Elena Omelchenko, Director of the Center for Youth Studies, is a laureate of the People's Prize

On January 23, the XX annual ceremony of awarding the People's Prize "Bright Past" was held. The 2024 laureate is Elena Omelchenko, a leading specialist in the field of youth sociology, Director of the Center for Youth Studies, Professor of the Department of Sociology at the HSE – St. Petersburg.

Photo provided by the organizers of the People's Prize "Bright Past"

Since 2004, the People's Prize "Bright Past" has been awarded to natives of the Chelyabinsk region who have achieved success in science, art, culture, sports, and social activities. Among the laureates of different years: actor Leonid Bronevoy, composer Alexander Gradsky, chess player Anatoly Karpov, opera singer Nina Terentyeva, hockey player Vyacheslav Bykov, director Dmitry Tyurin. According to Oleg Mityaev, the author of the idea of the People's Prize, all the laureates are united by "the ability to dream and achieve their dreams."

 

The laureate of this year is Elena Omelchenko. She was born in Chelyabinsk, graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University in 1979, became a candidate of Philosophical Sciences in 1982, and a Doctor of Sociological Sciences in 2005. Her professional life is an interesting research journey, a significant part of which she is the Director of the Center for Youth Studies at the St. Petersburg campus of the Higher School of Economics. Dozens of sociological projects, including international ones, have been implemented under the leadership of Elena Omelchenko.

Elena L. Omelchenko,
Центр молодежных исследований: Директор центра

I think that professional achievements happen where the real result and the burning eyes of those who work on it are visible. These include the film club I organized at Ulyanovsk State University, which existed for almost 10 years, the founding and long-term work of the Region Research Center in Ulyanovsk. Of course, this is the founding of the Center for Youth Studies in St. Petersburg, whose high level of professionalism is noted by both Russian and foreign colleagues. The Master's program Modern Social Analysis at the Higher School of Economics, for which I have been an Academic Supervisor for a long time, and last year I became a Scientific Supervisor, is also an achievement, because we train high-class specialists who are able to work with different methods, complex fields, and critically assess what is happening. These also include the large number of articles and books written by me personally and in collaboration with other researchers.