'More Than 30 Lectures and Educational Fair': How Student Day of the International Partners' Week at HSE University-St Petersburg Went
The Rope Shop building hosted more than 30 lectures in the key areas of education, science and creative industries. An extensive educational programme, prepared by leaders from the academic communities of Brazil, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Mexico, India, and other countries, allowed students to immerse themselves in the practices of global knowledge without leaving their university.
The programme of the Student Day of the International Partners' Week was structured by key university directions: sociology, economics and management, humanities, art and design, Asian and African studies, computer science and technology. Such organisation helped students find lectures corresponding to their academic interests but did not limit the choice only to one direction.
'We are specialists on Japan', explained Milana Shibanova why she chose the lecture on corporate ethics in Japan by professor Yuko Adachi. 'I really liked that the presentation was extensive, with specific examples—what tools each company uses, and how they treat international staff'.
Apart from that, students interested in Asian and African studies could learn about the interconnection of cultural changes and economic growth in Japan, religion and modernity in Korea, and the renationalisation of religious charitable groups in the early People's Republic of China.
Alina Martyushina and Aleksandra Radchenko, 1st-year students of the bachelor's programme 'Public Policy and Analytics', chose the lecture on social and solidarity economy in Brazil, not just out of academic interest. 'We wanted to boost our English because soon we'll have an independent exam. I liked that we had a chance to touch another mentality, see people from different countries',—comment the first-years.
A lecture on the use of artificial intelligence in education gathered a full classroom. Abhishek Sinha, dean of the School of Law at UPES University, talked about ethical aspects of AI use: 'The main idea was to tell students more about the potential issues, about the ways to use these platforms for academic purposes not to find ourselves on the wrong side of academic honesty'. Elena Artemenko, deputy head of the Laboratory for Social and Cognitive Informatics, highlighted the conceptual value of the discussion on the role of AI in education. 'It was interesting to see the position of my colleagues about the possible ways of using AI agents in education—for both students and professors. How to introduce it to get only benefits: to increase the effectiveness of training but at the same time to minimise negative impact like decrease in the concentration and quality of education. It's important to remember the weaknesses of AI agents—they inherit human biases as they are taught via the texts written by people'.
The participants also discussed the risks of excessive AI use in education. 'Students can simply copy information which entails the reduction of real learning. The lecturer asked an important question: what do you do with the free time you get thanks to AI? If you use it wisely, it is awesome; but if you are not, why do you even need it...', underscored Elena Artemenko.
Valeria Khalanova from the bachelor's programme 'Sociology and Social Informatics' attended a lecture about the best entrepreneurial practices in Indonesia and was surprised by cultural peculiarities: 'I was truly impressed by Indonesian culture—despite that there are 80% of Moslems, and women are very dependent on men, they still make up the majority of entrepreneurs. The new generation is more open-minded. It was extremely interesting'.
Tanya Grudina and Maria Bagrelova, 3rd-year students of the programme 'Public Policy and Analytics', chose the roundtable about social entrepreneurship: 'It was exciting to learn what we can do and what kind of contribution we can make to the development of our city, using the example of Mexico. The most vivid impression was the fact about clean energy from cactuses'. The moderator of this discussion was Yury Kabanov, senior lecturer at the Department of Political Science and International Affairs: 'The roundtable covers the role of social entrepreneurship and the participation of universities in the sustainable development of cities. Our colleagues from Mexico presented their projects in the sphere of sustainable development, and we talked about the project of political science students on cooperation with non-profit organisations. The third university mission, which is often forgotten, is to solve social problems, cooperate with local communities and participate in city politics. Perhaps, students are not as engaged in the third mission as in the first two—education and science; but we really want to involve them in applied projects'.
The School of Art and Design presented lectures about creative processes and education. For instance, students reflected on the question 'Where do ideas come from?' together with Felipe Taborda, designer and writer from Brazil. Doctor Ellya Zulaikha from ITS (Indonesia) talked about the evolution of the craft industry, and professor Selçuk Artut from Sabanci University (Turkey) analysed the correlation between artificial intelligence and creativity.
At the economics track, the participants got to know the global perspective on modern business processes. Thus, the topic of a lecture by doctor Thi Hoa Duong from the National Economics University of Vietnam was the short supply chain for ensuring food safety. Doctor Kaewkwan Tangtipongkul from Thammasat University (Thailand) presented an analysis of demographic challenges in Thailand, focusing on problems of the ageing population and labour force.
Professor Abhay Bansal from Bennett University (India) delivered a lecture on 'Cloud Computing' for the students of technical majors at HSE University-St Petersburg.
At IPW-2025, the students also got a chance to talk directly to the representatives of 24 partner universities from 13 countries at the International Educational Fair at the Rope Shop building. The geography of participants was astonishing: from the State University of Campinas in Brazil to Fudan University in China, from the University of Belgrade in Serbia to the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico. Students asked the university representatives about the requirements for participating in exchange programmes and learned about admission opportunities, peculiarities of life and studies in Italy, Mexico, France, Turkey, China, Oman, Serbia and other countries.
'We welcomed the representatives of Sultan Qaboos University from Oman—employees of the Student Counseling Centre. They engage in extracurricular activities: develop international relations at their university, work with psychological well-being and create a social environment for students. We have agreed to exchange experiences for further joint development. It is a truly useful cooperation experience, we are grateful to the International Partners' Week for such an opportunity', emphasised Larisa Bogosyan, partnership manager at the Career Centre at HSE University-St Petersburg.
The outcomes of the International Partners' Week at HSE University-St Petersburg included the signing of cooperation agreements with five leading global universities and the establishment of the international research network of mirror laboratories for social entrepreneurship. Thanks to the live interaction of the academic community, long-term research collaborations are being further developed. The main results of the Week were new contacts and an exchange of ideas and experiences between students and professors who are shaping the basis for future international projects even today. HSE University-St Petersburg continues to strengthen its position as the centre of global education.