Time to Showcase Your Research: Applications Are Now Open for Student Research Paper Competition 2026
Taking part in the Student Research Paper Competition (SRPC) gives you an opportunity to present your research to experts, receive an independent assessment, and determine the future direction of your work. The competition is open to students graduating in 2026 not only from HSE University but from universities in Russia and abroad. Papers may be submitted in Russian and English, and in some fields also in French, German, and Spanish.
Here are the key things to know about submitting work to the SRPC 2026 competition.
What Kind of Work Can Be Submitted?
An original research paper completed individually or co-authored with other students.
Who Can Take Part in the Competition?
Students and 2026 graduates of Russian and international universities.
What Has Changed This Year?
The Natural Sciences category has been divided into four separate fields: Chemical Sciences, Biological Sciences, Physics, and Geography.
When Is the Submission Deadline?
October 15, 2026, inclusive.
What Does Taking Part in the Competition Offer?
The opportunity to receive a scholarship for authors who take first place in their category, additional portfolio points, tuition fee discounts when applying for a master’s programme at HSE University, and an academic travel grant to attend research events around the world.
For more information, visit the SRPC website.
Ekaterina Sherstneva
A term paper or thesis can be more than just part of the educational process: it can also be the beginning of a research career. Ekaterina Sherstneva, a third-place winner in the SRPC Competition in the Linguistics category, spoke about how her research continued after the competition and reached the international stage.
— Why did you decide to take part in the SRPC Competition?
— For me, the SRPC Competition is an opportunity not to write for the sake of writing. It is one thing when you conduct research for a term paper, and quite another when that work goes on to have a life of its own. This is an excellent motivation for young researchers and teaches them that the creation of academic knowledge should not be limited by the curriculum. In the future, this helps take research to a higher level—for example, by developing it into a paper for publication in an academic journal.
— How did you prepare your work for the competition?
— My work, originally a term paper, focused on the asymmetry between goal and source in the Uralic languages. For example, in French, three different prepositions are used to express movement towards a goal, while only one is used for movement away from a source. I studied this type of asymmetry using data from Uralic languages. The most difficult part of preparing the paper for SRPC was shortening the term paper. Now I think this stage may actually be even more important than writing the paper itself: when you cut down your work, you begin to understand more precisely what is truly important in the research.
— After winning, you used the travel grant. How did you choose the event you decided to attend?
— I chose the ALT conference (International Conference of the Association for Linguistic Typology), one of the largest events in the field of linguistic typology. This year, it was held at the Dynamique Du Langage laboratory in France, whose research is related to my topic. I had to go through a selection process to take part. First, I had to rework all the ideas I had accumulated over several years of research, then fit them into a one-page abstract and go through the selection process. The abstracts were reviewed by three experts, and the competition was strong.
— What did the trip give you as a researcher?
— I gave a presentation in a session devoted to the coding of spatial relations alongside scholars whose papers I cite in my own research. At typological conferences, it often turns out that the audience is not very familiar with the topic of a presentation, so it mainly serves to broaden the listeners’ horizons. Here, however, things were different. I received valuable feedback from leading specialists in my field, met researchers from other countries, and met my academic supervisor in person for the first time. It was my first international conference and a major step forward for me. Without the travel grant, I would hardly have been able to attend, so I am especially grateful to SRPC and the HSE Centre for Student Academic Development for this opportunity.
— What would you advise students who are currently considering taking part in SRPC?
— I think many people see research as something separate from their studies. But a term paper, thesis, or even an essay can already become a genuine piece of academic research. So, I would not stop at the grade in your record: SRPC is precisely an opportunity to give your work a life beyond the classroom.
What HSE Academics Say about SRPC
This year, SRPC has added four new fields: Chemical Sciences, Biological Sciences, Geography, and Physics. Representatives of HSE faculties explain what research work offers students, which skills are important in each field, and what they should pay particular attention to when writing their papers.
Vitaly Kotov, Dean of the HSE Faculty of Chemistry
— The main value of SRPC for students in the Chemical Sciences field is the opportunity to present the results of their research and receive expert feedback from leading specialists at the HSE Faculty of Chemistry. We want to see the results of research that goes beyond the scope of ordinary term papers and theses, and assess how well participants have mastered research skills: whether they can work independently with research materials, analyse the results they obtain, and present their work clearly and effectively.
