News

The subject of bilingualism, with its attendant pros and cons, has been surrounded by myths. This Card File is based on a series of lectures by Irina Dubinina, Associate Professor at Brandeis University, discussing the phenomenon of bilingualism, its impact on the human brain, and whether it is possible to raise a bilingual child in the Russian context.

The existing approach to brain stimulation for rehabilitation after a stroke does not take into account the diversity of lesions and the individual characteristics of patients’ brains. This was the conclusion made by researchers of the Higher School of Economics and the Max Planck Institute of Cognitive Sciences in their article, ‘Predicting the Response to Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation in Stroke’.

On June 24-25, HSE University held the international academic conference, ‘The 1990s: A Social History of Russia’ organized by International Center for the History and Sociology of World World War II and its Consequences, the Boris Yeltsin Center, the Egor Gaider Foundation, and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. HSE News Service spoke with Roberto Rabbia, one of the international participants, about how he became interested in Soviet history, why he reads Soviet newspapers, and what he has learned from his research.

David Szakonyi, Assistant Professor of Political Science from George Washington University, recently attended the 8th Annual Conference of the International Center for the Study of Institutions and Development (ICSID) held at HSE University in Moscow this June. He has spoken to HSE News service about the conference and his cooperation with HSE University.

Andrey Savchenko, Professor at HSE University, has developed a method that can help to enhance image identification on videos. In his project, a network was taught by a new algorithm and can now make decisions on image recognition and classification 10 times faster than before.

The HSE Centre for Bioelectric Interfaces studies bilateral brain-computer communications and creates neuro interfaces for neuro rehabilitation and developing bionic prosthetics. This allows scientists to successfully rehabilitate patients who have suffered strokes, develop prosthetics with better sensitivity, and even provide ways to assess the competency of simultaneous interpreters.

A survey showed the 48% of Russians live their lives from day to day, focusing only on immediate tasks and concerns, without planning for the distant future. The remainder of society, meanwhile, works on carrying out short-term and long-term plans. In a survey data analysis, HSE researchers concluded that Russians’ main goals and desires generally reflect Russia’s unresolved social and domestic problems.A survey showed the 48% of Russians live their lives from day to day, focusing only on immediate tasks and concerns, without planning for the distant future. 

It is believed that carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere are mainly regulated by ‘direct’ economic instruments - the carbon tax and the Emissions Trading System (ETS). However, a comparative analysis has shown that ‘indirect’ instruments, such as excise taxes on motor fuel and other energy taxes, did not yield any lesser impact than their ‘direct’ counterparts, and, over time, were even more effective. This is the conclusion drawn by HSE researcher Ilya Stepanov in his article, ‘Taxes in the Energy Sector and Their Role in Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions’.

International trade is an area of conflict and changing standards. Economic leaders give way to new players, and digital technologies rewrite industry rules. The status of world trade and Russia's prospects are covered in a report prepared by experts from the HSE University'sCentre for Structural Policy Research and Institute for Trade Policy.

Radomir ‘Ray’ Mitic just completed his PhD at New York University and will be joining the Council of Graduate Schools as a postdoctoral fellow this coming fall in Washington, D.C. This summer, he received an HSE SemyonovAward Research Internship to research civic engagement among Russian university students at the Institute of Education at HSE University. Last week, he participated in the International Summer School of Higher Education at HSE – St. Petersburg, and now he is conducting field research in Moscow. HSE News Service spoke with Ray about his research, his impressions of the two Russian cities, and his future plans.