Scientists Examine Neurobiology of Pragmatic Reasoning
An international team including scientists from HSE University has investigated the brain's ability to comprehend hidden meanings in spoken messages. Using fMRI, the researchers found that unambiguous meanings activate brain regions involved in decision-making, whereas processing complex and ambiguous utterances engages regions responsible for analysing context and the speaker's intentions. The more complex the task, the greater the interaction between these regions, enabling the brain to decipher the meaning. The study has been published in NeuroImage.
ICEF HSE Takes Part in Study Abroad Fair in China among World's Leading Universities
On March 18, 2025, the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (SWUFE), Chengdu, China welcomed its counterparts to the SWUFE Study Abroad Fair. Russia was represented for the first time at the fair by a delegation from HSE University, including members of ICEF.
‘Mayflies Are Drifting along the River–This Is a Symbol that Everything Goes By’
Arseniy Uspenskij (Litvin) initially studied Indology but ultimately focused on Assyriology. In an interview with the HSE Young Scientists project, he discussed the metrical structure of Akkadian poetry, the deciphering of the Behistun inscription, and King Sargon.
‘HSE’s Industry Ties Are Invaluable’
Pan Zhengwu has spent the last seven years at HSE University—first as a student of the Bachelor’s in Software Engineering and now in the Master’s in System and Software Engineering at the Faculty of Computer Science. In addition to his busy academic schedule, he works as a mobile software engineer at Yandex and is an avid urban photographer. In his interview with the HSE News Service, Zhengwu talks about the challenges he faced when he first moved to Russia, shares his thoughts on ‘collaborating’ with AI, and reveals one of his top spots for taking photos in Moscow.
‘Trend Tetris’: HSE University-St Petersburg and Alexandrinsky Theatre Hold Fifth CIBA Conference
The New Stage of the Alexandrinsky Theatre hosted the fifth annual CIBA conference, organised by professors and students of the Master's programme 'Arts and Culture Management' at HSE University-St Petersburg. More than 300 participants, including students, creative experts, entrepreneurs, and representatives of cultural institutions, attended the event.
Scientists Present New Solution to Imbalanced Learning Problem
Specialists at the HSE Faculty of Computer Science and Sber AI Lab have developed a geometric oversampling technique known as Simplicial SMOTE. Tests on various datasets have shown that it significantly improves classification performance. This technique is particularly valuable in scenarios where rare cases are crucial, such as fraud detection or the diagnosis of rare diseases. The study's results are available on ArXiv.org, an open-access archive, and will be presented at the International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD) in summer 2025 in Toronto, Canada.
‘Looking for Talents’: HSE University Holds Entry Competitions in Three Chinese Cities
In early March, representatives of HSE University-St Petersburg organised a series of entry competitions for applicants from China. The exams were held in three cities—Beijing, Nanjing and Chengdu—at the Russian Cultural Centre (RCC) in Beijing and leading Chinese universities.
Hi-Tech Grief: HSE Researchers Explore the Pros and Cons of Digital Commemoration
Researchers at HSE University in Nizhny Novgorod have explored how technological advancements are transforming the ways in which people preserve the memory of the deceased and significant events. Digital technologies enable the creation of virtual memorials, the preservation of personal stories and belongings of the deceased, interaction with their digital footprint, and even the development of interactive avatars based on their online activity. However, these technologies not only evoke nostalgia and provide a sense of relief but can also heighten anxiety and fear, and delay the process of accepting loss. The study has been published in Chelovek (The Human Being).
X5 Group and HSE Graduate School of Business Launch Revamped Master's Programme
X5 Group and the HSE Graduate School of Business are relaunching their joint master's programme. Formerly known as the ‘Master's Programme in Retail Management,’ it has been renamed 'B2C Business Management: Technology and Innovation,' with a completely revised curriculum. Students will now focus on customer experience, emerging technologies, and management innovations—highly relevant competencies in today's business landscape.
‘Studying at the University of Bologna Is Very Different from How We Study at HSE’
Alina Pakhomova, a fourth-year student of the Bachelor’s Programme ‘Information Science and Computation Technology’ at the HSE Tikhonov Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics (HSE MIEM), spent six months studying at the oldest university in Europe — the University of Bologna. She went to Italy as part of an academic mobility programme, and upon returning to Moscow, she shared her impressions of life and studying abroad, her leisure activities, new friends, and, of course, the famous Italian cuisine.