‘I See a Great Need for Organisations That Support Russian and Chinese Businesses’
Anastas Karagadaev, a graduate of the master’s programme ‘Science, Technology and Innovation Management and Policy’ at the Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge (ISSEK) at HSE University, achieved significant career success even during his student years. Back then, he actively participated in the Laboratory for Science and Technology Studies at ISSEK and founded his own start-up. Currently, he is working on developing projects within the Russia–China Centre for Innovation Cooperation in Nanjing.
Anastas Karagadaev spoke with the HSE News Service about his past and current projects, his studies at HSE, and his advice for university students.
Working at the Centre for Innovation Cooperation
— Our centre supports joint projects between Russia and China. We work with business organisations, start-ups, as well as scientific and educational projects, including universities. We collaborate with Chinese organisations based on their needs—whether it is finding a partner in Russia or developing a project there. The same applies to Russian organisations in China. Regarding our latest projects, we have helped several Russian start-ups enter the Chinese market, actively support young Russian entrepreneurs in developing their projects in China, and work with Russian universities such as MISIS.
I am learning Chinese, but it has been much more difficult than I expected. While I have made progress, I am not fluent yet. Nevertheless, I am very happy with my career development and choices. There are plenty of challenges, of course. For instance, there is a cultural barrier—we are different peoples with our own cultural concepts, linguistic challenges, and many other traditions that can be difficult to grasp at first due to differences in mentality.
HSE University
— Almost all of the knowledge I gained at university has been useful in my work. Both the study materials and the projects we completed have come in handy, as has the experience of intercultural communication. In this regard, HSE has given me a lot. My programme was entirely in English, with an international focus. We studied innovation management, policy in this field, and how different countries structure their work with innovations, science, and technology. I really enjoyed my programme; the materials, the lecturers—everything turned out to be highly relevant.
Working at the Laboratory for Science and Technology Studies at ISSEK
— Since my programme involved extensive research activities, I became deeply engaged in it at some point—especially with my master’s thesis, which I invested a lot of effort in. Alongside my studies, I started working in the department on a project related to artificial intelligence. Our task was to develop a classification of technologies. We had a wide range of partners, which made the work interesting, and we achieved certain successes.
The Tertiarm Start-Up
— The start-up was in the field of robotics, focusing on an educational robot that schoolchildren could build and program during lessons or extracurricular activities. This meant they could study robotics and engineering. The idea stemmed from my own interests—since childhood, I have been fascinated by robotics, participated in various competitions, and built things myself. Even then, I felt there was a lack of a product like this.
Some of my classmates shared the same vision, as they were also passionate about children’s robotics. We decided to develop this idea into a start-up. I helped shape the project vision, so I developed it, secured grants, and applied to accelerators, while my two colleagues were responsible for the technical and educational aspects. For three years, we actively developed the project in Russia—we created several robot prototypes and launched an online course. The project is currently on hold, but the course remains available online, with around 1,300 people enrolled. However, further development of the robot itself is paused for now.
Advice for HSE Students
— Participate in as many activities as possible and meet as many different people as you can. Show genuine interest in them and their work—not necessarily with a specific goal in mind, but simply to make new friends and connections. This opened up many opportunities for me.
Future Plans
— For now, I plan to continue developing in my current field because I see a great need for organisations that support Russian and Chinese businesses. These two countries interact a lot, but often, an extra push, assistance, or continuous support is needed. I believe Russia and China have great potential for cooperation. We are already working closely together, but in the future, we can further strengthen and expand our friendship and mutually beneficial partnership.
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