Nikita Smirnov
- Lecturer: Faculty of Social Sciences / School of Politics and Governance
- Doctoral Student, Junior Research Fellow: Institute of Education / Centre of Sociology of Higher Education
- Junior Research Fellow: Institute of Education
- Nikita Smirnov has been at HSE University since 2020.
Responsibilities
Centre of Sociology of Higher Education
- Collecting and processing data within the Center's projects
- Preparation of articles on the Center's subjects
- Preparing analytical reports on postgraduate studies
- Working on a joint project of HSE and Tsinghua University on comparative perspertive of doctoral education studies
Institute of Education
- Serving on the Program Committee of International Conference of Higher Education
- Serving on the Program Committee of ResearchHub
Education
HSE University
HSE University
Awards and Accomplishments
- Best Teacher — 2024–2025
- Young Faculty Support Programme (Group of Young Academic Professionals)
Category "New Lecturers" (2024–2025)
Postgraduate Studies
Approved topic of thesis: Doctoral Education as a Liminal Space: Student Experience Under Conditions of High Uncertainty
Academic Supervisor: Svetlana Zhuchkova
Continuing education / Professional retraining / Internships / Study abroad experience
- Internship at the Tsinghua University (Beijing, China, November 2024)
- International Summer School on Higher Education (Issyk-Kul lake, Kyrgyzstan, August 19 – 24, 2024)
- Summer school on STS by Yandex.Q (Moscow, Russia, June 17 - Luly 31, 2022)
- Autumn school "Good governance" by InLiberty (Moscow, Russia, November 14-18, 2021)
Courses (2025/2026)
- Political Theory (Bachelor’s programme; Faculty of Social Sciences field of study Political Science; 2 year, 1-4 module)Rus
- Research Seminar "Evidence-based Education Development" (Master’s programme; Institute of Education field of study Public Administration, Pedagogy; 1 year, 3, 4 module)Rus
- Research Seminar "Evidence-based Education Development" (Master’s programme; Institute of Education field of study Public Administration, Pedagogy; 1 year, 3, 4 module)Rus
- Research Seminar "Evidence-based Education Development" (Master’s programme; Institute of Education field of study Public Administration, Pedagogy; 1 year, 3, 4 module)Rus
- Research Seminar: Basics of Academic Work for the Preparation of Term Paper (Bachelor’s programme; Faculty of Social Sciences field of study Political Science; 1 year, 3, 4 module)Rus
- The History of Political Thought (Bachelor’s programme; Faculty of Social Sciences field of study Political Science; 1 year, 1-4 module)Rus
- The History of Political Thought (Bachelor’s programme; Faculty of Social Sciences field of study Applied Mathematics and Information Science, Psychology, Public Administration, Sociology, Political Science; 1 year, 1-4 module)Rus
- The History of Political Thought (Bachelor’s programme; Faculty of Social Sciences field of study Applied Mathematics and Information Science, Psychology, Public Administration, Sociology, Political Science; 1 year, 1-4 module)Rus
- Past Courses
Courses (2024/2025)
- Foundations of Normative Thinking about Modern Politics (Bachelor’s programme; Faculty of Social Sciences field of study Political Science; 4 year, 1, 2 module)Rus
- Political Theory (Bachelor’s programme; Faculty of Social Sciences field of study Political Science; 2 year, 1-4 module)Rus
- Research Seminar "Evidence-based Education Development" (Master’s programme; Institute of Education field of study Public Administration, Pedagogy; 1 year, 3, 4 module)Rus
- Research Seminar "Evidence-based Education Development" (Master’s programme; Institute of Education field of study Public Administration, Pedagogy; 1 year, 3, 4 module)Rus
- Research Seminar "Evidence-based Education Development" (Master’s programme; Institute of Education field of study Public Administration, Pedagogy; 1 year, 3, 4 module)Rus
- Research Seminar: Basics of Academic Work for the Preparation of Term Paper (Bachelor’s programme; Faculty of Social Sciences field of study Political Science; 1 year, 3, 4 module)Rus
- The History of Political Thought (Bachelor’s programme; Faculty of Social Sciences field of study Applied Mathematics and Information Science, Psychology, Public Administration, Sociology, Political Science; 1 year, 2-4 module)Rus
- The History of Political Thought (Bachelor’s programme; Faculty of Social Sciences field of study Applied Mathematics and Information Science, Psychology, Public Administration, Sociology, Political Science; 1 year, 2-4 module)Rus
- The History of Political Thought (Bachelor’s programme; Faculty of Social Sciences field of study Political Science; 1 year, 2-4 module)Rus
- Введение в прикладной политический анализ (Optional course; 1 semester)Rus
Courses (2023/2024)
- Foundations of Normative Thinking about Modern Politics (Bachelor’s programme; Faculty of Social Sciences field of study Political Science; 4 year, 1, 2 module)Rus
- Political Theory (Bachelor’s programme; Faculty of Social Sciences field of study Political Science; 2 year, 2-4 module)Rus
- Research Seminar: Preparation for the Choice of a Term Paper (Bachelor’s programme; Faculty of Social Sciences field of study Political Science; 1 year, 4 module)Rus
- The History of Political Thought (Bachelor’s programme; Faculty of Social Sciences field of study Political Science, field of study Applied Mathematics and Information Science, field of study Applied Mathematics and Information Science; 1 year, 2-4 module)Rus
Courses (2022/2023)
- Data Culture (Bachelor’s programme; School of Foreign Languages field of study Linguistics; 1 year, 3, 4 module)Eng
- Data-Culture (Bachelor’s programme; School of Foreign Languages field of study Linguistics; 1 year, 3, 4 module)Rus
Priority topics of student papers
Conceptualizing academic profession through labor sociology: doctoral students and young researchers through lenses of precarity / postoperaism / cognitariat etc.
