International Programme in Economics and Finance

Moscow-born and raised Alisa Vakhitova is the youngest of three siblings in her family. Alisa developed her interest in economics in high school and enrolled in HSE Lyceum (Economics and Mathematics) after completing ten grades at a regular school near her home. Alise graduated from HSE Lyceum with honors and showed prize-winning performance at the final stage of National Economics Olympiad for school students. A member of the ICEF class of 2024, Alisa worked as an analyst developer at Yandex and is currently completing her master’s in Finance at the University of Cambridge, scheduled to embark on her PhD studies there in September. Here’s Alisa about the stages of her journey and her plans for the future.

As part of the ICEF elective course “Artificial Intelligence for Business”, students work on projects for partner companies and potential employers. AI experts from these companies also serve on the jury during the final project presentations.

ICEF continues to expand its team of internationally qualified faculty members holding PhD degrees. Starting September 2026, a new faculty member will join ICEF: Ali Bakhtawar.