‘Academic Counterpart to SPIEF’ Comes to an End at HSE University–St Petersburg
From May 18 to 22, HSE University–St Petersburg became the centre for global academic dialogue. This was the third time the city hosted International Partners' Week, a strategic event of HSE University. The event brought together more than 100 delegates from 45 universities and 20 countries. Participants shared their impressions of the forum and HSE University.
The International Partners' Week 2026 programme aligned with two state initiatives: the Year of Educational Cooperation with China and the Year of Academic Partnership with Vietnam. St Petersburg hosted researchers, rectors, and vice-rectors from leading universities in Brazil, Indonesia, Qatar, China, Colombia, Malaysia, the UAE, Oman, Serbia, Japan, and many other countries.
The forum started with Student Day, where HSE students discussed up-to-date trends in the world economy, geopolitics, and creative industries with guest experts from various countries, from Mexico to China. The grand opening of the forum and key plenary sessions took place on May 20 at the Sergey Kuryokhin Centre for Modern Art.
'We designed IPW as an open platform for major cooperation—not only between HSE University and international universities, but between all the guests of the forum. In fact, we are creating an academic counterpart to SPIEF, promoting St Petersburg as a global centre for science and education. The main outcome of International Partners' Week will be a great number of initiatives which we will go on to implement. That is why, every year, not only does the number of participants increase, but so does the scale and difficulty of our inter-university projects,' underscored Anna Tyshetskaya, First Vice Rector of HSE University.
The official programme of IPW-2026 started with the plenary session 'Bridging Borders with Education: Models, Challenges, and Advantages,' during which six heads of HSE partner universities shared their experiences. The second plenary session focused on the transformation of higher education influenced by technologies: the experts discussed the role of universities in the age of artificial intelligence. The main IPW day finished with a practical block about new formats of international academic mobility.
The Sergey Kuryokhin Centre for Modern Art also hosted key sessions covering priority directions of global cooperation in science and higher education. The discussions continued in specialised expert sessions organised by HSE faculties. The central event in the official agenda was the signing of strategic agreements between HSE University and universities in Indonesia, Thailand, Colombia, India, Peru, and the Philippines.
During IPW-2026, the Rope Shop Educational Space—a renovated HSE University–St Petersburg building—hosted an international exhibition of student works devoted to visual and communication projects. They were presented by the finalists of the contest 'Cinema as Cultural Brand' from Russia, France, China, India, and Brazil. The participants chose a film from a partner country, studied the plot, context, and artistic language, reconsidered it through their own culture, and created branding projects for promotion in the domestic market.
'HSE is a university with the highest educational standards, and we are striving to enhance our academic partnership. First and foremost, we are interested in cooperation in the spheres of educational technologies, management, work with big data, and artificial intelligence. We pay special attention to this area; the modern educational model is shifting focus from pure theory to practice and the obligatory use of neural networks,' underscored Min Wu, President of the Anhui Institute of Information Technology (China).
He believes that students must use AI in every course—this is the only way to make them competitive in the labour market. That said, the main task of the academic community is to rely on reality: carefully study the specifics of different countries, branches, and enterprises to understand the in-depth social and economic processes at all levels.
Rolando Roncancio, Rector of the University of La Sabana (Colombia), also talked about the role of artificial intelligence in the educational process. He highlighted that in the context of the new industrial revolution, which challenges the role of human labour, universities have to revise their approaches to education radically. According to him, it is about 'very deep changes' in educational models, the key task of which is to connect the educational process with reality. 'Education means contact with various institutions, communities, organisations, and even government to give universities real-life tasks and integrate them into educational programmes,' explained the rector. Without the use of AI, the effectiveness of student training decreases. 'You have to use AI if you truly want to solve real-life problems. Otherwise, you lose a lot of time,' he emphasised. At the same time, the expert highlighted that work with technologies must be deliberate: 'It's important not to diminish human intellect, but to enhance it.'
'My main goal for International Partners' Week is to enhance the ties between the Renmin University of China and HSE University at all levels: from academic research to cultural exchange. We have already found areas of common interest in the sphere of public policy, and we are planning to deepen this work further. Russia and China are countries with a great history. We hope that we'll learn a lot from each other,' stated Qin Bo, professor of urban planning and governance at the Renmin University of China.
In his estimation, in recent decades, Chinese universities mainly focused on Western countries, so emerging cooperation with Russia gives new opportunities and great prospects. 'We have something to exchange: for instance, St Petersburg brilliantly succeeded in preserving its historical heritage, and for our part, we are ready to share the rich Chinese experience in integrating modern technologies and developing the transport infrastructure of megalopolises,' added the professor.
The Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS), Indonesia, has been actively cooperating with Russia since 2021. There are ongoing mobility programmes and student exchange, and in 2023, HSE University–St Petersburg opened a representative office at ITS. 'For Indonesia, internationalisation is a key to discovering new ideas and the country's development, and international students help us find unusual, fresh solutions. Academic partnership with Russia strongly enhances our joint research potential. Today, we are working together in various areas—from labour safety to shipbuilding technologies. I am sure that International Partners' Week, which our university is taking part in for the third time, will help to scale up our joint initiatives,' emphasised Bambang Pramujati, Rector of ITS.
Nadežda Stojković, professor of the University of Niš, Serbia, took part in International Partners' Week for the first time.
'I was glad to discuss artificial intelligence—the main modern challenge—with international colleagues. Technologies are rapidly developing, and they require new literacy from the academic community. Only by joining forces will we be able to adapt to new conditions and develop new methods of producing knowledge. As a specialist in English academic writing, I want to work with colleagues from HSE University–St Petersburg and other universities to show how this skill contributes to research, international cooperation, and preserving cultural heritage,' she highlighted.
'This is not my first time participating in International Partners' Week. The main value of this forum for me is strengthening ties: the stronger our relations with international colleagues are, the better and more interesting our joint projects become. I am grateful for the opportunity to develop the academic and cultural dialogue between HSE University and Sophia University in Tokyo. It is even more massive thanks to student exchange programmes, which bring young people from Russia and Japan together,' said Yuko Adachi, professor of Sophia University.
Felipe Taborda, graphic designer and writer from Rio de Janeiro, was a curator of the project 'Footb-All Mix / 32 Posters for a Passionate Game' for the Football World Cup 2018 in Russia.
'I am sure this International Partners' Week will be even more successful than the previous one. Meeting colleagues from around the world is a priceless experience which I am happy to repeat. I am incredibly inspired by HSE students—they are definitely the best representatives of the modern youth. My primary interest is cooperation with Russia in the art sphere. Russian culture and its thousand-year heritage, from painting to films by Tarkovsky, influenced me even in my youth. We are yet to comprehend a lot in this creative dialogue, and the amazing city of St Petersburg—whose beauty always fascinates me—is a perfect place for such projects,' believes Felipe Taborda.
