The Programme answers to applicant's questions 2020.

On the 15-th of July professor, academic supervisor  of  the Master programme “ Governance of science, technology and innovation” Dirk Meissner and our alumni  Ekaterina Shor answered the applicant’s questions they had prepared in advance.

Ekaterina answered questions regarding the future career, work full time, motivation letter and hard skills:

1.     What is the programme impact for my future career?

- I should divide this question in 2 ways:
First is surely networking, for example I had perfect students in my group, who worked in top companies in Russia and abroad and actually my decision to apply to Yandex was influenced by the guy I studied with. He was working there and motivated me to do this. I also have some strong connections with P&G company and we all share experience still. And what is more, this programme contains students with different background from different spheres, some from financial companies, other from FMCG companies and technological companies etc. That is why you are always in condition of brainstorming in different knowledge ecosystems. This is probably the main contribution of the programme for your further development and your career. 
And the second: when I applied to my position in Yandex, Master’s programme was a significant plus to my CV and it was highly appreciated.

2.     Is it possible to study successfully for people who work full time?

- Yes, actually I was the person who had full-time job in advertising agency when I applied to this programme and if you know what advertising agency is, you know that it is a 24/7 hour 7 days a week job. But yes, I successfully combined studying and working. Actually first thing I did I told my employers that some days I need to leave earlier and I had a successful studying, I was in top of ratings all two years I studied, but I should wan you to be prepared not to sleep some nights during your studying year because there are a lot of projects and sometimes you need to work in groups and you have time only at nights so be prepared for this.

3.     Could you tell us more about motivation letter?

- In my opinion you should give information why you should go on this programme, how is this programme valuable for you and how this programme will help you in future. And what is more: how you and your experience would be useful for the research field of the programme. Every motivation letter is about both sides: how the program is helpful for your development and what you can do when you will be studying here. Another comment is not to write a lot, because it is difficult to read and to understand your thoughts, so make everything short but explain everything.

4.     What sorts of hard skills are students going to get after graduation?

- Usually hard skills are about math, programming etc, but I should warn you that this program is not about this. But it gives you some hard skills of preparing the research, for example my favorite course here was «Foresight» which could be regarded as soft skills, but correctly proposed research is totally a hard skill which could be applied in your future work or your further research for academic programs.

Dirk Meissner continued answering the set of the questions regarding the programme:

5.     Is it possible to apply for double degree programme after enrollment during the first semester?

- Depends on what programme you are going to apply for. If you want to apply for Berlin university - you should apply in August, if you want to apply for Seoul - you should do it in January.

6.     What universities are included in double degree programme?

- Bremen university, Maastricht university, Middle East Technical university, Berlin Technical university, Seoul National university.

7.     Is there any financial support during the double degree programme?

- HSE does not provide financial support, but there are some scholarships available in partner universities, depends on what you will choose.

8.     Due to the current situation, how are courses in Berlin university going to be next year: online of offline?

- Due to current situation, we cannot say you surely right now. Hope everything will be okay and you could go for standard offline courses.

9.     Is it possible to refuse from double degree programme after submitting a motivation letter to a partner university?

- If you applied for double degree programme and you refuse or fail examinations, you will be dropped out from both universities.

10. My final results still not ready due to COVID. Could you accept my documents in late August?

- Usually you should submit all documents at the last week of August, but due to the current situation, we do not know yet when is deadline.

11. Is it possible to apply for double degree programme without IELTS/TOEFL certificates?

- It depends on what degree you want to go. If you want to go on Seoul/Maastricht/Torino you should get it. If you want to go on Berlin it is not necessary.

12. Is it possible to enroll this programme without sufficient work experience?

- Yes, we do not have requirements for you to have work experience. It will be an advantage for sure, but it is not necessary.

13. How many interviews do I have to pass, who will be an interviewers and what date it will be conducted?

- This year we will interview you remotely using Zoom, you will face three people and there always will be male and female, we do not have same sex commissions.

- 14. A few words about a motivation letter.
Make it short, make it precise, just be yourself. Give us a clear reason what is the value of the programme for you, but please do not write about your earlier childhood when you were dreaming about innovation. When I start reading this kind of motivation letters I stop reading them, it is boring. We care about why you want to take this programme, why you are not taking an easier one. If you see we can deliver value to you it is perfect, but do not tell us about your earlier childhood dreams.

17. The question about Berlin university- double degree programme. Should I apply to Berlin university and HSE separately?

- If you want to apply for double degree programme you should apply for HSE only and after enrollment we will have a competition between applicants, then we give a nomination and you will go to Berlin.

18. If I would like to attach references to my application what would be the advised form for giving them?

- It should be one simple letter which should contain letter head, stamp and signature.

19. We do not have to provide the motivational letters for the partner university at once, excluding Berlin. If we are planning to go to the partner university at the second year, we do not have to provide motivational letter with the rest of the documents?

- Yes, you do not have to do it.

20. If  the reference cannot physically be signed in current situation, is it possible to send it without signature?

- You should use electronic signature.

21. Talking about this year: are we going to study online?

- Due to current situation I cannot tell you right now. I hope everything will be okay and everyone could be in Moscow on time so we can have study in classes, but in the worst case we will probably have a blended form of education. We thought about it, we have plan B, but I cannot surely tell you now.

22. If I am applying for Berlin university double degree programme, should my documents be translated to German language?

- No, you should do it only for getting visa.

23. Question about portfolio: I got admitted joining a conference with one of my papers, but the conference was postponed due to current situation. I probably cannot include that in my portfolio, but should I mention this?

If you have an acceptance from the organizations of the conference, why not. I would state it, yes.

24. What should I expect from the interview and how can I prepare for it?

We are not checking all the institutions which you took. We are going to have a look what kind of person you are. Just be yourself and give us a clear reason why you should study here.