Research & Expertise

On the 21st of April at the Perm campus of the National Research University Higher School of Economics the XII scientific conference "Neighbors in Research" took place, which brought together many scientists from Russian and foreign universities. Researchers of the International Laboratory of Intangible-driven Economy of the Perm campus of the National Research University Higher School of Economics actively participated in the conference - more than 10 reports were presented in 9 sections. We summarise the results and share the impressions of the participants.

IDLab researchers of the Higher School of Economics - Maria Molodchik, Anna Davii, Egor Ivanov, Nikita Matkin, Mikhail Usanin and Alexey Smirnov took part in the XXV Yasin (April) International Academic Conference. The anniversary conference was held at the Moscow campus of the Higher School of Economics on April 15-18, 2025 as part of the Decade of Science and Technology in Russia program.

On 15 April at 18:00 a seminar of the series Sociology of Markets took place on the topic: "Representations of Happiness in Russian YouTube: Between Science, Esotericism and Commerce" - where Nikita Matkin, a graduate student of the Media Institute and IDLab research assistant, spoke.

For the first time, psycholinguists from the HSE Centre for Language and Brain, in collaboration with colleagues from the USA and Germany, recorded eye movements during a test to assess narrative skills in young children and adults. The researchers found that story comprehension depends on plot structure, and that children aged five to six tend to struggle with questions about protagonists' internal states. The study findings have been published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.

Senior Research Fellow Maria Yudina and Research Assistant Agnes Beach of the International Laboratory for Digital Transformation in Public Administration (HSE University) prepared a report for the VIII conference "Opportunities and Threats of the Digital Society". The event was organized by the P.G. Demidov Yaroslavl State University, the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, and the Russian Association of Political Science. 

In dynamic games, a Markov equilibrium involves strategies that guide players' behaviour based on the current state of the game, rather than its entire history. This approach is effective when players have access to complete information. But when uncertainty arises in the game—for instance, when players are unsure of who they are dealing with—this approach can become problematic. Eric Maskin, Nobel Laureate in Economics and Professor at Harvard University, addressed this issue in a paper presented at the XXV Yasin (April) International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development held at HSE University from April 15 to 18, 2025.

The second module of the Management Talent Pool Development Program in Science, Technology, and Higher Education concluded at the Presidential Academy of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA). The event brought together 85 leaders from scientific organizations, laboratory heads, technology company representatives, and leading Russian universities, including Evgeny Knyazev, Head of the Molecular Physiology Laboratory at HSE University

Russians with children feel happier than those without children. At the same time, the number of children influences the assessment of happiness: the more children Russians have, the happier they feel. These conclusions were outlined inthe report ‘More Children, More Happiness: The Impact of the Number of Children on Russians’ Assessment of Happiness,’ presented at the XXV Yasin (April) International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development, held on April 15–18 at HSE University. The study was conducted by Elena Churilova, Senior Research Fellow, and Dmitry Jdanov, Chief Research Fellowat HSE International Laboratory for Population and Health.

The anniversary 25th Yasin (April) International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development will take place from April 15 to 18. This year, over a thousand applications were submitted to present at the conference, of which the Programme Committee selected 381 of the best research papers in their respective fields.

From 11-13 April, IDLab research assistants Matkin Nikita, Smirnov Alexey and Usanin Mikhail, who are also participants of the Academic Personnel Reserve Program, attended the retreat "Effective Strategies for Professional Development in the Academic World". This event was organised by the Center for Work with High Professional Potential Groups of the Corporate Academy of the National Research University Higher School of Economics.