'When I Do My Work Well, It Benefits People with Mental Disabilities and Their Families'

After exploring several research fields, Maxim Gurin realised that he wanted to study sociology while specifically focusing on how his research could benefit the people at the centre of it. In this interview with the HSE Young Scientists project, he shares his passion for hip-hop dancing, the magical appeal of the courtyard at the House on the Embankment, and his quest to uncover the memories of the Chelyuskinitsy during a trip along the Trans-Siberian Railway.

How I Started in Science

In my third year, I began working as a research assistant at the Laboratory for Cultural Sociology and Anthropology of Education. I did not have any projects of my own—I helped edit texts and create graphs—and I did not feel that I was truly doing science at that point.

While in the bachelor's programme, I often changed research topics. In my fourth year, my academic supervisor suggested that I study collective memory of the 1990s. For my graduation thesis, I conducted interviews with young people born in the late 1990s and early 2000s who had no conscious memory of that period. I asked them what they thought about the 1990s, why they thought so, what they knew, and how they had learned it—for example, from family members or films.

In the summer after my fourth year, I joined an expedition along the Trans-Siberian Railway. We studied whether anyone still remembered the Chelyuskintsy—the crew members of the legendary Soviet steamship Chelyuskin. It turned out that no one did: our report began by noting that their memory had been lost.

Then the head of that expedition and my academic supervisor began collaborating on a project about the memory of the late Soviet period, and I participated as a research assistant. Unfortunately, the project did not last long, although it was still underway when I began my master’s studies.

At the same time, I was involved in another project focused on the 1990s. In May 2022, we began writing an article about documentaries depicting the 1991 coup in Russia. These films were broadcast on federal TV channels every five years to mark the coup’s anniversary. We selected ten films, analysed them, and showed that the coup was portrayed differently over the years, depending on the political context. I was specifically responsible for the section on documentaries released in 2011, in which I discussed the political developments taking place in Russia at that time.

When the article was published in Polis. Political Studies, I realised that I could finally consider myself a researcher. However, this was only the first step. The article could have been written without me. Although I believe I did my job well, I was simply following instructions—being told what to do, how to do it, and having my text reviewed and corrected. Yes, I came up with an idea, developed it, and wrote my section, but all of this as part of a collaborative project.

What Else I Studied in My Master's Programme

At HSE University, I enrolled in the Master’s Programme in Comparative Social Research, taught in English. I did not feel inclined to continue the topic of my bachelor’s thesis, realising that I was more interested in applied research.

In April 2022, almost by chance, I joined an expedition to Perm Krai. We interviewed schoolteachers, principals, head teachers, and providers of supplementary education, mostly based in schools.

We studied grassroots innovations—those that people develop on their own rather than implementing top-down reforms—essentially, practices that diverge from official guidelines. This inspired me to approach my research with full dedication, knowing exactly who could benefit from it. I decided to focus my master’s thesis on schoolteachers and principals.

I continued my collaboration with the Laboratory for Educational Innovation Research, which had organised the expedition to Perm Krai. I took up an internship with them and was involved in various projects through temporary paid positions. I also actively contributed to writing a grant application and even helped search for an academic supervisor for a project carried out by the 'Friendly Educational Environment: At the Crossroads of School and City Interests' research and study group, conceived as a collaboration between the Laboratory for Educational Innovation Research and the International Laboratory for Social Integration Research.

I secured an academic supervisor for the project—Prof. Maria Kozlova, who had taught several courses in our programme. She had also travelled to Perm Krai, and together we figured out how to combine the data collected during our respective expeditions.

The project had five objectives, one of which was closely related to the topic of my master’s thesis. I defended my thesis and then continued to participate in the project for another year and a half. An article on the emergence of grassroots innovation in schools was published fairly recently, after the official closure of the research and study group.

My Research in the Doctoral Programme

Although I intended to enrol in a doctoral programme, I no longer wished to study school innovation and began searching for a new topic. By then, I already knew whom I wanted to work with. Both Prof. Kozlova and Prof. Roman Abramov, the academic supervisor of my bachelor’s thesis, were at the International Laboratory for Social Integration Research, so I joined them. At that time, the laboratory was recruiting research assistants; they hired me and offered me a project on assisted living.

