What's next?

Applied social psychology graduate Alexander Feigin shared his experience of studying on Masters program and his future career plans

"I definitely made the right choice when I ended up with the decision to continue my studies on the master’s program “Applied Social Psychology” at the Higher School of Economics. By the moment of enrollment I had already understood that I want to bind my life with science and build an academic career, and studying on the program allowed me to obtain new and necessary skills and insights, and with no doubts fully met my expectations.

I consider it is great that all the faculty members actively carry out their own studies, publish articles in the international journals and take part in conferences, and hence constantly update the materials they present to students instead of giving the very same old lectures year by year. The environment with like-minded people around and with the opportunity to learn from the accomplished experts who are always open and ready to give a piece of advice seems to me to be the perfect one to progress and get better.

Despite I had not had any experience in data analysis nor in carrying out studies by the enrollment at the HSE, I managed to master advanced methods of data analysis over the courses of the program, whereas during the discussions held on Research Seminars I got lots of critical comments and helpful feedback regarding organization and implementation of my research projects.

Throughout the years of studying on the program I participated in a number of international conferences and schools and also got some work experience at the Center for Sociocultural Research – this experience was both exciting and extremely useful. The years spent at the HSE and the way covered allowed me to grow as a researcher significantly and as a result I got an offer to continue my studies on the PhD program at the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy.

However, it is worth mentioning that the competencies acquired on the program are quite wide and can be applied outside the academia too – understanding of individual and group psychology as well as the instruments to work in a range of social situations can be useful in many different areas of life – from resolution of everyday conflicts to elaboration of personnel development trainings for international organizations." - Aleksandr Feigin, Applied social psychology graduate, PhD student, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy.