Elena Soboleva

The International Partners' Week at HSE University-St Petersburg united more than 100 representatives of leading universities from 23 countries. During the large forum, specialists of the campus, invited experts and international partners took part in panel discussions on artificial intelligence, the use of 'soft power', shaping a new generation of leaders and many other topics.

A delegation from HSE University-St Petersburg headed by Evgeny Zelenev, Director of the Institute of Asian and African Studies, has visited the Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies (TSUOS). The meeting marked a new stage of cooperation development between the leading educational institutions in Russia and Uzbekistan.

The delegation of the Institute of Asian and African Studies consisting of the Director of the Institute Evgeny Zelenev, Deputy Directors Elena Soboleva and Maria Soloshcheva visited Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies - the largest centre of contemporary and classical Oriental Studies in Central Asia.

Peking University is one of the twenty best universities in the world according to two rankings—Times Higher Education and QS. It is hard to enrol there but quite possible for the graduates of HSE University-St Petersburg. Kirill Kravtsov managed to enrol there straight away after the Bachelor's programme 'Asian and African Studies'. In the record of the graduate are four internships in Chinese universities and several articles. We talked to Kirill about his studies in China and development within HSE University.

The special issue of the international interdisciplinary journal Central Asian Survey has been published. It was co-edited by Oleg Korneev, Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science and International Affairs, mentor of one of the educational tracks in the Master's programme 'Comparative Politics of Eurasia'. The issue is devoted to the relations between the European Union and Central Asian countries. It features articles by three lecturers of HSE University-St Petersburg.

Central Asian Survey, published by Taylor & Francis, is the leading international peer-reviewed, multi-disciplinary journal concerned with the history, politics, cultures, religions and economies of Central Asia and the Caucasus. Oleg Korneev, Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science and International Affairs, HSE University-St Petersburg, co-edited the special issue ‘EU–Central Asian Interactions: Perceptions, Interests and Practices’ together with his colleagues Rick Fawn (University of St Andrews) and Karolina Kluczewska (University of Ghent).

HSE professors took part in an international conference in Tashkent and held a number of guest lectures.

14-15^th of May 2015 the international conference “Education and Global Cities: Perspectives of BRICS” took place in St. Petersburg bringing together leading foreign and Russian experts in the field of education. In the framework of this conference the Center of Asian and African Studies and the Department of Asian and African Studies co-organized the round table “Education Trends in the Context of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity”, which focused on the challenges of education in multiethnic states with a special emphasis on the BRICS countries.