The topic of my dissertation is inclusive living spaces. My goal is to understand how to help people with mental disabilities lead fulfilling lives without feeling excluded from society. I study practices designed to achieve this, with a particular focus on assisted living programmes.

Specifically, I am studying My Own Key—a project launched in September 2023 by the Special Childhood Centre, a parent-led initiative group, the Centre for Curative Pedagogics, and the Absolut-Help Charitable Foundation. The project maintains an apartment in Rasskazovka, New Moscow, specially designed for people with special needs. Adolescents and young adults take turns staying there, accompanied by educators who help them develop the skills needed for independent living.

However, I realised that it would be wrong to base my dissertation on just one project in Moscow. Drawing on my experience with expeditions, I decided to organise one myself. We travelled to Lipetsk, a city that also has an assisted living project for people with mental disabilities, run by the local nongovernmental organisation A School of Masters.

I find it particularly significant that the project is located in Lipetsk—not in a republic, nor in the Arctic or Kolyma, but in a region in central Russia. It was interesting to observe how the programme was implemented there. I am now beginning to see a more structured overall framework emerging for my thesis. For the most part, it will be based on data collected in Moscow, and I will also incorporate data from Lipetsk.

What I Take Pride In

I am proud of the article on school innovations, which took three and a half years to complete—from collecting interviews to publication. More broadly, I am proud of all the projects undertaken by the Friendly Educational Environment: At the Crossroads of School and City Interests research and study group. I was involved from the very beginning; we held seminars almost every month, attended by a diverse audience, including teachers and school principals, who noted that the results of our work could help them.

I am proud to have won a gold medal in the I Am a Professional student olympiad during the second year of my master’s programme.

I also had the opportunity to organise two projects in which I involved students. As a result, my colleagues learned about people with mental disabilities and how to interact with them. I believe that the students who joined our expedition experienced a major shift in their attitudes in this regard.

This applies to me as well. I focus on the topic of inclusion because I find it genuinely meaningful. When I do my work well, it benefits people with mental disabilities and their families. I conduct research, participate in grant projects, present on this topic at conferences, and engage others in the work. I also have experience accompanying people with mental disabilities. What matters most to me is fostering an inclusive world where everyone is visible and recognised by others.

My Dream

I would very much like to be published in an international English-language sociological journal. Even more, however, I hope to publish in a high-profile, general-interest scientific journal, such as Science, Nature, or PLOS One. Articles by social scientists are quite rare in these journals, which are dominated by physicists, chemists, and geologists. I would like to publish a study that will be recognised as valuable and important not only by Russian sociologists but by the broader global scientific community.

If I Hadn't Become a Sociologist

I took up dancing as a teenager, then I quit, but resumed while studying for my bachelor’s degree. A couple of years ago, when my scientific work was especially challenging, I felt a pang of regret—why had I quit back then? I like to imagine that had I not become a sociologist, I might have been a great hip-hop dancer. More realistically, though, I would probably have ended up as a marketer.

How My Day Is Organised

I wish I had a consistent schedule, but unfortunately, I don’t. At the same time, it’s not accurate to say that all my days are completely different. Here’s what an average day looks like: I get up and usually go to HSE University, even though I don’t need to be in the laboratory every day. I love working at the university because it gives structure to my day and allows me to discuss ideas with colleagues.

I usually arrive around eleven or twelve in the morning and leave between nine and eleven in the evening. During the day, I read literature and might try to write. Last year, I also started teaching, which involves preparing for classes and reviewing student papers.

Unfortunately, a significant portion of my time is often taken up by technical tasks: filling out forms or checking homework, remembering to organise a seminar, or posting about a conference presentation.

Over the past few weeks, I have been working actively on my dissertation, spending most of the day writing. When I encounter difficulties, I start by jotting down my thoughts by hand on A4 sheets—not in shorthand but writing out everything fully—before transferring the text to the computer.

