Education

In late June 2024, a pre-defence of Nurudeen Abdul-Rahaman’s dissertation took place at the HSE Institute of Education. Nurudeen Abdul-Rahaman, a doctoral student from Ghana, has presented his dissertation ‘Academic and Social Integration of Foreign Doctoral Students at Russian Universities during the Covid-19 Pandemic’ for the degree of Candidate of Sciences in Education (PhD).The HSE News Service spoke with Nurudeen as well as his academic supervisor, Evgeniy Terentev, Director of the Institute of Education, about their extensive research on international doctoral students in Russia and Nurudeen's contribution to this research.

At the recent International Physics Olympiad (IPhO 2024) in Iran, students from Saudi Arabia achieved the best results in their country's history, winning one silver and three bronze medals. The team from the Kingdom made their first visit to Russia to receive their final training at the HSE Faculty of Physics.

HSE St Petersburg International Summer School is in full swing—right now, international students from 12 countries are attending lectures and enjoying the cultural programme. The HSE News Service talked to the participants about their most vivid impressions.

On July 10, HSE University-St Petersburg launched the International Summer School—a series of classes for students from India, Vietnam, the Republic of Korea and other countries. Foreign guests are getting to know the university, attending lectures in six fields of study, and enjoying an inspiring cultural programme.

In 2023, the Master's Programme 'Population and Development' was ranked among the top educational programmes at HSE University. The HSE News Service explains what makes this programme special, and why specialists in population issues should study Python, housing policy, and public administration.

April 23–25, 2024, international students of preparatory departments and faculties, as well as undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students, and prospective researchers from Russian and international universities, took part in the 4th International Conference ‘Scientific Initiative of International Students and Postgraduates’ in Tomsk. The event was organised by Tomsk Polytechnic University and covered trends in modern research, problems in social sciences and humanities, project-based learning in engineering, science as vocation and career, etc. For the second year, students of the HSE Preparatory Year Programme took part in the conference.

At the end of 2023, HSE University launched its International Mentoring Programme, where international alumni help current students adapt to the new environment, develop their personal skills, set goals, and make clear plans for job search and career growth. The HSE News Service spoke to participants about why the programme is interesting to mentors, what it can offer mentees, how it is it different from other career guidance initiatives, and more.

On November 24, a unique event for HSE international students—a practice-oriented training session on ‘How to Make a Good Impression in an Interview: Non-Verbal Communication’—took place at HSE University. Natalia Trubnikova, author of the training, covered the basics of nonverbal communication and body language; non-verbal mistakes that lead to difficulties, misunderstandings and communication failures; cross-cultural features of sign language, speed and manner of gesticulation, speech features; nonverbal tips and tricks to convey your point of view, and much more. Together with the expert, HSE students worked on self-confidence and solved real communication cases.

For HSE Preparatory Year students, the Russian Speaking Club is a way to improve their language proficiency in a relaxed atmosphere. At this year’s first such event, they discussed online communications and social media. Michael Dzodzoe from Ghana and Leen Sabbagh from Syria shared their impressions with the HSE News Service.

Studying at a foreign university has distinct advantages for one's career trajectory, alongside invaluable experience and an expanded array of opportunities. However, students may face considerable stress due to immersion in a different cultural setting and encounter new, sometimes unforeseen, challenges. The session 'Creating an International Environment as a Keystone to Cultivate Talent', hosted by HSE University as part of International Partners' Week, featured discussions by experts and representatives from top universities on how universities assist foreign students in adapting and discovering opportunities for self-actualisation.