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A university in the modern world cannot remain an ‘isolated entity’ that focuses on education and scientific activity. Through public projects and initiatives, it has a significant impact on the development of both the country as a whole and its regions. This activity, which includes volunteering, charity, social support for students, and the transmission of knowledge to engaged citizens, has become known as the ‘third mission’.Yaroslav Kuzminov, Rector of HSE University, has published an opinion piece about the University’s ‘third mission’ in the VTimes.

Upward and especially downward income mobility in Russia is higher than in developed countries, making it difficult to form a fully-fledged middle class. And the likelihood of being trapped in long-term poverty turns out to be greater than the transition to stable affluence. This is the conclusion reached by HSE University experts.

The Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies (IOCS) at HSE University is developing an electronic database of Chinese mythological characters and motifs. Because nothing like it has ever been compiled, it meets an enormous demand. Project originators Elizaveta Volchkova, Olga Mazo, Aglaya Starostina and Alevtina Solovyova told IQ what they are attempting to accomplish and why Chinese mythology is both complicated and fascinating.

What lies at the core of the European integration? What motto keeps Europe alive? Has European model become outdated and is it capable of adapting to the changing reality? These and other questions were the focus of the online talk delivered by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Russian Federation Géza Andreas von Geyr at the invitation of HSE University. The lecture was attended by students, scholars, and members of the press from around the world.

Third-year students of the Bachelor’s Programme in Applied Mathematics and Information Science Ivan Safonov, Ramazan Rakhmatullin, and Maxim Gorokhovsky won the Moscow Regional Contest—the first qualifying round of the international student world programming championship ICPC 2020/2021. In total, 45 HSE University took part, with 30 of them receiving certificates of various degrees.

At the twelfth BRICS summit held on November 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping spoke via videoconference about the importance of the BRICS Energy Research Cooperation Platform. Researchers from HSE Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge and the Institute for Economics and Regulation of Natural Monopolies are involved in the work of the Platform.

This October, the Doctoral School of Arts and Design, together with HSE Art and Design School and Goldsmiths College, launched a new project. The Performance Artistic Research Laboratory (PeARL) brings together artists and scholars of various fields to collaborate in studies and experiments to develop ‘Practice as Research’ (PaR).

One of the biggest headlines of recent days has been the announcement made by Pfizer, a U.S.-based company, and BioNTech, Germany, that BNT162b2, a COVID-19 vaccine they are developing, has proved to be 90% effective in its Phase 3 clinical trial. The news was met with big excitement all over the world. However, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is based on a new platform, which is still understudied. According to protocol, its trial will be complete only in 2022. IQ talked to Larisa Popovich, Director of the HSE Institute for Health Economics, about the differences between the U.S.-German and the Russian Sputnik V vaccines, and about the chances of beating COVID-19 with massive immunization in the upcoming months.