Research & Expertise news at HSE University

Today, we can make a telephone call to anyone, anywhere in the world—but this was not always the case. In this series of columns on IQ.HSE, Anton Basov, HSE Faculty of Computer Science editor, discusses how telephones have become an integral part of our everyday life. The third episode focuses on the evolution of telephone connections, the first subscribers, and the history of the telephone directory.

The all-Russia prize ‘For Loyalty to Science’ is awarded annually for outstanding achievements in the fields of science communication, science popularisation, and enhancing the prestige of the activities of scientists and engineers in Russia. The prize is held as part of the Decade of Science and Technology and is organised by the Russian Ministry of Education and Science.

A team of researchers from HSE University, the RAS Research Centre for Medical Genetics, and the Moscow State University Institute of Anthropology have examined the impact of the human genotype on the production of trehalase, an enzyme responsible for metabolising 'mushroom sugar'. The researchers examined 1,068 DNA samples collected from inhabitants of northern and Arctic regions of Russia and found that the overall risk of trehalase deficiency in certain indigenous northern populations can be as high as 60–70%. The paper has been published in Problems of Nutrition.

The Russian-African Competence Transfer Programme in the Field of Public Administration Digitalisation in African Countries, which is being implemented by HSE University's Centre for African Studies, will be partially state-financed. The subsidy will be provided by the Russian government in accordance with the corresponding order signed on September 21.

News avoidance is a global phenomenon that affects millions of people around the world. Despite their conscious refusal to consume media content, many argue that the most important news still finds them. Researchers at the HSE Laboratory for Studies in Economic Sociology have studied how people perceive the ‘news-finds-me’ effect. The results of the study were published in the Bulletin of Moscow University.

Valeria Vlasova researches innovations and how they affect the economy and society. Here, she tells the HSE University Young Scientists project when she first got the idea to go into science, where to read about trends in the development of Russian science and innovation and what her everyday life is like.

Based on the results of a project competition, two new laboratories are opening at HSE University’s Faculty of Computer Science. The Laboratory for Matrix and Tensor Methods in Machine Learning will be headed by Maxim Rakhuba, Associate Professor at the Big Data and Information Retrieval School. The Laboratory for Cloud and Mobile Technologies will be headed by Dmitry Alexandrov, Professor at the School of Software Engineering.

One of the winning projects of a competition held by HSE University’s Mirror Laboratories last June focuses on the use of machine learning technologies to predict the outcomes of acute coronary syndrome. It is implemented by HSE University’s International Laboratory of Bioinformatics together with the Research and Educational Centre of the Medical Institute at Surgut State University. Maria Poptsova, Head of the International Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Associate Professor at HSE University’s Faculty of Computer Science, talks about how this joint project originated, how it will help patients, and how work to implement it will be organised.