HSE Faculty of Computer Science Celebrates its First Graduates of the Data Science and Business Analytics Programme

At the beginning of July, the Data Science and Business Analytics programme at the HSE Faculty of Computer Science held its first graduation ceremony. Most graduates have already found jobs in various fields—Data Science, development, product management, systems analysis, and so on. Many of the bachelors plan to continue their studies at the best international and Russian universities, but they are not going to say goodbye. ‘We have been and will always be one big team,’ they say.

The first students have had a lot of challenges and excitement over the course of their studies including moving to Pokrovka, switching to distance learning, then to hybrid learning, and finally coming back to traditional offline studies. They had to take exams amid COVID restrictions, with the exam formats changing each year (open book, closed book, with or without proctoring). All this, including deadlines, coursework, and diploma papers, is now over. The graduates are holding their diplomas in their hands, and they will soon have to make an importance decision as to what path in life to take after this successful start.

Tamara Voznesenskaya, Academic Supervisor of the programme, emphasised the significance of this first graduation event for the HSE Faculty of Computer Science.

Tamara Voznesenskaya

‘The programme has its first graduates. It is a kind of graduation ceremony for the programme itself, as the first results of our work go beyond the university. Our Data Science graduates have chosen different trajectories. Some have already enrolled in Master's programmes at universities in Belgium, Great Britain, China, and Portugal, while others are in the process of entering HSE or other Russian universities. Some graduates are already working in banks, consultancies, startups, Data Science, and R&D divisions of various companies, while others are launching their own startups. I wish all our graduates the best of luck!’

Out of 42 graduates, five graduated with honours: Daniil Karzanov, Yunin Pei, Tigran Ramazyan, Ilya Sobakinskikh, and Korniy Tomashchuk.

‘The graduation ceremony is a long-awaited event for every student,’ says Tigran Ramazyan. ‘Four years of classes, home assignments, tests, and exams have come to their logical fruition. It has been twice as important a celebration for us, because we are the first HSE Data Science graduates.’ While still in his second year, Tigran chose an academic career trajectory, which is rather unusual for the Data Science graduates. Tigran Ramazyan began studying physics-related problems. Last summer, he even had an internship at CERN. ‘The knowledge in higher mathematics, statistics, and machine learning that the programme gave me has played a key role in achieving my professional goals,’ he says. After the official graduation ceremony, the inaugural graduates gathered as a class to share this joyous occasion with the professors they cherish so much.

Tigran Ramazyan

'We were happy to meet off campus, compare views on life and education, and discuss the latest news about AI in industry and science. In addition to sharing nostalgia for the time we spent together at HSE University, we also discussed plans for the future.'

Data Science graduates are in high demand in the labour market, so most of them have already found jobs in various fields: Data Science, development, product management, systems analysis, etc. Denis Shilov—one of the graduates—has founded a startup that analyses human psychological well-being based on behavioural and physiological data. Some alumni would like to stay on to teach at the Faculty of Computer Science, and among them is Natalia Krause, who plans to join her alma mater programme as a teacher next academic year. She says the programme helped her obtain good knowledge in both mathematics and economics, while HSE University made her fall in love with learning, meeting tight deadlines, time management, and diligence.

Natalia Krause

‘Personally, I am more interested in the trajectory of studies in IT management and economics, so since my second year, I have been developing in these areas as a product manager and systems analyst. I am delighted to be one of the first graduates of Data Science, a really unique programme, and I would like to continue my academic work in this field.’

As applied data analysis offers a wide range of opportunities for further education, many graduates have successfully entered the world's best universities (UCL, Queen Mary University of London, Tsinghua University, KU Leuven, etc). Others have decided to continue their studies at the Faculty of Computer Science. Vladislav Abramov, one of the first graduates, entered the Master's programme at NOVA IMS University (Lisbon). ‘While I was studying the Data Science Programme, I met some talented guys who became close friends and colleagues. It was here, thanks to annual coursework and internships, that my career in Data Science began,’ Vladislav Abramov emphasized. Vladislav believes that he understood the material he studied much better and was able to see its business value instantly thanks to the practice integrated closely in the learning process.

Vladislav Abramov

‘Many would say that it is better not to combine work and university studies. I’d say that this is not the case with data analysis. It's very sad to say goodbye to my classmates and teachers, we were one big team. I hope that we will remain a big team, working together, sharing experience, and visiting each other's offices as CEOs.’