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Lots of people know Alexander Sorokin as a Dean of the St Petersburg School of Social Sciences but earlier, he engaged in the history of science and studied the Tomsk physicists. At the moment, he is working at the junction of several areas—anthropology, research on science and technology and environmental history, helps our students to study the local communities in the Indian Himalayas. We discussed with the Candidate of Historical Sciences what it was like to work constantly at the junction of various spheres, go on expeditions and run three marathons in different locations across the globe.

The editorial staff of HSE University-St Petersburg are looking forward to the new academic year as much as students and professors are. We are sure that it will be very eventful: there are exciting research projects, new educational partnerships and interesting scientific conferences waiting for HSE students. To mark the holiday, we have talked to deans, academic supervisors of educational programmes and research units about their expectations for the next year.

Arina Bykova is a 2020 graduate of the Bachelor's programme 'Sociology and Social Informatics'. For more than two years, she worked for the company 'Selectel' and then moved to 'Yandex 360' in a position in HR marketing. Her interest in marketing aroused in her thanks to her bachelor's studies and volunteering at the Career Centre. Find out why the sociological studies are interesting, which skills turned out to be the most useful and how the graduate changed her career track.

Daniil Kornev is a 2022 graduate of the Bachelor’s programme 'Political Science and World Politics'. Now, he is studying in the campus master's programme in UX-analytics and working at a gamedev company as a head of data analysis direction. We talked to Daniil about how programming helped political scientists, which thesis topic could help you find a career to your liking and how computer games were related to political science.

In March, the educational centre 'Sirius' hosted the World Youth Festival (WYF-2024). More than 300 thousand students from 188 countries applied for this event. Seven students from HSE University-St Petersburg were selected and took part in the festival programme.

In winter, we only talk about warm lands—and with HSE University-St Petersburg students as well. We talked to Anna Belokrylova, 3rd-year student of the Bachelor's programme 'Sociology and Social Informatics': she spent the autumn semester in Mexico. Find out how the studies at the University of Monterrey, what subjects turned out to be the most useful for her career, what the university environment offers international students and why each tourist has to see the Day of the Dead in the interview.

In January, UPES University (India) held the International Student Winter School 'Business and Governance in India'. HSE University-St Petersburg was represented by students of the bachelor's programmes 'Political Science and World Politics' and 'International Bachelor's in Business and Economics', as well as the Master's programme 'International Business in the Asia-Pacific Region'. Read on to find out what the students learned from the Winter School what lasting impressions they have.

Students of the Bachelor's programme 'Political Science and World Politics' have carried out joint research with the pharmaceutical company GEROPHARM. Together with experts, the future political scientists studied the restrictions faced by families of children with type 1 diabetes.

Today, we will go for a walk in Kolomna and Vasilevsky Island with Nadezhda Nartova, an Academic Supervisor of the Master's programme 'Modern Social Analysis'. She looks at the city from the sociological point of view—through people, community and memory. Find out where in St Petersburg is the best place to feel oblivion, why the estate of Derzhavin at Fontanka is good and in which club you can listen to jazz in the interview.

At HSE University-St Petersburg, except for the main learning trajectory, over two years, the students master an additional one—a minor. It can help to find new optics for research, choose a profession or simply broaden the horizons. A minor helped Tatyana Novotolskaya, a graduate of the Bachelor's programme 'Sociology and Social Informatics', not only find a new area for research but also get enrolled in the Master's programme at Oxford University. Find out more about all these things and some pieces of advice for prospective students in our interview.