'This Upcoming Academic Year, I Plan to Enjoy Every Moment'
With the new academic year approaching, it is high time to make plans, wishes, and set new goals. We talked to students and lecturers of HSE University-St Petersburg about what they expect from the 2022–2023 academic year.
Angelina Yagudina, 2nd-year student of the Bachelor’s programme 'Public Policy and Analytics', Head of the Сentre 'Volunteers of HSE SPb'
I always want to do as much as possible, so I have a lot of plans for the upcoming academic year. First of all, I want to finish the guidelines on the analysis of public spaces with the help of my course mates. Over the past year, I have taken an interest in urban studies, so I will continue learning more about urban development. I am also planning to write a term paper and an article on this topic. I might also make up my mind about my master's programme. I also have great plans concerning volunteering: I will participate in various events and further develop the 'Volunteers of HSE SPb' centre. My colleague Eva and I are preparing a lot of interesting things for the upcoming academic year!
Varvara Tkacheva, 3rd-year student of the Bachelor’s programme 'Sociology and Social Informatics'
I am planning to start the new academic year with extracurricular activities! There's Orientation Day, where I will tell international students who have come to HSE University-St Petersburg about the cultural life here. I will represent the ESN student organisation, which helps international students to adjust to the new country. However, studies are important as well. In my third year, I want to take part in new research projects and apply for the international academic mobility programme!
Ivan Burmistrov, 3rd-year student of the Bachelor’s programme 'History', Head of the Student Scientific Society
Recently, I have started noticing that making plans is actually a hopeless undertaking: everything is changing so quickly, too much is going on. For example, two years ago, I did not really understand what the History Department's Student Research Society was. I joined it last year, and now I am one of its heads. Of course, I have future plans, but they are more conceptual: I will do my best to create even more effective student infrastructure to implement initiatives of different kinds. I want to carry out structural reforms, recruit new people, organise brainstorms—these are things I expect from our work during this year. I am interested in the Winter School on the History of Political Subjectivity in the 19th–20th Centuries, which I would like to see as one of our new showpieces by next year!
Aleksandra Ledyaeva, 2nd-year student of the Bachelor’s programme 'Philology', Head of SHSGNIDUV
My primary goal for this academic year at HSE University is to implement all my plans related to research activities. I want to publish my articles, write a lot of essays and a term paper, and participate in conferences. But my main dream is to sincerely enjoy my work at SHSGNIDUV. I hope I will have enough time and energy for all these activities!
This year, we have big plans for SHSGNIDUV: we will have a lot of fun, hold our traditional events (like the heart-warming Home concert), and try new formats. I am looking forward to coming up with the plots for the participants' trips and creating characters for the games. Of course, we are planning to recruit new members who are full of creativity and fresh ideas!
Ruslan Miftakhutdinоv, 4th-year student of the Bachelor’s programme 'Asian and African Studies', Head of the HSE University-St Petersburg Student Council
This year, I am going to write a thesis which can be easily transformed into several articles. I hope it will help me to enrol in my dream master's programme at a university in Malaysia.
I am also planning to continue working on the HSE University-St Petersburg Student Council. We have a lot of plans, but it is too early to unveil them. I will simply say that we will do our best to let the students know that we can and are ready to help and support them. For example, at the beginning of the academic year, we want to organise a Mental Health Week. We will announce other events in the Student Council group!
In the upcoming academic year, I plan to enjoy each moment spent with my group mates, lecturers and council colleagues. After all, graduation is coming up, so I want to make the most of this time.
Daria Pestrinskaya, 3rd-year student of the Bachelor’s programme 'International Business and Management Studies', Head of HSE Music
For my fourth year, my greatest dream is to complete my studies at the university without any problems. I wish for patience and, of course, luck. Later, I plan to apply for a Master's programme, but I am still choosing an interesting one to dig deeper into management.
This year, HSE Music is in good hands with its new heads. I am sure that there will be lots of interesting events at the club, one of which is everyone's favourite Final Concert. Last year, we held it for the first time in a while. HSE Music members prepared musical performances and a show on a chosen topic. Last year's theme was 'Broken Hearts Club'. The members performed touching songs and shared their personal stories with the listeners.
As for the Students For Students organisation, I am sure that they will surprise us more than once with their original ideas and memorable events. Most of all, I am waiting for 'Ice HSE', where we get a chance to skate with other students. I have very warm memories of this event from my first year of studies, so it will be great to replicate this experience in the last year of my Bachelor's degree.
Alexey Zhukov, Academic Supervisor of International Laboratory of Quantum Optoelectronics
Something big will happen this year at the International Laboratory of Quantum Optoelectronics: its three-year period of work will come to an end. Just at the end of August, we submitted our activity report and plans for the coming period.
We will continue progressing with developments in the field of micro lasers. We believe that we will be able to make them even faster in operation, which is important for optical transmission systems. I also hope we will find a way to integrate micro lasers with other devices, for example, wave guides—channels inside of which a wave can propagate. It will help to expand the opportunities to use micro lasers.
The laboratory will also continue to work with other research centres. First of all, we will focus on cooperation with those centres which try to combine semiconductor materials with nanostructures. In particular, a mirror laboratory project will be launched this year. We are participating in this project together with the Centre for Nanotechnology at the Southern Federal University.
We are absolutely interested in student participation in our projects. Moreover, grant sponsors usually encourage student involvement. For instance, the Russian Science Foundation holds youth project contests which require obligatory participation of students of different educational levels in research teams. Two of our young laboratory staff members—postdoctoral fellows—have won such grants.
This year, I, as the head of the laboratory, have to finish equipping it with new research facilities—part of which has already arrived. This will expand the laboratory's capabilities in terms of research activities, including those involving students.
Varvara Nazarova, Associate Professor, Department of Finance
This year, my colleagues and I will start teaching the minor course 'Financial Director of a Sustainable Business'. We see it as a way to provide our students with an advanced set of courses on financial accounting, risk analysis and financial information. The students will also gain deep insights into tax and investment analysis. All these skills will help our students to correctly interpret the results of a company's performance and shape effective financial strategies. In this minor course, second- and third-year students will prepare projects. The students will be selected based on applications containing an idea of how to increase the efficiency of a company's financial activities.
At the beginning of this year, I will become an Academic Supervisor of the Master's programme in 'Finance'. This is a brand-new experience for me. I used to be the supervisor of a second university degree programme which was also related to finance. This year, I will make every effort to develop the Master's programme. It has been setting high quality standards and gaining pace for a long time, and now it is attracting a lot of prospective students.