About the department

UNESCO Chair exists since 1998. The Chair was part of Griboyedov Institute of International Law and Economics until 2008. In 2009, UNESCO Chair became a scientific center at HSE University.

Why we need a UNESCO Chair at HSE

Currently there are 37 UNESCO Chairs in Russia focusing on a wide range of issues (human rights, communications, ecology, marine geology, conservation, energy, architecture, philosophy and others). Meanwhile, only HSE UNESCO Chair focuses on the intellectual property and information technologies issues. The Chair broadens HSE’s international connections and strengthens its leading position in teaching and researching issues on intellectual property, data protection, media law and other cutting-edge issues in the digital era.

The UNESCO Chair on Copyright and other Intellectual Property Rights is a general university Chair at HSE. This general Chair has a powerful team of leading scholars (circa 70 Ph.Ds and Academic Candidates are members of the Chair), united by academic interests in economics, sociology, philosophy, intellectual property, media regulation and information technologies. By their collective research, the members of the team made the UNESCO Chair the authoritative centre of expertise in Russia in this sphere.

According to the UNESCO Chair Strategy Program, the Chair is a scientific and expert center, aiming to provide HSE with forefront research on the issues of intellectual property, media law, data protection, information technologies and other issues at the nexus of law and the of state of art technologies.

Taking into account interdisciplinary research, provided by the UNESCO Chair, this Chair was established as a general HSE Chair, working in collaboration with most HSE Departments in the relevant areas, including teaching author courses and organizing seminars for practitioners. Since intellectual property and information technology issues should be researched in both practical and interdisciplinary aspects (at the intersection of economics, sociology, political science and law), members of the UNESCO Chair need to have a wide competence in different spheres.

The UNESCO Chair creates additional opportunities for collaboration between HSE and other Universities and centers of competence, engaged in the UNESCO Program.

To read more about the UNESCO Chair in Russia, please, see http://www.unesco.org/en/university-twinning-and-networking/access-by-region/europe-and-north-america/russian-federation/ 

Our purpose

According to the 1998 Agreement on the establishment of the UNESCO Chair, its objectives are the following:

• development of educational and research programs, academic courses on copyright and other intellectual property rights. The programs aim to provide students with leading-edge competence needed in various authorities and companies, including legislative and executive authorities, courts etc .;
• creation of advanced training courses on copyright and other intellectual property rights for teachers in the Russian Federation and other CIS countries;
• creation of advanced training courses for professionals working in copyright and other intellectual property rights fields;
• other higher education institutions and academic organizations in the Russian Federation and other CIS countries engaged in the preparation and research in the field of copyright and other intellectual property rights;
• collaboration with other higher education institutions and academic centers in the Russian Federation and other CIS countries engaged in research on copyright and other intellectual property rights;
• creation of regional and international interuniversity cooperation program for the development of teaching and research in the field of copyright and other intellectual property rights;
• analysis of legislation and doctrine in the field of copyright and other intellectual property rights of the Russian Federation and other CIS countries;
• creation of law acts and judicial decisions database in the field of copyright and other intellectual property rights of the Russian Federation and other CIS countries, as well as compiling a bibliography of scientific works on this topic;
• publication of educational materials and scientific research outputs in the field of copyright and other intellectual property rights.

In fact, the goals of the UNESCO Chair cover not only the issues stated in the Agreement. The UNESCOChair is actively engaged in the interdisciplinary research on cutting-edge issues at the nexus of law and state of art technologies, including issues on economy, sociology and philosophy of intellectual property, data protection law, digital age legal framework issues. Moreover, should there be a demand among HSE Departments, the UNESCOChair could arrange classes on intellectual property law, data protection law, and media law, legal aspects of journalism, electronic commerce, legal regulation of Internet activity, tax obligations in the sphere of intellectual property, computer crime etc.

The UNESCO Chair educational goals are the following:

1) popularization of modern approaches to the development of the information society promoted by UNESCO, as well as identification of future professionals who can develop these approaches, both scientifically and in practice, and facilitation of their inclusion in research;

2) development of practical approaches in teaching of intellectual property, mass media and internet courses.