On Campus

On 7th April, the International Seminar on Distributing Power and Money: Federalism and Decentralisation in Germany and Russia took place at the Higher School of Economics, St Petersburg. The event was organized by the HSE Department of Political Science and Bachelor's Programme 'Political Science and World Politics' as part of the 14th annual Germany Week in St Petersburg – a project aimed at supporting and developing friendly relations and multilateral ties between Russia and Germany. The seminar brought together political analysts and economists – experts in the field of territorial management from the Higher School of Economics, the Leontief Center, MGIMO, the Freie Universität Berlin, Technische Universität Dresden as well as the non-governmental organization Forum of Federations. Our guests discussed the two models of federalism in Germany and Russia focusing on the reforms in the field of decentralization of public administration.

Marek Soukup from Masaryk University in Brno, the Czech Republic, is currently studying at HSE St Petersburg as an exchange student on the Applied Economics and Mathematical Methods MA programme.  His decision to come to Russia stemmed from his desire to perfect his knowledge of the Russian language, which he started learning four years ago.

On February 16, 2017, students at HSE St. Petersburg were exposed to a variety of interesting topics on the social, economic, political and cultural life of Norway when professors from the University of Oslo gave a series of lectures intended to excite curiosity about the country. The lectures were held at the initiative of the Norwegian Embassy in Moscow in cooperation with the University of Oslo. Heidi Olufsen, the Consul General of Norway in St. Petersburg, invited students to continue discovering and attend a future lecture on Fridtjof Nansen, the famous Norwegian explorer, scientist and diplomat.

Prior to coming to St Petersburg, international students may anticipate some difficulty settling into a drastically new culture and lifestyle, and completing the more mundane tasks, such as navigating the transport system. However, Buddy Club at HSE St Petersburg helps make the transition smoother. Roland Mortimer, exchange student from University College London, shares his experience.

On February 2-3, 2017 the Higher School of Economics in St. Petersburg hosted the International Student Research Conference. The campus became a meeting point for young researchers and professors from Belarus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Norway, Portugal, Russia, the UK,and Ukraine.  For two days, participants attended lectures delivered by keynote speakers, presented posters and discussed issues of social informatics, applied data analysis, regional planning and development, sustainable tourism and development, modern Asia, finance, economic growth, logistics, usable pasts and political science. Sessions covered a wide variety of research interests.

A group of 20 undergraduates from the United States visited “the Venice of the North” this January, taking part in a programme that blended the history, society and culture of the Russian Empire’s capital. Participants arrived from Mount Holyoke College and Smith College, opting to spend two weeks of their winter holidays here (6 – 22 January) learning about this city. Participants were diverse in their fields of studies, Russian knowledge, and travel experience, some even choosing this trip as their first chance to travel outside the borders of the United States.

Managing a budget is not very easy - it requires a lot of discipline, but it is nonetheless necessary to do in order to effectively manage income in relation to expenses. For international students coming to live in Russia, Saint Petersburg, it is particularly important to have a plan on how to manage costs.

On January 25 the opening ceremony of the German section of the Richard Stites memorial library was held at HSE St. Petersburg. With the Deutsche Forshungsgemeinschaft (DFG) support and help from Department of History Associate Professor Dietmar Wulff more than 150 new books were added to the library’s collection. In addition to classic editions of modern German historiography and fundamental works on all areas of history, the German collection is in line with the History Department’s main research directions, such as the history of empire and nationalism, and technological and environmental history.