News

A team of researchers from Russia and the United Kingdom has, for the first time, provided a detailed account of the emergence and evolution of the Russian Sign Language (RSL) interpreter training system. This large-scale study spans from the 19^th century to the present day, revealing both the achievements and challenges faced by the professional community. Results have been published in The Routledge Handbook of Sign Language Translation and Interpreting.

Alexey Efimov has been appointed Head of the School of Asian Studies at the HSE Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs. He brings with him 18 years of experience of living and working in China. Alexey Efimov was involved in opening the RIA Novosti bureau in the People’s Republic of China, took part in establishing the Sputnik China news agency, and from 2019 served as Deputy Trade Representative of the Russian Federation in China. Elizaveta Trubnikova spoke with Alexey Efimov in an interview that sheds light on how a career path from analyst to journalist and diplomat in China shapes one’s understanding of the East, why soft skills are crucial for today’s international affairs professionals, and what prospects lie ahead for the development of the School of Asian Studies.

Associate Professor Yulia Zaitseva of the Faculty of Computer Science’s Big Data and Information Retrieval School and Research Assistant Ekaterina Nistyuk of the Laboratory on Algebraic Transformation Groups have been named among the winners of the Young Russian Mathematics research grant competition. Also among the awardees is Vladislav Pokidkin, a PhD student at the Faculty of Mathematics.

Researchers at the HSE AI Research Centre have developed an AI model that opens up new possibilities for the diagnosis and treatment of serious diseases, including brain cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. Using artificial intelligence, the team studied G-quadruplexes—structures that play a crucial role in cellular function and in the development of organs and tissues. The findings have been published in Scientific Reports.

Daniel Minasian came from Armenia as an exchange student to spend a semester at HSE University–St Petersburg. Majoring in Korean Studies, Daniel chose courses offered by the Institute of Asian and African Studies. Read on to discover how his exchange studies went and what this experience brought him.

An international team including researchers from HSE MIEM has developed a catalyst that enables fast and low-cost hydrogen production from water. To achieve this, the scientists synthesised nanoparticles of a complex oxide containing six metals and anchored them onto various substrates. The catalyst supported on reduced graphene layers proved to be nearly three times more efficient than the same oxide without a substrate. This development could significantly reduce the cost of hydrogen production and accelerate the transition to green energy. The study has been published in ACS Applied Energy Materials. The work was carried out under a grant from the Russian Science Foundation.

HSE University has hosted the final defences of student projects submitted to the Scientific Initiative Competition organised by the Centre for Student Academic Development. Over the course of the year, participants worked on research projects spanning all stages of the research process, from defining a scientific problem to analysing results, and public defence marked the final stage of the competition.

Yadviga Sinyavskaya studies communication technologies, particularly social media. In this interview for the HSE Young Scientists project, she discusses testing the social brain theory on real-world data, the merits of Gogol’s Dead Souls, and ways to prevent burnout.