Campus news at HSE University

On April 8, HSE University in Moscow will welcome participants of the 2023 Total Dictation, an open annual educational event that was first held in 2004. Since then, it has become a major event for anyone interested in writing and speaking Russian properly. This year at HSE University, it will be held at 11 Pokrovsky Bulvar, the Shabolovka building and, for the first time, the HSE Cultural Centre.

Alexander Zayonts, Founder, President and CEO of the Hoff hypermarket chain, delivered a talk on ‘Promoting Business Under Restrictions’ as part of a series of sessions with leading Russian practicing economists and entrepreneurs. Alexander has a place on the ICEF Endowment Fund Board of Trustees. The event was moderated by HSE University President Alexander Shokhin.

The first selection of winning expeditions of the inter-university student programme ‘Rediscovering Russia’ has been completed. The programme is being implemented by HSE University together with the presidential platform ‘Russia - Land of Opportunity’ and the ‘More Than a Trip’ programme. The Expert Council approved 47 applications, with 17 universities and 23 organisations among the winners. The expeditions will take place from April to July 2023 and will cover 41 Russian regions.

On March 21, HSE University Rector Nikita Anisimov met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mexico to the Russian Federation Eduardo Villegas Mejias. The parties agreed to develop mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of education.

HSE University and the Presidential Academy have concluded a cooperation agreement. The document was signed by HSE University Vice Rector Elena Odoevskaya and RANEPA Vice Rector Alexey Anopchenko.

A few days ago, Retail Night was held as part of informal meetings between master’s students of the HSE Graduate School of Business and business representatives. Ilya Yakubson, Managing Director of the Chizhik hard discounter chain, took part in the event as a guest. The discussion was moderated by Alexander Lebedev, Academic Supervisor of the Master’s programme ‘Retail Management.’

The extracurricular life of HSE University is renowned for its sports, entertainment, charity and social projects. From traditional events such as HSE Survival, HSE New Wave, HSE Greatest Show and HSE Fest to house concerts of music clubs, student initiations, and inter-campus meetings—each event garners attention from outside the university as well. Anna Blyakhman, Director of HSE Campus in Nizhny Novgorod, tells us how the university manages to maintain such a high level of events year after year, and the role of extracurricular activities in education.

The HSE University Academic Writing Centre (AWC) was created to offer linguistic support to researchers writing articles in English. We spoke to the head of the AWC, Svetlana Suchkova, about the centre’s current initiatives, whether it has had to change the focus of its activities, and why HSE University staff come to the centre.