Research & Expertise

It has long been known to science that women find it easier than men to switch between tasks. But how exactly their brains function differently in such situations has so far been unclear. Recent research reveals that male brains appear to consume more energy when they need to shift attention. In addition to this, in men there is greater activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal areas of the brain compared to women, as well as activation in some other areas which is not usually observed in women.

On November 15-16, an international symposium dedicated to childhood and adolescence will take place in Moscow in honour of the 120th anniversary of Lev Vygotsky’s birth. Building on the traditions established by the renowned Soviet psychologist, who made a number of contributions to psychology, pedagogy and defectology, the symposium will seek to promote analysis and discussion of the notions of childhood and reflection on how concepts of cultural-historical theory are used in contemporary studies of childhood and maturation.

The new International Laboratory for Mirror Symmetry and Automorphic Forms will open at HSE’s Faculty of Mathematics in 2017. This project, overseen by Ludmil Katzarkov (Professor at the University of Miami), won the Fifth Mega-Grants Competition of the Government of the Russian Federation.

The internet has changed how people approach job hunting and recruitment. Employment websites and social networks are now competing with personal connections as the key channel for offering and finding jobs and have replaced most other channels, according to Sergey Roshchin, Sergei Solntsev and student at the HSE ICEF Dmitry Vasilyev's paper 'The Evolution of Job Hunting and Recruitment in the Internet Age'.

Joint work led by David Horton Smith, Leading Research Fellow at the Centre for Studies of Civil Society and the Nonprofit Sector (CSCSNS) (Research and Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, USA), and director of the Centre, Irina Mersiyanova has received the Felice Davidson Perlmutter Award for the best theoretical research work into the non-profit sector. 

For the last 70 years, it was largely believed that spatial processing disorders, including those seen in language, occurred when the temporal-parietal-occipital (TPO) junction of the brain’s left hemisphere was damaged. But according to researchers from the HSE Neurolinguistics Laboratory, it is the damages to the axonal fibers connected to this area of the brain that are most important.

Older Russians are generally less healthy that their peers in Europe, the US, and other BRICS countries. Poor health is one of the barriers to remaining active and enjoying a well-deserved rest after retirement age. The second most common problem affecting elderly Russians is having to share a home with children and grandchildren, while a lack of social engagement and limited social connections come third on the list of barriers to active aging in Russia. According to researchers, the Russian elderly have social potential, but rarely use it. 

In October, the international seminar ‘Creative Labour Revisited: Cultural Production in Distinct Institutional Environments’ took place at the Experimental Sound Museum in St. Petersburg. The event was supported by the HSE campus in St. Petersburg and the Centre for German and European Studies. The seminar was initiated by Margarita Kuleva, lecturer at HSE’s Department of Sociology in St. Petersburg, and attracted Russian scholars, including HSE researchers and international academics.

On October 8-22, Thibaut Le Gouic, Associate Professor at Ecole Centrale Marseille, delivered a series of lectures on ‘Metric Geometry and Optimal Transport’ at HSE. This event was organized by the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences and Laboratory of Stochastic Analysis and its Applications . During the visit, Professor Le Gouic shared his research plans with colleagues from the laboratory, including Quentin Paris, Assistant Professor at the Department of Statistics and Data Analysis and Senior Research Fellow.

On October 21 Peter Maassen, Professor in Higher Education Studies in the Faculty of Education at the University of Oslo, gave a presentation at the 7th International Conference held in Moscow by the Russian Association of Higher Education Researchers. Professor Maassen’s presentation was entitled ‘The University’s Governance Paradox’, in which he spoke about the contradiction between the development of university leadership and the realities of exercising control in universities.