Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –
Source: State University Higher School of Economics – State University Higher School of Economics –
On February 10, the HSE hosted an awards ceremony for the winners and laureates of the 2024 Best Student Research Paper Competition. 1,916 papers were submitted to the competition, 320 people became winners and laureates, and the awards ceremony was held in four sections: social sciences, economic and managerial sciences, exact sciences, humanities, and creative industries.
“An achievement to build on”
The winners and laureates of the social sciences section were congratulated by the first vice-rector of the National Research University Higher School of Economics Vadim Radaev. He said that the audience included those who had started doing research while still students, and noted: “You did the right thing: it is better not to postpone a good deed.”
Vadim Radaev recalled that the NIS competition was first held in 2003 in five areas, and now there are 25 of them, with students not only from HSE but also from other Russian universities participating. Each application was read by at least two experts, there were more than a thousand of them in total, and they did this voluntarily and free of charge. The First Vice-Rector also thanked the experts and organizers of the competition.
First Vice Dean Faculty of Social Sciences Mikhail Mironyuk called winning the competition an achievement that he should build on in his future studies and career: enroll in master’s and postgraduate programs, find work in laboratories and research institutes.
Deputy Dean for Research Faculty of Law Alexander Larichev reported that the competition included research on various sections of jurisprudence, as well as interdisciplinary research. “Your works contain a fresh, non-trivial view, and this allows us to achieve new interesting results,” he added.
“We were able to convince the experts”
Vice-Rector of the National Research University Higher School of Economics Sergey Roshchin spoke at the section on economic and managerial sciences. He called the victory in the research competition no less important than receiving a university diploma.
“I am glad that among the winners of the NRS competition are students and graduates not only of HSE, but also of other universities. It is important to understand that beyond your usual environment there is a community that is moving in the same direction, solving similar problems and, perhaps, ahead of you in some ways,” the vice-rector added.
Dean Faculty of Economic Sciences Sergey Pekarsky said that the competencies demonstrated by the winners and laureates of the NIRS competition are needed always and everywhere. One of them is the ability to persuade: they were able to convince the experts that their works are the best.
According to the deputy director Higher School of Business HSE Igor Tsarkov, despite the importance of applied work in the field of management, “there is no more practical thing than a good theory,” and the NIRS competition contains many works completed in accordance with research canons. Associate Professor St. Petersburg School of Economics and Management Irina Sizova emphasized that the students demonstrated the ability not only to work with data, but also to collect it.
First Vice Dean Faculty of World Economy and World Politics Igor Kovalev recalled that the competition participants achieved success with the support of their scientific supervisors, and advised not to lose contact with them.
“The moment of triumph of the mind”
Opening the section on humanities and creative industries, Ivan Gruzdev, Director of Internal Research and Academic Student Development at HSE, called the award ceremony for winners and laureates “a moment of triumph of the mind,” since the smartest students are sitting in the audience.
Dean Faculty of Humanities Felix Azhimov stated that engineering and natural science disciplines are a priority all over the world today, but humanities are still in great demand. This cannot be explained by “escape from mathematics” (especially since, for example, linguists need it). The reason for the interest is different. By studying the humanities, a person demonstrates his best moral qualities, including honesty and willingness to take responsibility.
Scientific and technological progress is certainly of decisive importance, the director clarified. Institute of Media Faculty of Creative Industries Ernest Matskyavichyus, but if there are no humanities scholars, who will tell people that it has taken place? At the same time, it is important for media workers not to turn into “pure artisans”, they value the fundamental knowledge that is provided at the HSE. In his opinion, students here conduct research, demonstrating a new view, in which there are fewer prejudices, more courage and drive.
Deputy Dean for Research St. Petersburg School of Humanities and Arts Renata Goroshkova said that the winners and laureates of the NIRS competition are on the right path, which is “not always easy and not strewn with diamonds,” but, in her opinion, “the most interesting of all possible.”
Feedback and recognition
At the exact sciences section, HSE Vice-Rector Elena Odoevskaya asked students about their impressions of the NIRS competition. During an informal conversation, it became clear, in particular, that for them the competition is an opportunity to receive not only feedback, but also recognition that they are interested in participating in the HSE students and young scientists academic development project “Republic of Scientists“.
“I would really like our partnership not to end with a diploma from the research competition and a beautiful photograph, so that you establish communication with scientists and the university administration, so that you can continue to remain in our wonderful science,” said Elena Odoevskaya. In her opinion, it is important to retain each winner and laureate of the competition in the scientific field.
