HSE University among Top Universities in Digital Economy
HSE University took second place in the new 2023 ranking of universities in the digital economy in Moscow and St Petersburg, having lost only to Bauman Moscow State Technical University. HSE University outperformed specialised IT universities such as Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (third place) and ITMO University (fifth place), as well as Moscow State University (fourth place).
HSE University Rector
‘HSE University has once again proven its leading position in the IT field. Our university has trained highly qualified engineers and specialists in computer science for ten years. Besides, we believe that digital competencies should be developed in all students. At HSE University, the educational IT module is mandatory for undergraduate students, regardless of their area of study. Today, we are especially interested in artificial intelligence technologies. And we will not merely develop education in this area, but will also try to build the university’s work in partnership with artificial intelligence.’
The ranking was prepared by ANO Digital Economy with support from the Information and Computer Technologies Industry Association (APKIT) and the Russian Ministry of Digital Development. As Sergey Plugotarenko, Director General of ANO Digital Economy, noted, the goal of the ranking is to create a tool for analysing and encouraging universities to more closely cooperate with business in training personnel. It is expected that the best IT universities will be announced annually.
The ranking assessed 304 leading universities and examined 63 areas of training and specialities related to IT personnel. The final results were prepared for two groups of universities: universities in Moscow and St Petersburg, and those in other parts of Russia.
The assessment of universities was carried out based on official statistics on the training of IT personnel (data from monitoring universities by Russia's Ministry of Education and Science) and a survey of 90 respondents conducted by ANO Digital Economy. The respondents were represented by leading technology companies: large accredited IT companies, founders of ANO Digital Economy, and members of APKIT. The survey contained only open-ended questions and, according to its results, the respondents’ mentioned 157 educational institutions from 56 constituent entities of Russia. The final ranking of Moscow and St Petersburg universities included 24 institutions. The final ranking of regional universities included 30 entries. Among regional universities, the top three included Ural Federal University, Novosibirsk State Technical University, and Novosibirsk State University.
One of the specialised departments for training IT specialists is HSE University’s Faculty of Computer Science. The Faculty of Computer Science is Russia's leading research and educational centre in this field and the overall leader in terms of the number of olympiad winners among applicants. In 2023, 93 prize-winners of the All-Russian Olympiad for schoolchildren enrolled in the faculty. In 2021, HSE University’s AI Research Centre was created at the Faculty of Computer Science.
Since 2017, HSE University has been developing digital competencies and competencies in working with big data among students of all educational programmes and fields. Since 2022, the Data Culture project, supported by Russia’s Ministry of Education and Science and Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development, has been integrated into the ‘Digital Department’ project of the ‘Priority 2030’ programme. HSE University was awarded the highest grant within the programme for teaching digital competencies to students.
HSE University students master big data analysis methods and tools to solve professional tasks in their field. Representatives of leading Russian digital companies take part in an independent assessment of end-to-end digital skills development.
HSE University is open to interaction with other universities. The university’s IT educational module can be implemented not only as part of double degree programmes with HSE University but also separately, in a mixed or completely online format. The model for integrating modules on digital competencies into the main educational programmes developed at HSE University allows students to master digital competencies in any field of training.
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How the Brain Processes a Word: HSE Researchers Compare Reading Routes in Adults and Children
Researchers from the HSE Center for Language and Brain used magnetoencephalography to study how the brains of adults and children respond to words during reading. They showed that in children the brain takes longer to process words that are frequently used in everyday speech, while rare words and pseudowords are processed in the same way—slowly and in parts. With age, the system is reorganised: high-frequency words shift to a fast route, whereas new letter combinations are still analysed slowly. The study was published in the journal Psychophysiology.
