Bakhtier Mirzoev, who graduated from the HSE Lyceum this year, won a bronze medal at the 2026 International Economics Olympiad (IEO 2026) in China. The annual competition features five-person teams selected from the winners and prizewinners of national olympiads. In this interview, Bakhtier talks about his preparations for the olympiad, the highlights of his trip, and his future plans (spoilers: he’s applying to HSE University).

Huh Yun is from South Korea, lived in Kyrgyzstan, and has now moved to Moscow to study on the HSE University and Kyung Hee University Double Degree Programme in Economics and Politics in Asia at the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs. In this interview with the HSE News Service, Yun talks about what makes HSE a forward-thinking university, how students can help each other settle into university life, and why it’s important to keep challenging yourself.

The Class of 2026 has become the largest in the history of HSE University’s online campus, with more than twice as many graduates as last year. A total of 2,023 students completed their studies across 28 online master’s programmes, covering disciplines ranging from psychology and law to cybersecurity and digital urban studies. For 10 of these programmes, this was the first cohort of graduates.

Andrey Vorchik studies happiness, delivers popular science lectures, and believes that science should address social issues as well. In an interview for the Young Scientists of HSE University project, he spoke about how emotions influence decision-making, the Bermuda Triangle formed by the bathroom, refrigerator, and bed, and the ideal formula for education.

Zou Jiaxu moved to Moscow from Heihe, China, at a young age. Having finished high school in Moscow, she decided to enrol in the Bachelor’s in Media Communications at the Institute of Media of the HSE Faculty of Creative Industries. Now in her second year of studies, Zou talked to the HSE News Service about the opportunities for practical experience available to HSE students, her volunteering and extracurricular activities, why learning Russian is a never-ending process, and the importance of making friends wherever you go.

Why do some people voluntarily follow new rules while others ignore them? Researchers at HSE University have found that the answer lies not so much in people's willingness to cooperate, as previously believed, but in their ability to empathise with others. Empathy proved to be the strongest predictor of whether people chose to wear face masks voluntarily during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings have been published in Frontiers.

In late July 2026, Dmitry Rybin, a graduate of the HSE Faculty of Mathematics who is now working in China, used ChatGPT to disprove a longstanding mathematical hypothesis. In an interview with the HSE News Service, he discussed AI's ability to make discoveries in mathematics, reflected on his time at HSE University, and spoke about his doctoral research at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Researchers from HSE University and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) have developed a set of simple analytical methods for calculating the properties of heavy ions in helium under the influence of a strong electric field. The new approach speeds up calculations of ion mobility and ion–molecule reaction rates by thousands of times while maintaining sufficient accuracy for plasma jet modelling. The findings have been published in the journal Physica Scripta.

In July 2026, the HSE Institute for Robotics Systems hosted a foresight session dedicated to developing an Ethical Standard for Anthropomorphic Robotic Complexes. Representatives from businesses, government bodies, scientific organisations, and universities gathered to discuss key ethical and legal issues surrounding the development of anthropomorphic robotic complexes. The main outcome of the meeting was a draft of the Ethical Standard.