Advancing Collaboration: HSE Faculty of Computer Science and Harbin Institute of Technology Hold Joint Seminar
From July 13 to 16, 2026, the Faculty of Computer Science hosted the Russian–Sino Research Seminar on Machine Learning Applications, organised by the HSE Laboratory for Cloud and Mobile Technologies in partnership with the Harbin Institute of Technology (China). A delegation comprising seven students and three university representatives travelled to Moscow to take part in an intensive four-day programme.
Seminar Highlights
On the opening day, participants were welcomed by Dmitry Alexandrov, Head of the Laboratory for Cloud and Mobile Technologies, and Dr He Xiang, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Computing of the Harbin Institute of Technology and head of the Chinese delegation. Dr He delivered a presentation entitled ‘Frontier Research in Service Computing by HIT.’
In his talk, the Chinese scholar introduced the history of the Research Centre of Intelligent Computing for Enterprises and Services at the Harbin Institute of Technology, highlighting its key researchers and major achievements in service-oriented computing. He also discussed the latest challenges facing the field, presented his team's recent research findings, and outlined directions for future work.
‘This visit has strengthened cooperation between our universities. We were particularly impressed by the achievements of the Laboratory for Cloud and Mobile Technologies in interdisciplinary innovation, including mobile and web applications, high-load systems, and cloud infrastructure. We look forward to expanding student exchanges, implementing joint projects, and deepening our academic collaboration with HSE University,’ said Dr He.
‘Last autumn, Prof. Wang Zhongjie, Director of the Research Centre on Industrial Software at the Harbin Institute of Technology Faculty of Computing, and I first came up with the idea for this seminar. We worked out the details later in Harbin during my three-week research internship there,’ said Dmitry Alexandrov. He added that the seminar was the laboratory's first major international event, and the organisers hope it will become a regular initiative held alternately in Moscow and Harbin.
The programme also included a presentation on the HSE Faculty of Computer Science delivered by Anastasia Manushkina, a research assistant at the laboratory, followed by a tour of the HSE campus.
The practical part of the first day focused on developing intelligent chatbots. Lyudmila Rezunik, Junior Research Fellow at the laboratory, delivered a lecture and led a hands-on workshop on the project ‘Smart RAG and NLP-Based Chatbot.’
The second day centred on the project ‘Developing the Alchemy AI Game.’ The session was led by Vladimir Vasilevsky, a research assistant at the laboratory. Participants learned to work with local AI models and the Flutter framework, with particular emphasis on configuring infrastructure based on the open-source Ollama platform.
On the third day, Dr He Xiang delivered a lecture and practical workshop on multi-agent systems. Students explored the architecture of agent-based applications and built their own AI agent equipped with external tools. The session concluded with a boat trip along the Moscow River, where participants had the opportunity to discuss future prospects for collaboration.
The final day began with a round-table discussion on current challenges and emerging trends in artificial intelligence. The session was moderated by laboratory staff members Lyudmila Rezunik, Anastasia Manushkina, and Ekaterina Karavaeva. Students were divided into mixed teams to discuss topics including the environmental cost of AI, the choice between open and closed models, and issues of copyright and ethics in the era of generative AI. Each team prepared and presented its conclusions in English.
Participants Share Their Impressions
‘The first day made the strongest impression on me. I particularly remember the ten techniques for building RAG systems,’ said seminar participant Nikita Zhilin. ‘On the second day, it was useful to work with local models, while on the third we explored agent architectures. What I enjoyed most was meeting the Chinese students—it turned out they are just like us: they play video games and watch anime. Overall, I strengthened my knowledge of NLP and met many interesting people.’
‘It was a fantastic experience. We spent time with our Chinese colleagues, visited the Durasov House, and enjoyed a cruise along the Moscow River. During the practical sessions, we learned how to build agents based on large language models, how retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) works, and how to integrate AI models into our own applications,’ said seminar participant Igor Yelchinov.
Representatives of the Harbin Institute of Technology also spoke highly of the programme, highlighting different aspects of the training. ‘The seminar encouraged me to think about how AI may transform the future work of software developers and how authorship should be defined in AI-assisted projects. I also particularly enjoyed the Alchemy game because it successfully combined artificial intelligence, Flutter development, and creative game design,’ said Si Jiaqi, a member of the Chinese delegation.
His colleague, Cheng Zhuoran, emphasised the value of the technical sessions, noting that the workshop on RAG helped him gain a deeper understanding of how external knowledge, retrieval systems, and language models interact. At the round table another representative of the Harbin Institute of Technology, Huang Junjie, added that the debate encouraged students to think critically about the environmental and ethical costs of AI, the choice between open and proprietary solutions, and the future role of IT professionals. According to him, conversations with Russian students broadened his research perspective and demonstrated that responsible AI development requires not only technical expertise but also careful consideration of the social impact of technology.
Vladislav Chepurnykh, a research assistant at the laboratory, was delighted by the opportunity to interact with international students. ‘Over the course of four days, participants developed a range of exciting projects, from a RAG-powered chatbot to an AI coding agent, and discussed the future of artificial intelligence during the round table. The social programme was equally enjoyable: we explored central Moscow together and had a great time,’ he said.
Leon Kuligin, another research assistant, was also involved in the seminar. In his view, the event was intensive and well balanced. ‘The scientific presentations were complemented by hands-on project work covering RAG and natural language processing, local AI models for mobile applications, and multi-agent systems for code generation. I particularly appreciated the seminar's international format. Interacting with students and researchers from the Harbin Institute of Technology introduced me to new approaches to research and development, gave me valuable experience of professional communication in English, and helped me establish useful academic contacts. The seminar provided an excellent platform for knowledge exchange and for strengthening scientific cooperation between Russia and China,’ Leon Kuligin emphasised.
Plans to Expand Bilateral Cooperation
After the seminar concluded, the parties held a working meeting to discuss the next steps in developing cooperation with the Harbin Institute of Technology. Representing HSE University were Sergey Lebedev, Head of the School of Software Engineering; Daria Kasyanenko, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Computer Science; Dmitry Ilvovsky, Vice Dean for International Affairs; Svetlana Prokopets, Manager of the Faculty's External Communications Unit; Dmitry Alexandrov, Head of the Laboratory for Cloud and Mobile Technologies; Alina Bykova, Laboratory Manager; and Prof. Sergey Avdoshin of the HSE Tikhonov Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics (HSE MIEM).
The Harbin Institute of Technology was represented by Dr He Xiang, Dr Yu Shuang, and student affairs adviser Lin Zhishun.
During the meeting, representatives of the HSE Faculty of Computer Science outlined several promising areas for academic cooperation, including student and faculty exchanges, joint educational programmes, online seminars, and guest lectures, as well as collaboration on international research grants. The Chinese delegation also expressed strong interest in the MLOps platform currently being developed at the faculty.
Dr Yu Shuang noted that the joint seminar had helped students strengthen their practical skills while laying a solid foundation for future academic exchange. She thanked HSE University for its support and highlighted the potential for cooperation in joint research projects, academic publications, and student training.
‘I was deeply impressed by the seminar and its close integration of theory and practice. The sessions on retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and the Alchemy game enabled students to see how AI technologies can be applied in real-world software development. The open discussion format also encouraged critical thinking and fostered constructive dialogue between Chinese and Russian students,’ added student affairs adviser Lin Zhishun.
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