How Neural Networks Detect and Interpret Wordplay: New Insights from HSE Researchers
An international team including researchers from the HSE Faculty of Computer Science has presented KoWit-24, an annotated dataset of 2,700 Russian-language Kommersant news headlines containing wordplay. The dataset enables an assessment of how artificial intelligence detects and interprets wordplay. Experiments with five large language models show that even advanced systems still make mistakes, and that interpreting wordplay is more challenging for them than detecting it. The results were presented at the RANLP conference; the paper is available on Arxiv.org, and the dataset and the code for reproducing the experiments are available on GitHub.
HSE Researchers Experimentally Demonstrate Positive Effects of Urban Parks on the Brain
Scientists at HSE University have investigated the effect of parks on the cognitive and emotional resources of city dwellers. The researchers compared brain electrical activity in 30 participants while they watched videos of walks through parks and along busy highways. The results showed that green urban environments with trees produce a consistent effect across individuals, helping the brain calm down and relax. By contrast, walks along busy streets were found to be distracting. The findings have been published in Scientific Reports.
Scientists Show That Peer Influence Can Be as Effective as Expert Advice
Eating habits can be shaped not only by the authority of medical experts but also through ordinary conversations among friends. Researchers at HSE University have shown that advice from peers to reduce sugar consumption is just as effective as advice from experts. The study's findings have been published in Frontiers in Nutrition.
HSE University Develops Tool for Assessing Text Complexity in Low-Resource Languages
Researchers at the HSE Centre for Language and Brain have developed a tool for assessing text complexity in low-resource languages. The first version supports several of Russia’s minority languages, including Adyghe, Bashkir, Buryat, Tatar, Ossetian, and Udmurt. This is the first tool of its kind designed specifically for these languages, taking into account their unique morphological and lexical features.
Language Mapping in the Operating Room: HSE Neurolinguists Assist Surgeons in Complex Brain Surgery
Researchers from the HSE Center for Language and Brain took part in brain surgery on a patient who had been seriously wounded in the SMO. A shell fragment approximately five centimetres long entered through the eye socket, penetrated the cranial cavity, and became lodged in the brain, piercing the temporal lobe responsible for language. Surgeons at the Burdenko Main Military Clinical Hospital removed the foreign object while the patient remained conscious. During the operation, neurolinguists conducted language tests to ensure that language function was preserved.
HSE Scientists Use MEG for Precise Language Mapping in the Brain
Scientists at the HSE Centre for Language and Brain have demonstrated a more accurate way to identify the boundaries of language regions in the brain. They used magnetoencephalography (MEG) together with a sentence-completion task, which activates language areas and reveals their functioning in real time. This approach can help clinicians plan surgeries more effectively and improve diagnostic accuracy in cases where fMRI is not the optimal method. The study has been published in the European Journal of Neuroscience.
Transition to Sustainable Development Requires Deep Structural Transformation of Business
A group of researchers has proposed assessing the ESG transformation of businesses through the partner turnover ratio in raw material and distribution supply chains. The researchers note that the path towards sustainability requires a deep and often costly restructuring of partner networks. This and other papers were presented at the Third International Annual Conference ‘ESG Corporate Dynamics: the Challenges for Emerging Capital Markets.’
HSE Researchers Offer Guidance to Prevent Undergraduate Burnout
Researchers at the HSE Institute of Education have identified how much time students should ideally devote to their studies, extracurricular activities, and personal life to maintain strong academic performance without compromising their mental health. An analysis of responses from 2,753 students, combined with their actual academic results, revealed several risk factors—such as excessive homework—as well as positive factors, including sufficient sleep, regular exercise, and moderate participation in projects. Based on these findings, the researchers developed practical recommendations for both students and universities. The paper has been published in the European Journal of Education.
HSE Scientists Contribute to Development of Postquantum Ring Signature for Sber
A new cryptographic data protection mechanism has been jointly proposed by experts from the HSE Tikhonov Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics, Sber, and QApp. The researchers have developed a postquantum ring signature scheme that ensures anonymity (within a defined group of participants), as well as the integrity and authentication of the source of digital transactions, even in the presence of an adversary equipped with a quantum computer.