Do you know that there is a perfect chance just around the corner this year? If you want to start a new life or open yourself for new opportunities, you can do it at HSE University! What could be better than studying and living in another country for a full year? Through academic mobility, you will not only study abroad but also will have a chance to meet new people, see a different culture and most importantly discover something new that you haven’t even thought of before. Besides, it will build a strong resume for your future career.

The HSE University community is surprisingly diverse and includes people from different countries and continents, who can share their cultural experiences and generate novel ideas with their never-ending creativity and love for art. The Master's programme 'Arts and Culture Management' welcomed several students from Nigeria last year. Today, they are happy to share their sources of inspiration and expectations for the programme and their future life.

For two months, first-years will work closely with the programme's partners. Among them are VK, 'Gazprom', 'Sberbank', Tele2, 'Business Solutions and Technologies', 'Technologies of trust', Kept, 'Samolet', Setl City, 'Geropharm', 'Northern Capital Gateway', Alexandrinsky Theatre, Fabergé Museum, 'Bookvoed' and many others. This is the first fieldwork for students. The projects presentation will take place at the end of May.

On March 16, the results of the Open Doors International Olympiad for master’s and doctoral applicants were announced. The competition is organised by the Association of Global Universities with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia and the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo). HSE University is one of the Olympiad’s organisers and the site of its distributed project office.

China and Russia are two countries that have so many opportunities for future mutual development while respecting each other’s traditions and cultural backgrounds. This possibility is enhanced by the Master’s programme ‘Arts and Culture Management’, which welcomed students from China. They shared their impressions of the studies and how they see ‘a heaven in a wild flower’ (W. Black, 1803) of St Petersburg's everyday life.

Vasily Khodakovskiy is a 2nd-year student of the Master's programme 'Modern Social Analysis'. During this time, he managed to go on a mobility programme to Italy. At the University of Trento, the student started studying the Italian language and had a chance to communicate with people from different European countries. The latter turned out to be especially interesting to Vasily, as it is important to him as a sociologist to immerse in another culture and meet new people. Find out how the student applied for the mobility programme, what Italy surprised him with and how the studies at the University of Trento are different from those at HSE University-St Petersburg in the interview.