HSE University-St Petersburg Expands Cooperation with Universities in Mexico

HSE University—Saint Petersburg

In the framework of the academic mission to Latin America, the delegation from HSE University-St Petersburg headed by director Anna Tyshetskaya visited several universities in Mexico. During this trip, HSE signed cooperation agreements with two leading universities: Panamerican University and Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla (UPAEP).

The key outcome of the visit to the Panamerican University was the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding which became a part of the long-term agreement signed in November 2023. The Memorandum provides for creating a mirror laboratory which will operate on the basis of the Laboratory for Reputation Management in Education at HSE University and a similar unit at Panamerican University. The main research direction of the laboratory will be social entrepreneurship in Russia and Mexico. The laboratory will also study the cultural diversity of two countries and its influence on innovative solutions to social problems.

Besides, they will look into the mechanisms of support for women and the youth in social entrepreneurship which will help to distinguish the best practices and potential barriers to their success.

During the visit to the Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla, the parties signed an agreement covering a wide range of cooperation activities—from student and staff exchange to joint research and design of educational programmes. This agreement will open new opportunities for students, PhD students, faculty, and researcher exchange, design of educational programmes, and organisation of internships.

Anna Tyshetskaya also announced the launch of an interdisciplinary track on Latin America at HSE University-St Petersburg. The track unites the courses of three bachelor's programmes in Political Science and International Relations, Economics and Management, and Media Communications.

'The development of the cooperation with Latin American universities is based on the high level of trust established during our previous academic mission last year. Today, we have discussed with leading Mexican universities certain projects: student exchange and joint research laboratories. Of course, during the meetings, the main focus was on the development of activities in the framework of the Latin American track. We have agreed that already this summer, our subject-matter experts will come to Mexico from St Petersburg to participate in the events in this field', says Anna Tyshetskaya, Director of HSE University-St Petersburg.

The Panamerican University (Universidad Panamericana) is a private Catholic university founded in 1967 as a business school. In 1978, the direct predecessor of the university (Panamerican Institute of Humanitarian Sciences) was renamed Panamerican University. This is one of the youngest universities in the country. The university is based on three fundamental elements: teaching, researching and spreading the culture. There are several campuses (Mexico City, Guadalajara and Aguascalientes). Now, it has more than 13,000 students.

Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla (UPAEP) was founded in 1973. Now, there are more than 10,000 students. The university offers more than 40 bachelor's programmes, 30 master's courses and 12 doctorate programmes. The university hosts five main research centres, including the centre dealing with research on local plants and the centre for studying science and religion.