State Final Certification
Final State Certification Info-2026:
- Final State Certification Schedule and Students' Distribution:
Defences Schedule 2026 (annex to the directive from 13.04.2026 № 8.3.6.2-06/130426-9)
Defences Schedule 2026 with changes (annex to the directive from 22.05.2026 № 8.3.6.2-06/220526-9)
- State Exam Committee for the Final State Certification (Programme 'Comparative Politics of Eurasia'):
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Final State Exam Committee 2026 (Directive from 14.04.2026 № 6.18-02/140426-9)
- Faculty Appeal Committee for the Final State Certification (Directive from 13.04.2026 № 6.18-02/130426-8):
- Chairperson – Polina E. Yakovleva, senior lecturer, Department of Public Administration
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Committee members:
- Violetta Davydenko, Lecturer, Department of Public Administration, St. Petersburg School of Social Sciences
- Karina Yuzbekova, Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Science and International Affairs, St. Petersburg School of Social
- Natalia V. Kolesnik, Candidate of Sciences, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, St. Petersburg School of Social Sciences
Nadezhda OreshenkovaSecretary of Appeal Committee
noreshenkova@hse.ru
25th Liniya, Vasilievsky Ostrov, 6, Korpus 1, room 220
tel. 644-59-11*61429 -
Documents:
- Regulations For State Final Certification Organization
- Procedure for Appealing the Results of State Final Certifications
- Regulations on Checking Student Papers for Plagiarism and the Publication of Bachelor’s, Specialist and Master’s Theses on the HSE Corporate Website
Final State Certification Programme-2026:
Guidelines for Preparation and Defence of MA’s Theses 2026
Final State Certification Programme-2027:
Guidelines for Preparation and Defence of MA’s Theses 2027
Final State Certification Programme 2025-2027
Thesis Preparation Milestones 2025/2026:
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Stage of MA thesis preparation |
Deadline |
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STAGES OF MA THESIS TOPIC SELECTION AND APPROVAL
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Submission of proposed MA thesis topics via the SmartPro system
Students discuss preliminary MA thesis topics with potential supervisors. Subject to the supervisor’s agreement, the supervisor uploads the proposed topic to the SmartPro system.
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From 1 September to 10 October of the current academic year
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Approval of proposed MA thesis topics by the Programme supervisor
Review and approval of the list of proposed topics by the Academic Supervisor of the Programme via the SmartPro system. |
Technical review: within 72 hours of receipt of the application for consideration.
Review for compliance by the Academic Supervisor of the Programme: within 96 hours of receipt of the application for consideration.
No later than 10 October of the current academic year |
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Selection of MA thesis topics by students / Student-initiated proposal of MA thesis topics
In the SmartPro system, the student selects the preliminary MA thesis topic formulated jointly with their supervisor and submits an electronic application for approval of the topic and appointment of the respective supervisor.
If the student and supervisor agree on an MA thesis topic after 10 October, the student should submit the topic as a student-initiated proposal via the SmartPro system and select the respective supervisor.
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From 10 October to 20 November of the current academic year |
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Review of applications for proposed MA thesis topics
Supervisors confirm via the SmartPro system their willingness to supervise the student’s work on the selected MA thesis topic.
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From 1 to 20 November of the current academic year |
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MA thesis topic defence:
Students defend their proposed MA thesis topic by presenting a research proposal to a committee composed of their supervisor, the Academic Supervisor of the Programme, and members of the Programme Academic Council. The proposal should include a preliminary formulation of the research question, justification of its academic relevance, a preliminary description of the research design and thesis structure, and expected research outcomes.
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21–27 November of the current academic year |
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MA thesis topic defence: If revision of the MA thesis topic is required, students should submit the revised topic to the committee members for approval by email. |
1 December of the current academic year |
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MA thesis topic defence:
Approval of revised MA thesis topics by the committee members. |
3 December of the current academic year |
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Approval of MA thesis topics by the Programme Academic Council
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No later than 4 December of the current academic year |
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Approval of MA thesis topics in students’ individual study plans. Formal assignment of MA thesis topics and supervisors to students by directive. |
No later than 15 December of the current academic year |
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STAGES OF MA THESIS PREPARATION AND COMPLETION
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Receipt by the student of an assignment (terms of reference) for preparation of the MA thesis from their supervisor, including a timetable and major requirements. |
No later than 15 December of the current academic year |
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Submission by the student of an MA thesis proposal
Students provide their supervisors with an updated research proposal incorporating feedback received during topic defence. This updated proposal should contain an extended justification of research relevance, proposed structure of MA thesis, methodological framework and research design.
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No later than 30 December of the current academic year |
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Submission by the student of the first draft of the MA thesis, followed by its revision.
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No later than 1 March of the current academic year |
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Submission of the completed MA thesis to the supervisor and uploading the thesis to the LMS system.
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13 May |
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Submission of the supervisor’s feedback on the MA thesis
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26 May |
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MA thesis review: Formal appointment of a reviewer by directive
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No later than one calendar month prior to the MA thesis final submission |
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MA thesis review: Submission of the MA thesis to the reviewer
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14 May |
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MA thesis review:
Submission of the review to the Programme Office and provision of the content of the review to the student.
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No later than three calendar days prior to the MA thesis defence |
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MA thesis defence
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3–5 June
The dates are determined by the curriculum and the Final State Certification schedule in accordance with the Regulations for the Final State Certification of Students of the BA, Specialist and MA Level at HSE University, but in any case no later than 30 June of the current academic year. |
Previous Years Final State Certifications:
FINAL STATE CERTIFICATION PROGRAMME-2025:
FINAL STATE CERTIFICATION PROGRAMME-2024:
FINAL STATE CERTIFICATION PROGRAMME-2023:
Guideline MA Thesis 2023 (PDF, 308 Kb)
State exam Committee (DOCX, 19 Kb)
Defenses Schedule (DOCX, 16 Kb)
FINAL STATE CERTIFICATION PROGRAMME-2022:
Appeal Committee (DOCX, 24 Kb)
Guideline MA Thesis 2022 (PDF, 324 Kb)
State Exam Committee (DOCX, 19 Kb)
Defenses Schedule (DOCX, 15 Kb)
Final State Certification Programme-2020:
Final State Certification-2020 Info:
- Due to the remote form of State Final Certification in 2020, Special Temporal Rules (see below) were implemented.
- Temporal Rules For State Final Certification Organization (in Russian)
- State Examination Committee members
- Exam Schedule and Students' Distribution
- Appeal Committee Members
Final State Certification Programme-2019:
Final State Certification-2019 Info:
