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Not Just Students: New Academic Year at HSE Welcomes New Teachers and Researchers as Well
Pixabay
While we tend to focus a lot on students during the early days of the academic year – which is more often than not characterized by new challenges, friends, opportunities and experiences – this time of year frequently involves a big transition for teachers and researchers as well. A month after the official start of the academic year, the HSE News Service spoke with three new research fellows and faculty members about their experience so far.
Max Dike
For Max Dike, a post-doctoral research fellow in the International Laboratory of Intangible-driven Economy, one of the main attractions of coming to HSE to kick off his academic career is the opportunity to experience St. Petersburg. ‘HSE’s enviable location in the very busy, commercial, and cultural city of St. Petersburg is a very big plus!’ he said.
Originally from Nigeria, Max has spent several decades living and working in Greece and Finland and feels prepared for the experience of living in Russia. ‘I hope that my time in St. Petersburg would add to the great fun I have had so far, especially as I am prepared to learn new things from the great people of Russia!’ he exclaimed.
Christian Käding
Christian Käding, another research fellow, recently started at the HSE Tikhonov Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics (MIEM) after completing a PhD in particle cosmology at the University of Nottingham. During this time at HSE, Christian will spend time working with Professor Elena Loubenets to learn more about quantum information and optimal control of quantum systems.
‘The latter topic is of great interest at the moment since it is important for the development of modern quantum technologies, e.g. quantum computers,’ he says.
Apart from his native Germany and now Russia, Christian has lived in Sweden, England and Austria. He says that he really enjoys living in other countries for an extended period of time because it is the best way to learn more about different cultures and meet interesting people.
‘So far, I only know a few simple words in Russian, but my goal is to learn many more,’ he says. ‘I recently read a book by a German journalist, Matthias Schepp, called Gebrauchsanweisung für Moskau, which I would translate as Instruction Manual for Moscow. Schepp married a Muscovite woman and has been living in Moscow for a long time already. In his book the author gave many useful practical tips, and wrote several chapters about the local people, their traditions and culture. I would like to know more about Russian culture, and I am curious to learn whether this book actually gives a realistic description of it.’
Danisz Okulicz
Danisz Okulicz, who originally comes from Poland, recently started as an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Economic Sciences (Department of Theoretical Economics). After completing his thesis on the use of game theory to analyze legal procedures and the market for legal services, Danisz hopes to move in new research directions that focus on applied theory.
Danisz has long grown used to moving between countries, which he sees as an indispensable part of an academic career.
‘Overall, do I feel prepared to move to Russia?’ he says. ‘Definitely not, but I doubt one can be really prepared for it.’ That said, as a fan of Russian literature and music, he’s looking forward to working on his Russian and eventually mastering it.