Individual and institutional factors of doctoral students' productivity
The perception of "conflict of interest" in Russian universities
Epistemic and/or sucess beliefs and their relationships with educational outcomes
Theoretical research on the concept of violence in political and cosial theory
Conferences
- 2026
Вебинар для руководства Сургутского государственного педагогического университета (Сургут, онлайн). Presentation: Современные модели организации аспирантуры: лучшие российские и зарубежные практики
XXVI Апрельская международная научная конференции имени Е.Г. Ясина (Москва). Presentation: Roundtable "The Doctorate as a Public Good: Training Talent for Science, the Economy, and Society"
- 2025
9th Biennial Conference on Research into Postgraduate Supervision (Стелленбош). Presentation: It's (not) a match! Experience of doctoral students with gaps between expectations and reality
XXIII Международная конференция молодых ученых «Векторы» (Москва). Presentation: Импотенция ризомы: эвристический потенциал аморфных понятий в политической теории
XXV Ясинская (Апрельская) международная научная конференция по проблемам развития экономики и общества (Москва). Presentation: Круглый стол «Реформирование систем аспирантской подготовки в России и Китае: история изменений и оценка эффектов»
The European Conference on Educational Research (ECER 2025) (Белград). Presentation: Do Non-Academic Motives Undermine Doctoral Success? Insights from a Russian Survey
XVI Международная конференция исследователей высшего образования (конференция ИВО) (Москва). Presentation: Roundtable "Beyond the Thesis: What Skills Should Today’s Doctorate Possess?"
XVI Международная конференция исследователей высшего образования (конференция ИВО) (Москва). Presentation: Анализ коммуникативного потенциала сайтов российских аспирантур
XVI Международная конференция исследователей высшего образования (конференция ИВО) (Москва). Presentation: (Не) совпало! Опыт аспирантов в условиях несоответствия ожиданий и реальности
- 2024
XV Международная конференция исследователей высшего образования (конференция ИВО) (Москва). Presentation: Эффективность грантовой поддержки аспирантов в России: квазиэкспериментальный анализ программы РФФИ
XV Международная конференция исследователей высшего образования (конференция ИВО) (Москва). Presentation: Roundtable "Bridging Cultures in Doctoral Supervision: Unique Practices and Universal Solutions"
||| Томский международный форум "Преобразование образования" (Томск). Presentation: Круглый стол «Индустриальная аспирантура в России: исследовательские перспективы и практические кейсы»
- 2023
XXI международная конференция молодых ученых “Векторы” (Москва). Presentation: Тематическая инкапсуляция как вызов для высшего образования и науки
XIV Международная конференция исследователей высшего образования (Москва). Presentation: Поверните налево? Тематическое моделирование англоязычных исследований аспирантуры
- 2020
XXI Апрельская международная конференция по проблемам развития экономики и общества (Москва). Presentation: Бесланская трагедия как коллективная травма: анализ комментариев в социальной сети YouTube
Альянс социальных наук: междисциплинарная конференция по социальным наукам для студентов и аспирантов (Москва). Presentation: Особенности производства социального знания: дисциплинарные границы и их нарушения (на примере НИУ ВШЭ)
Employment history
- Politics & Psychology Research Laboratory at HSE: Research-intern (may 2021 - july 2022)
- Interregional Network of Educational Projects "DisCourse": Curator of Educational Programs (2018 - 2024)
- Big Data and Information Retrieval School at HSE: Visiting Lecturer (January - July 2023)
- Diginavis: Head of Product Department (January 2021 - July 2023)
- Guitardo Music School Network: Marketing Department Analyst (May 2019 - September 2020)
International Dialogue on Doctoral Education: Danila Pavliuk at the QPR Conference in Australia
From 15–17 April, Danila Pavliuk, a Research Assistant at the Centre of Higher Education of Sociology, presented his study at the Quality in Postgraduate Research (QPR) international conference in Adelaide, Australia. This is one of the longest-running and most influential international events dedicated to doctoral education and the development of early-career researchers.
Roundtable on Doctoral Education Held at the XXVI April Conference
How should doctoral education respond to shifting labour market demands and the growing diversity of doctoral students? These questions were at the centre of the roundtable “Doctoral Education as a Public Good: Developing Research Talent for Science, the Economy and Society,” organised by the HSE Centre of Sociology of Higher Education as part of the XXVI April International Academic Conference.
Choosing (or Not) a Career in Science: What Drives Doctoral Students?
Around one in three doctoral students begin their studies without clear goals, while only around 10% of graduates successfully defend their dissertations on time. What factors have influenced this trend over the last decade? Researchers from the IOE Centre of Sociology of Higher Education conducted a study examining the motivations of PhD students across Russian universities.
Russian and Chinese Scholars Share Experience of Transformation of Doctoral Education
The Russian and Chinese postgraduate education systems originally borrowed their institutional frameworks from the Soviet Union. However, in the 21st century, they have evolved along different paths. While key performance indicators for postgraduate programmes in Russia are declining, China is seeing a rapid increase in the number of postgraduate students. These contrasting trajectories and the reforms undertaken in each country in recent decades were the focus of a roundtable discussion held as part of the 25th Yasin (April) International Academic Conference.