Elena L. Omelchenko

The editorial staff of HSE University-St Petersburg are looking forward to the new academic year as much as students and professors are. We are sure that it will be very eventful: there are exciting research projects, new educational partnerships and interesting scientific conferences waiting for HSE students. To mark the holiday, we have talked to deans, academic supervisors of educational programmes and research units about their expectations for the next year.

The IV International Scientific Conference "Interaction. Integration. Inclusion: labyrinths of meanings and horizons of possibilities" has recently concluded. This year, 17 sections and a round table meeting were organized, which brought together more than 400 participants interested in the study and development of socio-cultural integration from different countries and regions of Russia.

Last week the XIV Grushin Sociological Conference “Metamorphoses of Society and the Research Industry: New Challenges” took place, within the framework of which on April 12 our laboratory held the section “Space and Time of Social Change”.

A delegation from HSE University in St Petersburg has visited universities in India. HSE representatives attended eight universities, and held meetings with management, teachers, and researchers. Here, participants talk about their impressions, cooperation agreements and some cultural peculiarities of India.

On January 23, the XX annual ceremony of awarding the People's Prize "Bright Past" was held. The 2024 laureate is Elena Omelchenko, a leading specialist in the field of youth sociology, Director of the Center for Youth Studies, Professor of the Department of Sociology at the HSE – St. Petersburg.

The HSE Center for Youth Studies and the KFU Laboratory of Sociological Research will continue to work together on the project "Educational migration of students from small towns and villages to megacities. Social inclusion as a way to increase sustainability: barriers, strategies, successful practices".

The focus will be on young professionals from the regions involved in creative industries and contributing to the development of their cities. Creative industries include cultural heritage, art, media industry and functional creativity.

Moving to a new city often leads to temporary loneliness and a loss of familiar surroundings. This means that young people who move to a new place must find ways to adapt quickly. Can loneliness become a resourceful state, or does it suppress resourcefulness? Sociologists from HSE University-St Petersburg and Kazan Federal University (KFU) discussed this issue during the seminar 'SOC Up', which was based on research conducted as part of the Mirror Laboratory initiative.

The Bachelor's programme 'Sociology and Social Informatics' is well suited to those interested in public processes, people's lives and data analysis. The programme offers state-funded places and fee-paying places for foreign students. We talked about the specifics and advantages of the programme with its academic supervisor Anna Nemirovskaya.

Next weekend, February 19 and 20, HSE – St. Petersburg will host an annual event for those who plan to enrol in the campus master's programmes – the Winter School. Participants will be able to get acquainted with educational opportunities and attend open lectures by famous speakers – Pavel Barakaev, Sergey Mardanov, Vladimir Knyaginin, and others. In this article, we will tell you what has been included in the Winter School 2022.

The project " The choice of life strategies by talented young people and their role in enhancing the competitiveness of Russian regions as a response to global challenges of the "brain drain" is supported within the 2021 call for proposals for grants from the Russian Science Foundation "Conducting basic research and exploratory scientific research by individual scientific groups". Congratulations!

The project " Anti-crisis Potential of Youth Policies in Russia and Europe in the Era of Global Risks: National Imaginary, Patriotism and Social Engagement" is almost over. In the course of the project, researchers conducted a comparative analysis of youth policies achieving anti-crisis solutions in Germany, Finland, Great Britain, Greece, and Russia. The results of the study were presented at seminars, conferences, and roundtables dedicated to youth and youth policy.

November 18 a metaprogramme Skills4Future came to a close at HSE University  - St Petersburg. During a month participants were working on problematic tasks and projects devoted to the involvement of the youth in the life of the city, developing the concept of the festival for the Russian Museum of Ethnography, studying the cultural scenes of Saint Petersburg and the influence of coronavirus on the society. Let’s see what results the students managed to achieve.

On November 10 an online meeting "Youth and youth policy: conceptualization in the new realm" took place. It was attended by researchers of youth policy, heads of youth centers, representatives of youth non-profit organizations, as well as officials of executive authorities. The main agenda of the meeting was a discussion of the federal law draft on youth policy.

At the end of October, the Metaprogramme 'Skills4Future' will launch at HSE University - St Petersburg. Participants of the programme will have the opportunity to boost their communication, teamwork, creative, and critical thinking skills. In laboratory courses of the programme, students will learn why it is important to study cultural scenes of St Petersburg, how contemporary youth behaves in the city, and how the coronavirus pandemic has changed society.