For bachelor’s students who win or place in the competition and plan to continue their studies on a master’s programme at HSE University, participation also provides the maximum portfolio score for admission. In addition, SRPC winners receive travel grants for research trips.
Evgeniya Stepanova, Academic Supervisor of the Cell and Molecular Biotechnology programme at the Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology
— The SRPC Competition is students’ first real test as researchers. Their work will be read by people who receive research grants, write patents, and know the value of every figure. They will ask: ‘Why did you do this? What lies behind it?’ And that is the most valuable part. Because the main value is not the certificate, but feedback from professionals. It allows you to move very quickly from the level of a ‘laboratory assistant’ to that of a ‘early-career researcher.’ The competition also tests your competitiveness: biological sciences are developing rapidly today, and it helps you understand whether you are keeping up with the times or falling behind.
I often tell my students: don’t be afraid of challenging topics. On the contrary, if a topic seems confusing and intimidating, that means it is interesting. Choose a problem that genuinely captures your interest. Not because ‘you need it for your thesis,’ but because you yourself want to know: what will happen if we add this inhibitor? Can we predict the immune system’s response to a new strain? This is your chance not simply to complete your studies, but to discover what you want to work on for the next 20 or 30 years. And believe me, it is worth it.
Science develops quickly. Textbooks become outdated within just a few years. The only way to understand what modern biology is really about is to open the laboratory door and start experimenting. No books or theoretical knowledge can replace hands-on experience. Lectures are good. But until you run a PCR, extract DNA, or grow cells on a chip yourself, you will not understand where the blind spots in a protocol are and where genuine research freedom begins. This is what experimental thinking is all about. And without it, there is little place for you in biology. There is another important point. The cost of making a mistake at university is minimal. If something goes wrong, you sit down and work it out with your supervisor. You learn to deal with uncertainty, test hypotheses, and not take things for granted. These skills will stay with you for life, even if you do not pursue an academic career.
— The main value of SRPC for a geographer is the opportunity to go beyond an academic assignment, present your work to the professional community, and receive an independent expert assessment. Geography today is an integrated science at the intersection of the natural and social sciences, so the competition allows students to demonstrate not only their research findings but also their command of modern tools such as GIS, spatial analysis, remote sensing, and data processing. Taking part in SRPC can also become an important entry in an academic and professional portfolio.
I would give participants three recommendations. First, do not be afraid of interdisciplinarity. The strongest papers often emerge at the intersection of disciplines—for example, between climatology and urban studies, or economic geography and data analysis. Do not confine yourself to a single discipline; look for connections. Second, pay attention to methodology and data quality. Check whether your data is representative and whether your processing and visualisation methods are appropriate. The use of GIS and spatial modelling can strengthen your work. And third, think about the practical relevance of your research: what problem does it help to solve? Work that proposes solutions for adapting to climate risks, spatial planning, or assessing natural capital is particularly valuable.
SRPC develops research thinking and independence: students learn to formulate research questions, work with sources, analyse and interpret results. The competition also helps develop academic communication skills—structuring ideas, presenting findings clearly, and arguing your position before experts. Preparing a paper by a set deadline also requires self-organisation and the ability to manage your time.
Alexander Ponomarev, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Physics
— Students who choose a career in science, or simply want to share their research findings with the academic community, need to have the generally accepted skills required to present their work. First, they need to be able to communicate their findings clearly and concisely to a large audience of professional researchers in oral form, for example, in a conference presentation. Second, they need to be able to present their findings in writing in accordance with the standards of academic publishing, for example, in a research paper for an academic journal. Students taking part in the SRPC Competition develop the second of these skills. For some participants, this may be the first academic paper they have ever written. In this respect, the SRPC Competition also plays an important educational role, giving students an opportunity to hone a valuable skill.
As we know, physics is an experimental science, so we are particularly interested in papers describing experimental research and presenting new scientific findings. At the same time, we recognise that modern research is extraordinarily complex and is almost always carried out by teams of authors. When an attempt is made to isolate the part of a large, complex project carried out directly by the author, the reviewer assessing the work can often lose sight of its underlying rationale and overall objective. Therefore, papers submitted in the Physics field should, in their introductory section, describe the relevance, novelty, and practical significance of the broader research project conducted by the research team of which the participant is a member, before moving on to the participant’s own contribution to this larger study. This recommendation also applies to theoretical papers if they form part of a broader research project.
