Researchers have yet to evaluate the entire impact of COVID on mortality. However, it is now possible to discuss the first results of some initial studies. The HSE International Laboratory for Population and Health held a webinar ‘The First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Russia (April 2020—March 2021)’. Although the Russian total mortality rate increased during that period, it was Slovakia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Poland that topped the list. The lowest growth in the mortality rate was observed in South Korea. Meanwhile, researchers have failed to detect a lockdown-induced baby boom anywhere in the world.
The dazzling evolution of digital technologies is changing the face of the economy and the social sphere. Some Russian sectors — such as the manufacturing industry and financial services — are well-aligned with the global trend, while some others are lagging behind, thereby creating risks for the country's economy. A team of HSE ISSEK researchers examined current approaches to measuring digital transformation and focused specifically on its uptake by a few key sectors of the Russian economy and services, benchmarking them against the global situation. The study findings were presented in the report 'Digital Transformation of Industries: Starting Conditions and Priorities' at the XXII April International Academic Conference co-organised by HSE University and Sberbank.
The results of the competition for the best academic and popular science papers in Russian by HSE staff members have been announced. This competition is a new one, organized by the university to celebrate the Year of Science and Technology. 257 applications were submitted, with 35 winners announced in the academic category and 30 in the popular science one. The winners were announced on Alexander Pushkin’s birthday. The organizers plan to make the competition annual, potentially opening it up for all Russian and international researchers writing papers and involved in science communication in Russian.
The Faculty of Humanities is switching to project-based research and teaching, which includes many new collaborative research endeavours. Professor Evgeny Kazartsev, who recently became the head of the HSE School of Philological Studies, told the HSE News Service about Computer Methods for Literary Textual Analysis project.
The sharing economy involves shared use of assets and services. This means that users do not need to purchase or own them outright. Assets can be exchanged, borrowed or leased. But not everyone is ready for this model. What factors determine whether or not someone is willing to participate in the sharing economy?
Countries across the world announced support measures in the amount of USD 11 trillion to pull the economy out of the crisis caused by the pandemic and lockdown. Such hefty money injections into the economy will promote GDP recovery but at the same time may raise the spectre of growing public debt. Sergey Pukhov, the lead expert of HSE Centre of Development Institute, talked to the portal's News Service about the matter in question.
The Commission on Counteracting Falsification of Scientific Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) has published a report, ‘Foreign Predatory Journals in Scopus and WoS: Plagiarism by Translation and Unprincipled Russian Authors.’ HSE Vice Rector Maria Yudkevich discusses the main findings of the report and suggests possible measures to prevent violations of scholarly ethics by university staff.
ICEF not only trains professionals in economics and finance, but also provides a perfect start for an academic career. Daniil Esaulov, lecturer, coordinator of student research work at ICEF and manager of ICEF Academia project, talked to us about how ICEF develops research skills, what students do at ICEF Academia, and why one shouldn’t be afraid of authorities in research.
Many people in Russia believe that they had COVID-19 as early as December 2019 or January 2020. Is it possible to find out when the epidemic really started in Russia and where it came from? Bioinformatics provides an answer.
Eric Maskin spoke at a recent research seminar held by the Centre in which he proposed a modified independence of irrelevant alternatives condition (IIA) and demonstrated that the voting rule satisfies modified IIA, Arrow’s other conditions, and May’s axioms if and only if it is the Borda count, i.e., rank-order voting. Fuad Aleskerov discussed how this affected the collective choice theory, elaborating on various choice models, starting from the Condorcet paradox.
A team of chemists from HSE University and the Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry used molecular modelling to find out that two medications that have been known for a long time can be used to fight SARS-CoV-2. One of them is used to treat alcohol addiction, and the other is for cancer.
The Russian Ministry of Education and Science has announced the results of a grant competition for big research projects. One of the winners is a project with HSE University participation: the creation of a next generation computational linguistic platform to digitally record the Russian language.
By the end of 2020, HSE scientists will launch their own satellite into low Earth orbit, which will allow them to observe the Earth via the satellite’s remote sensors. To design and create the satellite, specialists and students of MIEM HSE and the HSE Lyceum worked closely with the Sputniks company, the Sirius Education Centre, and Scanex.
