News

The HSE building on Griboyedova Canal Embankment hosted an event devoted to Nowruz—an ancient Eastern festival symbolising the beginning of a new year and renewal of nature. Students of various universities from Pakistan, India, Iran, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Azerbaijan shared their distinctive local traditions, festive decorations, and national cultural practices.

A team of scientists from 17 countries, including physicists from HSE University, analysed early photometric and spectroscopic data of GRB 221009A, the brightest gamma-ray burst ever recorded. The data was obtained at the Sayan Observatory one hour and 15 minutes after the emission was registered. The researchers detected photons with an energy of 18 teraelectronvolts (TeV). Theoretically, such high-energy particles should not reach Earth, but data analysis has confirmed that they can. The results challenge the theory of gamma radiation absorption and may point to unknown physical processes. The study has been published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Anastasia Baschlykoff is a German citizen who recently enrolled at HSE University to pursue her love of Korean studies. As a student of the Double Degree Programme in Economics and Politics in Asia, she is gaining insight into Asian politics, culture, history, and language, and will spend the third year of the programme on an exchange at Kyung Hee University. In her interview with the HSE News Service, Anastasia explains how the programme aligns with her career plans, considers the potential for collaboration with Asian countries, and shares how life in Russia has managed to surprise her.

On April 1, 2025, the admissions campaign for 32 online master's programmes at HSE University's online campus began. Five of these programmes are being launched for the first time, while another five are delivered entirely in English. Read on to learn more about the fully online programmes available.

Chemists from HSE University and the Nesmeyanov Institute of Organoelement Compounds of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INEOS RAS) have developed a new method for synthesising amides, essential compounds in drug production. Using a ruthenium catalyst and carbon monoxide under precisely controlled reaction conditions, they successfully obtained the target product without by-products or complex purification steps. The method has already been tested for synthesising a key component of Vorinostat, a drug used to treat T-cell lymphoma. This approach could lower the cost of the drug by orders of magnitude. The paper has been published in the Journal of Catalysis. The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation.

Over the past three years, goods turnover between Russia and Iran has reached four billion dollars, and experts estimate the potential for cooperation at 10 billion dollars. For Russian companies that strive to expand the geography of their exports, Iran is becoming one of the most appealing markets.

On March 27, 2025, HSE University hosted a hybrid-format conference marking the completion of efforts to establish the International Movement on Financial Security. During the meeting, the charter and roadmap were adopted, and the presidium was elected.

An international team including scientists from HSE University has investigated the brain's ability to comprehend hidden meanings in spoken messages. Using fMRI, the researchers found that unambiguous meanings activate brain regions involved in decision-making, whereas processing complex and ambiguous utterances engages regions responsible for analysing context and the speaker's intentions. The more complex the task, the greater the interaction between these regions, enabling the brain to decipher the meaning. The study has been published in NeuroImage.