When I really struggle to come up with ideas, I go to a classroom with a blackboard and markers, and start drawing—writing diagrams, stepping back, and looking at them. I’ve had this habit since grade 11 in school: when we studied stereometry and I had to draw a section of a cube, doing it in my notebook was difficult, but on the board, stepping back and observing, it worked much better. Now, this approach helps me structure my thoughts as well. I also work in a team frequently, so phone calls are a typical part of my day.

Whether I Have Experienced Burnout

Probably not, but there are times when I really don’t feel like doing anything. These periods are usually brief and occur when I realise that I planned a lot but haven’t accomplished much by the end of the week. If this continues for several weeks, I start fixating on these setbacks. I find it hard to step away from work or distract myself with other activities.

In those moments, it helps to get together with friends and spend half a day watching a show. And of course, achievements make a difference. It’s difficult for me when I haven’t accomplished anything for a long time—especially after previously earning good grades in my courses or, for example, winning an olympiad. Having a long-term strategy and a clear vision of why I’m doing what I do also keeps me motivated.

My Interests besides Science

I don’t really have any hobbies. I spend my free time socialising with friends, watching films and shows, and discussing them. In recent years, I’ve been particularly drawn to topics related to the early 20th century. At the moment, my greatest enjoyment comes from listening to a podcast about the reign of Nicholas II.

What I Have Been Reading or Watching Lately

I recently re-watched The Dreamers by Bertolucci and think it's a truly beautiful film. The characters engage in unusual interactions. When I first watched it three or four years ago, at about the same age as the characters, it resonated with me more. Now, their behaviour seems somewhat chaotic to me—they could have found jobs instead.

I tend to apply a scientific approach even to everyday things: after watching a film, I do a bit of research. For instance, Kinopoisk made a video about the artistic references in The Dreamers, which greatly enriches the viewing experience.

Currently, I’m reading Red and White by Oleg Budnitskii, a book about the Civil War in Russia. Prof. Budnitskii works at HSE University and, until recently, was the director of the Institute of Soviet and Post-Soviet History at the Faculty of Humanities. I haven’t worked with him directly, but I have gone on expeditions with colleagues from his institute.

Advice for Aspiring Scientists

Don’t be afraid to engage with your supervisor and senior colleagues and share your work with them. My second tip is to find peers—colleagues who are at a similar level as you—so you can discuss ideas and collaborate. For example, I have a colleague to whom I can send a voice message to share an idea I've come up with.

I was recently working on an article, and one of the key concepts that became central to it emerged from a conversation with a colleague during a break. I told him about my struggles, and he sent me an article that proved helpful.

It is also important to keep your data organised: label your files clearly, periodically tidy your folders, and properly store the literature you find, along with the different versions of your documents. This helps prevent confusion, ensures you don’t overlook anything important, and protects against losing information.

My Favourite Place in Moscow

The courtyard of the House on the Embankment. In grades 10 and 11, I attended the HSE Lyceum. There were no graduation papers, but we completed graduation research projects. We were allowed to choose any topic. I wanted to write about the residents of the House on the Embankment. The central question of my study was: can the residents of the House on the Embankment be considered a distinct class within Soviet society?

Before that, I had visited the Museum of the House on the Embankment with my parents. Later, I returned on my own and conducted my first interviews with the museum staff, trying to understand their perspectives. Some employees believed the residents could be considered a distinct class, while others disagreed. This left me stunned: how could people who had worked in the museum for half their lives hold such different opinions? How could I possibly understand this in just one year? Now I realise that this was exactly the topic I should have investigated and built my paper around. At the time, however, I ended up doing a research project on a different topic. Another reason I switched topics was that I had read five books on the subject in a short time and realised I couldn’t handle reading any more about repression.

But I love taking walks there. The day before I enrolled in the doctoral programme, I was very nervous. I went to that courtyard, sat down, calmed myself, and passed my exams the next day. It’s a place that speaks to you—simply by studying it, one can learn a great deal about Russian history.