Every year, HSE University–St Petersburg welcomes international students from around the world not only for full-time programmes of all levels but also for academic mobility. This year, Michel Young Hernandez, a student from the Mexico Autonomous Institute of Technology, is among them. In this interview, Michel shares his experience of studying at HSE University–St Petersburg as an exchange student, why he decided to participate in the international mobility programme, and what his life in a new cultural landscape has been like.

For the second year in a row, the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry has held the Start a Business with Moscow international business school for students of Moscow Universities. Last year, Wang Yue, an HSE University student from China, became the winner of the project. On June 16, 2025, the finalists defended their projects and business ideas in front of business representatives and potential investors. This year, six students from HSE University made it to the finals. Ekaterina Leibel, second-year student of the master’s programme ‘Science of Learning and Assessment,’ whose project took third place, and Md Yeashin Arafat, first-year student of the master’s programme ‘Business Analytics and Big Data Systems,’ talk about their studies, project presentations, and future plans.

Yousra Demigha, from Algeria, is a student of the Master’s programme ‘Cognitive Sciences and Technologies: From Neuron to Cognition’ and a research assistant at the Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience (ICN HSE). In her interview with the HSE News Service, Yousra talks about her experience of the programme so far, what makes HSE one of the best universities in the country, and why she hasn’t found it difficult to integrate into Russian society.