On October 28^th and 29^th the 2nd International Conference of Higher Education Researchers ‘Universities and State’ took place at the Higher School of Economics. The event was organized by the Russian Association for Tertiary Education Research with the support of the HSE.

On October 28^th 2011, a session of the Academic Council of the Higher School of Economics took place at the HSE, The event began with an award ceremony: Claude Blanchemaison, Professor at the Paris-Dauphine University, former French Ambassador in Russia and a long-time friend of the HSE, was given the title of HSE Honorary Professor.

On October 27^th Claude Blanchemaison, Honorary Professor of the HSE, Professor at the Paris-Dauphine University, and former French Ambassador to Russia, delivered an open lecture for the students of the Higher School of Economics.

Ronald Inglehart, Academic Supervisor of the Laboratory for Comparative Social Research at the HSE Branch in Saint-Petersburg, has been acknowledged by the experts of ‘Russian Reporter’ magazine as one of the 100 the most authoritative people in Russia in 2011 – in the category ‘Scientists’, ‘for his willingness to become a Russian scientist’.

On October 19^th a delegation from the University of Groningen (the Netherlands) visited the Higher School of Economics. The head of the delegation, Prof. Sibrand Poppema, President of the University of Groningen, told us about his university and the purpose of his visit to the HSE.

On the 17th of October students and faculty of Moscow universities met Paul Polman, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Unilever group of companies.

On October 13th, 2011, Michael Posner, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the United States, and Thomas Melia, his Deputy, met students and lecturers from the HSE, Nizhny Novgorod.

On October 10^th HSE staff met with representatives of the Alliance of 4 Universities of Spain (A-4U): the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Autonomous University of Madrid, Charles III University of Madrid and the Pompeu Fabra University. Boris Zhelezov, Deputy Vice Rector of the HSE, told us about the outcomes of the meeting.

The World Bank in Washington has launched a new book, ‘The Road to Academic Excellence’, which presents eleven case studies of young research universities from all over the world. The only Russian example included in the book is the Higher School of Economics.