Dean Faculty of Chemistry Vitaly Kotov emphasized that HSE holds various scientific competitions for students, and if at the NIRS competition research is assessed anonymously, then at another competition, organized by the Faculty of Chemistry, participants first present their work on stands, and then give flash reports.
Answering the question of the first vice-dean Faculty of Computer Science Tamara Voznesenskaya, what qualities a scientist should have, the students named patience, critical thinking and curiosity. She, in turn, noted that people who are characterized by curiosity find it difficult to do routine work in companies even for big money, and spoke about the opportunities for development in the scientific field.
“The Turning Point”
Every year, students from different campuses of the HSE participate in the research competition, and in 2024, representatives of the St. Petersburg campus achieved significant success. In the Management program, they took almost all the prizes. Among them are students of the bachelor’s program “International Business and Management“Sofia Ilyakova and Shahzodakhon Shavkatjon kizi Botirova, who took first place.
“Our research focuses on the factors that influence the success of crowdfunding campaigns in the Russian film industry on the Planeta.ru platform. We examined two levels of campaign success – reaching 50% and 100% of the target amount, showing that success depends on the number of people who supported the project, the duration of the campaign and the stated goal. We also developed recommendations for managers in the film industry,” said Sophia.
In the Psychology category, third place was taken by students from the Master’s programData Analytics for Business and Economics» Ekaterina Kalganova and Daria Levanovich. They studied the impact of participation in events held in coworking spaces on the formation of team creativity of employees.
“My future plans include developing and deepening this research. I am also attracted by the prospect of publishing an article in one of the scientific journals. I am sure that winning a prize in the competition will be a turning point in my academic development,” Ekaterina noted.
In the category “World Economy”, a student from China, Wang Jinhai, distinguished himself by taking first place. He also became a laureate in the category “Finance”. At the St. Petersburg campus, he is studying in the master’s program “Global and Regional History” and is convinced that science is his calling.
“My research interests are quite broad. I am currently working on several other studies, the topics of which are interesting in the Russian context, and I have already submitted several articles to leading journals devoted to social sciences. I hope that winning the NIRS competition will help me interact with Russian scientists and contribute to a better understanding of their approaches to studying economics and finance,” Wang Jinhai noted.
“Participation is already a success”
Second place in the direction of “Urban studies, urban and transport planning” was taken by fourth-year students of the bachelor’s program “Urban planning» Zoya Ermokhina, Elizaveta Dekkusheva, Anna Kochetkova, Dmitry Moiseyev and Amira Tsarbaeva. The team was formed in the second year, and since then they have been writing scientific papers together.
Their research for the research competition was devoted to the topic of anniversaries as drivers of urban space modernization. “The topic was suggested by our scientific supervisor Anton Valerievich Gorodnichev, and we compared 11 cases of holding anniversaries in Russia, starting with the millennium of Kazan in 2005 and ending with the millennium of Suzdal in 2024. We identified three types of modernization: an image anniversary, that is, transformations for the promotion of the city, an anniversary for solving local problems, and a mixed type,” explains Amira.
“Our work is unique because no one before us has considered an anniversary as a modernization process. But an anniversary changes the urban space: new objects are built, infrastructure is created, improvements are carried out,” adds Dmitry. According to Elizaveta, they heard about the NRS competition from the first days of their studies at the HSE. “Even participating in it is already a success,” she says.
Student of the Master’s program “Systems and software engineering» Ilya Derezovsky took third place in the Computer Science category. “This is my first experience of participating in a research competition, as well as the experience of writing my first serious scientific publication. Therefore, winning the competition was doubly unexpected and pleasant,” he says.
The young scientist conducted a study in which he had to come up with an informative, visual and aesthetic way to visualize data as part of one of his projects NUL process-oriented information systems under the supervision of Alexey Mitsyuk, a senior research fellow at this laboratory and deputy dean for research at the Faculty of Computer Science. Ilya notes that he received positive experience in scientific work and the desire to continue developing in the academic environment thanks to the support of his colleagues at the laboratory.
“The atmosphere of HSE’s scientific laboratories is unique, charged with the energy of people interested in their topic, incredibly valuable experience, support and knowledge. HSE is the best place to try yourself in science, and the research is one of the most significant events at the university, where many young researchers begin their careers,” says Ilya Derezovsky.
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