English version was published by SpringerLink, where it generated considerable interest among visitors.

The latest issue of Higher Education and Beyond, a quarterly informational journal published by HSE University, looks at how doctoral education has changed over the past few years in different countries, what reforms have been implemented and what effects they have had, what the historical roots of the current state of doctoral education are and how doctoral studies have evolved. The articles cover wide range of doctoral education stakeholders—from those who plan to enter doctoral programs to those who got their degree many years ago

Workaholism or work addiction risk is a growing public health concern that can lead to many negative mental and physical health outcomes such as depression, anxiety or sleep disorder. Perception of work (job demands and job control) may become a major cause of employees’ work addiction. The international group of researchers including the HSE University scientist explored the link between work addiction risk and health-related outcomes using the framework of Job Demand Control Model. The results were published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Right now university students are taking their fall semester final exams. For various reasons, some students drop out. This is especially the case in advanced fields of study such as engineering. Researchers from HSE University’s Institute of Education Evgenia Shmeleva and Isak Froumin have published a paper on the decisive factors that cause students to abandon their university education. 

Upon successfully defending his dissertation before HSE Dissertation Council in Computer Science, Pavel Dvurechensky became the first Doctor of Computer Science in Russia. This was possible thanks to the fact that, starting in 2018, HSE University received the right to award its own academic degrees.

Fedor Kluev, a student first-year student in the Bachelor’s programme in Chemistry at HSE University, was the only first-year undergraduate student to win a prize in this year’s Student Research Paper Competition (SRPC). He began working with his academic supervisor, Denis Chusov, when he was still in high school. In an interview with the HSE News Service, Fedor talked about his research, the role of science in human life, and the importance of popularising science.