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Why get a second Master’s degree? How difficult is it to switch from public administration to studying business and finance? Is it possible to combine work and study? We talked with Vincent Kersuzan, a French graduate of HSE’s Master of International Business, about these and other questions.

In early December, Teach for HSE, a programme aimed at helping HSE instructors expand their teaching methods and skills, held a series of master classes on how to integrate online games into one’s teaching. The master class was led by winners of the spring competition held by the Fund for Educational Innovation, and it was open to instructors of all HSE campuses.

Among the wide range of issues considered at the VII global conference on new educational technologies, EdCrunch On Demand, two topics were highlighted: the development of the education system during the pandemic and the further improvement of the competitiveness of Russian higher education. Conference participants concluded that the future of education lies in a combination of online and offline studies, that it is necessary to invest in different types of universities, and that universities will have to compete with start-ups and large corporations.

An applied research project being carried out by the HSE Laboratory for Economics of Climate Change uses the example of the Chechen Republic and the mountainous areas of Krasnodar Krai to create a model of climate risk evaluation and management for Russian regions. Laboratory heads Igor Makarov and Ilya Stepanov talk about the threats presented by global climate change, about whether the pandemic will slow it down, and why a multifaceted approach is essential.

Researchers at HSE and Lomonosov Moscow State University analyzed data on Russians’ movements during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their analysis showed that residents of lower-income municipalities self-isolated less compared to residents of higher-income cities. The findings were published in the journal Environment and Planning A.

On the one hand, the transition to online learning has brought new opportunities. On the other, it has raised several critical questions that are essential for evidence-based education. The pandemic has only made these issues all the more acute. The problems of online education were discussed at the recent eSTARS conference, which was organized by HSE University together with Coursera. Dmitry Abbakumov, Head of the HSE Centre for Computational Educational Sciences, shared his perspective on the matter.

The universal transition to online learning has opened new opportunities for international applicants to get to know HSE University. Below, Deputy Vice Rector Marina Kozak outlines the programmes and opportunities available at HSE that help applicants choose an educational track and assess their capabilities.

Students need digital skills, both in life and in their future work. But many universities are not yet ready to provide students with them, despite the current circumstances in which universities have had to transition to online learning due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The development of online formats has been uneven: there are bright leaders and the rest modestly ‘stand aside’. They lack resources, confidence in digital education, and a regulatory framework. At the eSTARS International Conference organised by HSE University in partnership with Coursera, experts discussed the challenges of digitalisation in higher education.