Benjamin Owusu Sarpong, from Kumasi, Ghana, is a final-year student of the Master's programme 'Politics. Economics. Philosophy' at HSE University–Moscow. Now in the final stage of his studies, Benjamin spoke to the HSE News Service to reflect on his experiences—including the various ways HSE brings different cultures together, the numerous opportunities for self-development outside the classroom, and the essential Russian phrases every international student needs to get by.

HSE MIEM, in partnership with Nanotronika JSC, is launching a new master's track: Digital Systems of Technological Complexes of Electronics . Students will study the design of specialised equipment for electronic manufacturing while working on real-world engineering projects together with the industrial partner. The new track is designed to prepare specialists for one of the fastest-growing and most in-demand sectors of the high-tech industry.

In corporations, sports, and academia, people face challenges they cannot handle alone, and selecting the right team is crucial. Tatiana Mayskaya, Associate Professor at the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences and ICEF, together with colleagues from foreign universities, found that less diverse teams are better suited to objectives where a high average performance is important, whereas more diverse teams are preferable when avoiding failure is critical.

Economists at HSE University have examined how smokers respond to changes in cigarette prices. When tobacco prices increase, cigarette consumption does not always decline. In fact, spending on tobacco may even rise. The findings suggest that to reduce smoking rates, tobacco prices must rise faster than household incomes.

The devices, created by student teams, will conduct space research on the properties of promising solar cells, on-board energy storage systems, and serial electronics for student satellites.

Mikhail Samatov focuses on the theoretical study of perovskite solar cells. In this interview for the HSE Young Scientists project, he talks about working on HSE University’s supercomputer, collaborating with Peking University, and making furniture.

Madin Natok, second-year student of HSE University’s Business Informatics programme, has spent the last decade playing basketball. This season, he was named the best young player in the Russian 3×3 Championship, and he is now preparing for a tournament in China. In this interview with the HSE News Service, Madin spoke about sports, studies, and the upcoming tournament.

The HSE Art and Design School Gallery at the Winzavod Centre for Contemporary Art has opened the exhibition ‘The Art of the Book. From Sign to Media.’ The project invites visitors to see the book not merely as a vehicle for text but as an independent artistic form with its own typography, composition, structure, and materiality. The exhibition runs from July 7 to August 25, 2026.

Digital ecosystems have evolved from a technological innovation into a fundamental institution of the modern economy over the past few years. Previously, no jurisdiction had a statutory definition of what constitutes a digital ecosystem. HSE University researchers have addressed this gap by proposing the first legal concept of a digital ecosystem. Their article has been published in the BRICS Law Journal.