An international team that included Prof. Marina Butovskaya from HSE University studied how willing parents are to care for a child depending on the child’s resemblance to them. The researchers found that similarity to the mother or father affects the level of care provided by parents and grandparents differently. Moreover, this relationship varies across Russia, Brazil, and the United States, reflecting deep cultural differences in family structures in these countries. The study's findings have been published in Social Evolution & History.
HSE University–St Petersburg has hosted the third expert meeting devoted to social entrepreneurship. The event featured presentations of two books that explore the roles of universities and business in creating conditions for developing a socially responsible society.
Russian enterprises rank among the world’s top ten leaders in AI adoption. In 2023, nearly one-third of domestic companies reported using artificial intelligence. According to a new study by Larisa Smirnykh, Professor at the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences, the impact of digitalisation on employment is uneven: while the introduction of AI in small and large enterprises led to a reduction in the number of employees, in medium-sized companies, on the contrary, it contributed to job growth. The article has been published in Voprosy Ekonomiki.
In November, HSE University–St Petersburg representatives participated in a series of research and educational events in Malaysia and Indonesia. Read on to find out the results of the trip and why it is especially important for HSE University–St Petersburg to develop academic ties with Southeast Asia.
HSE University–St Petersburg held the Third International Academic Conference ‘Army, Elites, and Society in the Middle East and North Africa.’ The event brought together researchers from Russia, Oman, Belarus, Uzbekistan, and several other countries.
On December 12–13, 2025, the School of Finance of the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences will host the Third International Annual Conference ‘ESG Corporate Dynamics: the Challenges for Emerging Capital Markets.’ Representatives of leading Russian and international universities will discuss the issues involved in companies’ transition to sustainable development principles and in managing new types of risk.
Aleksei Shmelev conducts research in genomics and uses machine learning to explore the history of human populations. In this interview with the HSE Young Scientists project, he discusses the adaptive introgression of Tibetans and Denisovans and the use of IBD graphs to predict human population membership.
HSE University–St Petersburg and the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) presented the results of two years of work and a development roadmap for the mirror laboratory on social entrepreneurship. The document outlines the strategy for global transformation in the business and digital innovation sphere.
Researchers at the HSE Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience have investigated how 'sugar-free' labelling affects consumers’ willingness to pay for such products. It was found that the label has little impact on the products’ appeal due to a trade-off between sweetness and healthiness: on the one hand, the label can deter consumers by implying an inferior taste, while on the other, it signals potential health benefits. The study findings have been published in Frontiers in Nutrition.
Applications can be submitted on the conference website until December 16, 2025. The programme has been developed around five research themes: Economics, Human Capital and Society, Instrumental Methods and Models, Foresight Research, and International Research. The heads of these areas have presented, in video format, the priority topics and sections for which they are expecting submissions.
