News

Each year, hundreds of students from all over the world decide to pursue knowledge at HSE University- St Petersburg. This journey is filled with excitement, hopes, and discoveries: from choosing a programme, submitting documents, attending interviews, and passing entrance exams to receiving that coveted acceptance letter and finally arriving in Russia.

With the year almost over and the holidays just around the corner, the HSE News Service has been asking students about their reflections on 2024 and their hopes for the future. This latest instalment focuses on Abdalla Abdelgadir, a 31-year-old student in his first year of the Master’s in International Relations: European and Asian Studies at the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs. In this interview, Abdalla talks about the huge adversity he faced in his journey to Russia from his home of Omdurman, Sudan, as well as how his passion for international cooperation extends beyond the classroom.

Hannah Kanu, from Freetown in Sierra Leone, is a second-year student of the Master’s in Law of International Trade and Dispute Resolution at the HSE University Faculty of Law. With 2024 coming to an end, the HSE News Service has asked students to reflect on the year gone by and their time at the university in general. In this instalment, Hannah talks about discovering Russia and the rewards and challenges of studying in Moscow—including the Russian word she finds the most difficult.

As we look forward to 2025, FES professors have prepared a video message for students and colleagues. In this heartfelt address, they convey their warmest wishes, congratulations, and aspirations for a year filled with fruitful endeavors and remarkable accomplishments.

Ikenna Mbata, from Owerri, Nigeria, is a student of the Master’s in Science, Technology and Innovation Management and Policy at ISSEK in Moscow. As part of a series of articles in which HSE students reflect over the past year and look to the future, Ikenna told the HSE News Service about the admissions process that led to him winning a full-tuition scholarship, how his courses are relevant to current events, and why learning Russian is not for the faint-hearted.

In support of World AIDS Day 2024, the HSE Spanish Club and the HSX Student Club organised a lecture in English dedicated to the fight against the disease in Russia and Spain.

Syed Zeeshan Raza Zaidi is a 23-year-old international student from Karachi, Pakistan. He is currently a first-year master’s student in Cognitive Neuroscience at HSE University in Moscow seeking to explore the complexities of human behaviour and cognition from a multidisciplinary perspective. Syed spoke to the HSE News Service about why HSE is the best place to realise his potential, what makes Moscow and Karachi so similar, and why he misses home-cooked food most of all.

Eating fruit, wearing traditional outfits, and surviving the Moscow cold: Prep Year students from Vietnam, Iran, and Ghana talk about the New Year traditions in their countries and their plans for the celebration in Russia.

Liu Minglin, 22, from China, chose to study at ICEF in Moscow for two reasons: his Russian friends’ recommendations and the contents of the programme curriculum on the website. Now in his final year of the International Bachelor’s Programme in Economics and Finance at ICEF, Liu Minglin shares his impressions of living in Russia and studying at HSE University.

This winter, Moscow invites locals and visitors alike to revel in the atmosphere of the upcoming holidays in its shops, theatres, exhibitions, ice rinks, and more. The winter markets in particular create a special feeling of cosiness during the cold evenings. Read on to learn more about some of Moscow’s most festive markets this December.