News

A rapid test for monitoring phage contamination was presented at International Dairy Week

Speech by Ivan Antipenko
Researchers from the Laboratory of Molecular Mechanisms of Longevity presented a new test system for detecting bacteriophages in dairy production. The method makes it possible to identify starter culture contamination at an early stage without complex equipment.

Researchers Reveal Link Between Attention and Communication Difficulties in Autism

Researchers Reveal Link Between Attention and Communication Difficulties in Autism
Researchers at HSE University have examined how communication difficulties in children with autism are related to brain function. The findings show that not only language networks but also attention networks play an important role. The weaker the connections involved in maintaining focus and switching attention, the more pronounced communication difficulties were. The study has been published in European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

HSE Initiates Development of Ethical Standard for Anthropomorphic Robots

HSE Initiates Development of Ethical Standard for Anthropomorphic Robots
Beyond technological solutions, the development of anthropomorphic robotics also demands ethical ones. In July 2026, the HSE Institute for Robotics Systems hosted a foresight session dedicated to developing an Ethical Standard for Anthropomorphic Robotic Complexes. Representatives from businesses, government bodies, scientific organisations, and universities gathered to discuss key ethical and legal issues surrounding the development of anthropomorphic robotic complexes. The main outcome of the meeting was a draft of the Ethical Standard.

Scientists Discover Why Some People Wore Masks During COVID-19 While Others Did Not

Scientists Discover Why Some People Wore Masks During COVID-19 While Others Did Not
Why do some people voluntarily follow new rules while others ignore them? Researchers at HSE University have found that the answer lies not so much in people's willingness to cooperate, as previously believed, but in their ability to empathise with others. Empathy proved to be the strongest predictor of whether people chose to wear face masks voluntarily during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings have been published in Frontiers.

‘The Conference Strengthened Our Sense of Belonging to the International Mathematics Community’

‘The Conference Strengthened Our Sense of Belonging to the International Mathematics Community’
From July 13 to 17, 2026, the HSE Faculty of Mathematics hosted the international conference ‘Moduli, Dynamics, and Integrability,’ bringing together leading mathematicians from Russia, the United States, China, the United Kingdom, and other countries.

New RSF Awards for 31 Projects Led by Young HSE Researchers

New RSF Awards for 31 Projects Led by Young HSE Researchers
The Russian Science Foundation (RSF) has completed its review of project proposals submitted for grants supporting early-career researchers. More than 850 projects have been selected for funding, including 31 from HSE University. The grants will finance research addressing specific objectives within the priorities of scientific and technological development set out in the Scientific and Technological Development Strategy of the Russian Federation.

Sugar Cravings Prove Stronger Than Health Concerns

Sugar Cravings Prove Stronger Than Health Concerns
Researchers from HSE University–Perm used EEG to study how sugar cravings and interest in healthy eating affect the evaluation of Cola-flavoured beverages. During the tasting, participants assessed the taste of each beverage and named the maximum amount they would be willing to pay for it. The results showed that the more interested a person was in their health, the harder and more cognitively taxing it was for them to decide whether they were willing to pay, and the smaller the amount they were ultimately willing to spend. The study was published in the British Food Journal.

HSE University and Peking University Expand Their Partnership

HSE University and Peking University Expand Their Partnership
Peking University President Gao Song paid his first visit to HSE University as part of his first overseas trip since taking office in May 2026. The main purpose of the talks was to consolidate existing areas of cooperation and expand joint projects between HSE University and Peking University within the framework of the Cross Years of Russia–China Cooperation in Education (2026–2027).

'We Would Like Our Corpora to Be Used More Widely'

Expedition to Dagestan
The Linguistic Convergence Laboratory and the School of Linguistics at HSE University have created corpora of the Abkhaz-Adyghe languages spoken in the Western Caucasus. The corpora serve as valuable resources for studying these languages with their unique features and demonstrate the potential for their modern use. The corpora were developed through a series of field expeditions to the Caucasus conducted by HSE University researchers and students, combined with modern linguistic processing methods and collaboration with colleagues from regional universities. In this interview with the HSE News Service, Yury Lander, Leading Research Fellow at the Linguistic Convergence Laboratory and Associate Professor at the School of Linguistics, discusses the work of linguists.

HSE University to Launch New AI Supercomputer

HSE University to Launch New AI Supercomputer
HSE University is preparing to launch its second supercomputer. The new cluster will be primarily dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI) workloads and will complement the existing cHARISMa supercomputer. It is scheduled to become operational by the end of 2026.