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‘Master's Studies Represent Time and Place Which Can Help You Greatly Expand Your Brain Power and Productivity’

‘Master's Studies Represent Time and Place Which Can Help You Greatly Expand Your Brain Power and Productivity’

© HSE University

If you lack confidence, stability and an understanding of how to balance your life in a rapidly changing world, perhaps you should take a closer look at the HSE master's programmes. At the Meetup 2.0, HSE experts, business representatives and students discussed what skills can be upgraded and how a master’s degree can change your career path.

The December meetup, unlike the first online meetup, which took place in May, lasted two days and was held in a mixed format: on December 10th, participants and guests gathered at the HSE Cultural Centre on Pokrovsky Bulvar, and the following day a webinar on how to enrol on HSE programmes without exams was held.

During the on-site part of the event, HSE faculties manned stands and gave presentations on their degree programmes, where academic supervisors and teachers spoke about the features of studying. A panel discussion with researchers and a public talk with the Admissions Committee were also organized.

HSE teachers and partners held lectures in the format of short TED-style talks. HSE University Vice-Rector for Research, Candidate of Sciences in Physics and Mathematics Dmitry Dagaev spoke about the skills of a researcher, which can be useful in everyday life, and about how your developments and publications can contribute to your scientific career. Andrey Ocheretny, Executive Director, Head of Sberbank's Academic Partnerships Directorate, described the competence model of a sought-after specialist according to SBER, while Ekaterina Kashirskaya, research fellow of the School of Psychology, and Candidate of Psychological Sciences, spoke on stress management and self-management skills.

Experience, magic and secrets of survival

HSE representatives, strategic partners and a master's student spoke at the panel discussion ‘Master’s Programmes for Life in New Reality’. Anna Podpryatova, Director for Digital Media and Promotion at HSE University, moderated the discussion. ‘I see a lot of students here and I am very glad that you, just like me, want to learn magic. But I am almost a qualified magician and I must warn you: if all your motivation comes purely from external factors, then it will be difficult for you to study on a master's programme,’ said Artemy Rakhmatullin, 2nd-year student of the master's programme in Pedagogy of HSE Institute of Education.

© HSE University

‘The main goal of the master's programme is not to harm, but give students a set of skills that help them survive. And it's great that tomorrow I can put into practice what I’ve learnt and received today. The master's programme helped me to sort everything out: to understand what I can do, and what else I need to learn,’ he said. Among the advantages of his master's programme, the student named practical orientation, systematization of knowledge and skills, variability of approaches, as well as excellent teaching and student staff. ‘HSE University is not just a building on Myasnitskaya or Pokrovka, but the students, teachers, people around you, and the people here are wonderful,’ summed up Artemy.

In addition to networking, systematization and transferring knowledge into practice, master's programmes at HSE University open up a variety of different opportunities, which are also expanding every year, said Yulia Grinkevich, Director for Internationalization at HSE University.

‘Now the university has more than 100 partners that help us to increase opportunities for development,’ she said. ‘We have 23 programmes in English and 23 double-degree programmes,’ added Yulia Grinkevich. Speaking about student exchange, there are also opportunities both at faculties and university as a whole. ‘If we are talking about all-university formats, we have about 25 partners and over 100 opportunities per year that students can take advantage of. Speaking about the faculty opportunities, there are about 250 agreements. That is, with almost 11,000 of HSE master’s students, one in three can definitely participate in some form of student exchange,’ she said.

In addition, there are short-term formats such as summer schools, seminars and many different conferences in which you can also develop specific competencies and skills.

 27 structural divisions at HSE University implement master's programmes

 20% of HSE applicants took advantage of benefits when applying for a master's programmes in 2022

 22% of master's programmes applicants are people aged 26 and older

 23% of master’s students participate in project activity

 25% of all master’s programme applicants are graduates of HSE bachelors’ and specialist programmes

 82% of master’s graduates are satisfied with the level of teaching

 92% of the surveyed graduates are completely or quite satisfied with their work five years after graduation

From the shaking world to the physics of destruction

‘The person who will say exactly what the world will be like in two years is either lying or stupid,’ said Anastasia Likhacheva, Dean of HSE Faculty of World Economy and Intarnational Affairs, graduate of the bachelor’s programme in economics and the master’s programme in International Relations at HSE University, when opening a discussion on one of the most difficult topics of today: what skills and competencies will be in demand in the future world.

‘What is opposed to the physics of destruction? It’s flexibility. It is the ability to be flexible and to adapt’ stressed Anastasia Likhacheva. ‘We are currently in earthquake mode and we don’t know how and where the lines will go. Then I remember Tokyo, where they learned to build magnificent skyscrapers in the seismic zone thanks to their art of adaptation: when everything is shaking around, you need to be able to be mobile yourself.’

There is less trust in the modern world, and not only between conflicting countries or entities, but in general, because there is a reassessment of the risks of actions, of international cooperation, believes Likhacheva. What happens when there is deficit of trust? First of all, there is an urgent need for someone who can be a trusted intermediary. In addition, there is a breakdown of our geographical and spatial perception of the world, and you need to have the courage to look at everything you have been taught in a completely new way.

‘Master's studies represent a time and place which can help you greatly expand your cognitive abilities, power and productivity of your brain. A master’s programme is a school where you can truly become engaged in the expert community, and HSE University really gives you this opportunity,’ sums up Anastasia Likhacheva.

Anastasia Likhacheva, Yulia Grinkevich
© HSE University

Speaking about competencies in demand, Tatiana Poletaeva, Executive HR Vice President at Sistema, drew attention to IT skills that are in demand in completely different fields and specializations, and in addition, admitted that everything connected with the East and the Arab world turned out to be unexpectedly lacking: ‘When we looked at how many Sinologists and Arabists we have among 120,000 employees this year, we found only 30 people. This is very few for a business that is currently developing in this direction.’

For the 2023/24 academic year, admissions at HSE University are currently open for 183 master’s programmes, 18 of which are implemented entirely online.

HSE contests and competitions offer various opportunities to study at HSE University for free or with a discount. To learn more about the HSE master’s programmes, visit the HSE International Admissions page.