Specialists of the HSE Centre for Youth Studies met with colleagues from the University of Georgia to discuss prospects for collaboration. They discussed the possibilities for development of academic exchange, summer schools, internships and a ‘Social Analysis of Youth’ track in the Master’s programme ‘Modern Social Analysis’.

Street workout and anime scenes in Makhachkala

The Russian Science Foundation has announced the most recent winners of three-year grants for scientific research. Among the recipients are a number of projects carried out by scientists at the Higher School of Economics.

There was Russian-Finnish seminar in St. Petersburg 7-9 September hosted by CYS. The project "Digital youth and media city", supported by the Kone Foundation, was discussed there.

Elena Omelchenko, Guzel Sabirova and Nadezhda Vasilyeva took part in the 13th annual conference of the European Sociological Association "(Un)making of Europe: capitalism, solidarities, subjectivities"

Discussion in the "Grazhdanin politolog" was began with such question

May 24-26, the Centre of Independent Social Researches celebrated its 25th anniversary by the international conference "Beyond..."

From 30 November to 1 December 2017, the international conference "Urban youth cultures: solidarity, creativity, activism" will take place as part of the project "Creative Fields of Interethnic Cooperation and Youth Cultural Scenes of Russian Cities" (Russian Science Foundation, 2015-2017), implemented by the Center for Youth Studies (CYS) at the Higher School of Economics in St. Petersburg. The research of the CYS always produces interesting results, so we turned to the director of the Center Professor Elena Omelchenko to find out more about the upcoming event.

An article in Eastern European Youth Cultures in a Global Context has been published by Elena Omelchenko and Guzel Sabirova under title: Youth Cultures in Contemporary Russia: Memory, Politics, Solidarities

Elena Omelchenko, Yana Krupets, and Guzel Sabirova came back from Helsinki with good news. Their trip has expanded the framework for cooperation with colleagues from Finland.

Elena Omelchenko, Guzel Sabirova and Dmitry Omelchenko went to the capital of Dagestan to carry out expert interviews and preliminary design the field phase of RSF project

The Centre for Youth Studies’ long-term and productive cooperation with the University of Glasgow and the Centre for East European and Russian Studies is still underway. At an annual research forum the university hosted in Glasgow, six researchers from HSE’s Centre for Youth Studies presented papers at a separate panel devoted exclusively to the Centre’s work.

The Centre for Youth Studies’ long-term and productive cooperation with the University of Glasgow and the Centre for East European and Russian Studies is still underway. At an annual research forum the university hosted in Glasgow, six researchers from HSE’s Centre for Youth Studies presented papers at a separate panel devoted exclusively to the Centre’s work.

The Centre for Youth Studies’ long-term and productive cooperation with the University of Glasgow and the Centre for East European and Russian Studies is still underway. At an annual research forum the university hosted in Glasgow, six researchers from HSE’s Centre for Youth Studies presented papers at a separate panel devoted exclusively to the Centre’s work.

Elena Omelchenko and Jana Krupets made presentations at the conference, organized by the "Youth Studies" magazine, one of the leading printed editions in the field of youth research. The conference was held from March 31 to April 1 in the capital of Denmark - Copenhagen.

What gender dispositions are usually appear in the space of women's prison? What resources women prisoners use to defend their dignity, to develop sincerity and trust in a system of disciplinary humiliation? How do women’s networks of support for their imprisoned relatives form? These and other questions were addressed in the presentation Elena Omelchenko and Guzel Sabirova dedicated to the publishing of the second volume of the book: Close to prison: identity and everyday life of imprisoned relatives. (“Aleteya” Saint-Petersburg, 2014)

Science Foundation of HSE supported the individual grant project on the study of inequality in Russian prisons (project manager - Elena Omelchenko).

Elena Omelchenko and Guzel Sabirova on January, 15th read one-day lectures to students of the program "Diversity of youth cultures in Russia" at University of Tampere (Finland) 
https://www10.uta.fi/opas/opetusohjelma/marjapuuro.htm? id = 28373

Elena Omelchenko, Director of the Centre for Youth Studies and Head of the Department of Sociology at the HSE Campus in St. Petersburg, speaks about plans for postgraduate training at the Centre.

Elena Omelchenko, Director of the Centre for Youth Studies and Head of the Department of Sociology at the HSE Campus in St. Petersburg, speaks about plans for postgraduate training at the Centre and international cooperation avenues.

Experts from the HSE Centre of Youth Studies in St. Petersburg presented the results of research about young people in 14 European countries, including Russia. The study was a part of an international project MYPLACE: Memory, Youth, Political Legacy and Civic Engagement.