Student Research Competition 2016 Winners Awarded at HSE
This year students from other Russian and international universities competed against HSE students. The new HSE project ‘Scientific Battles’ was also announced at the award ceremony.
This was the 14th time that HSE hosted the student research competition. To date over 1,200 works have been submitted to the competition, and every year this number increases. In line with the regulations, each work was read by two of the 800 experts involved.
The main feature of the 2016 contest was the parallel open competition for external participants in five areas (business informatics, computer science, mathematics, media communications, and political science). Next year, all 20 areas in the main competition will be open to external participants. Russian and international students from the Universities of Bern (Switzerland), Texas (USA) and Sri Lanka took part in the 2016 open competition.
Evgeny Yasin, HSE Academic Supervisor, congratulated the winners and noted that HSE will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its founding in 2017. ‘We believe that over the past 25 years HSE has made some progress,’ said Evgeny Yasin. ‘To get a sense of what this really means, take a look at the people in the room, because you, your works, and those of your predecessors, are our achievements. Russia is in some senses a very young country, and still needs to undergo serious institutional reform. That is something you can be part of. And the new face of Russia is represented by educated and skilled professionals.’
Vadim Radaev, Chairman of the Organizing Committee and HSE First Vice Rector, thanked the experts and organizers and said that it was a truly notable day for the university. ‘Giving awards to winners is one of the most gratifying parts of this process,’ he said.
HSE Vice Rector and graduate Igor Chirikov said that, as a student, he also took part in the competition, and this was the first year he has been involved as academic supervisor. ‘It is important for us that there is an active student community interested in science at HSE,’ said Igor Chirikov. ‘Now our colleagues at other universities have joined this community.’ He announced that ‘Science Battles’, a spinoff of the student research competition, is launching at HSE. The Polytechnic Museum, where the battles were conceived, has become partner of the project.
Participants in these ‘Science Battles’ will have 10 minutes to present their research to an audience, using improvised tools rather than prepared presentations, and then take audience questions. Special coaches will train participants, and the audience and jury will determine the winner. This year there will be five qualifying battles and then the finals, which will be held shortly before HSE’s anniversary. The main prize is an academic travel grant to Europe. More details about the project and the application can be found on the project’s website (in Russian), applications are accepted until February 18. The first battles will take place on March 18.
In the near future the creation of a student research club, to bring together all students who are interested in science, will be discussed at HSE. You can send your ideas and suggestions about this to ichirikov@hse.ru.