Urban Studies Experts from HSE Discuss Cooperation Prospects with Chinese Partners
The team of the HSE Faculty of Urban and Regional Development (FURD) has held a series of meetings with partners in China as part of its working visit focused on advancing cooperation. The agenda included urban and agglomeration ranking research, the development of unique educational programmes in urban studies, and other key topics.
Dean of FURD Evgeny Mikhaylenko, Deputy Dean for International Affairs Victoria Khomich, and Head of the Vysokovsky Graduate School of Urbanism Ruslan Goncharov met with partners in Guangzhou and Shenyang. Notably, they held talks with the leadership of the Guangdong–CIS International Technological Cooperation Union—one of the faculty’s key partners in China. Discussions centred around joint projects such as urban and agglomeration ranking studies, academic exchanges with Chinese universities, and FURD’s planned participation in the Global Mayors’ Forum in Guangzhou in 2025.
Evgeny Mikhaylenko
‘Joint Russian–Chinese research in the field of urbanism will help tackle complex governance challenges in both major metropolitan areas and smaller towns, as well as identify development prospects. We are continuing to expand our collaboration in scientific research and plan to launch a joint educational project in the future,’ said Dean of the HSE Faculty of Urban and Regional Development Evgeny Mikhaylenko.
Guo Fengzhi
Guo Fengzhi, Secretary General of the Guangdong–CIS International Technological Cooperation Union, expressed gratitude to the FURD delegation for their friendly visit to China. ‘We held effective negotiations on a number of key areas concerning scientific and technological innovation, educational collaboration, experience exchange, and project cooperation,’ said Guo Fengzhi. ‘The faculty has long been our partner and works successfully with many regions of China. I believe the meetings in Guangzhou and Shenyang will contribute significantly to the development of Russian–Chinese relations, and we look forward to strengthening our longstanding cooperation.’
During a meeting at South China University of Technology in Guangzhou—a long-time partner of FURD—the parties discussed the joint development and implementation of innovative international programmes in urban studies. Following the talks, Russian and Chinese scholars agreed to begin designing an academic programme that will combine the unique expertise of both sides and aims to be a cutting-edge international educational product.
At Guangdong University of Finance and Economics (GUFE), which the FURD delegation visited in return following a Chinese visit to HSE in April, discussions focused on expanding academic exchange opportunities, organising summer schools, and conducting joint research within BRICS urban contexts. Moreover, GUFE’s urban studies team is planning a return visit to FURD in July 2025 to finalise cooperation plans and sign a partnership agreement.
In northern China, in Shenyang, the FURD team was received by representatives of the Shenfu Reform and Innovation Demonstration Zone Management Committee, headed by Deputy Director Liu Jia, who visited FURD in 2024. During their working meeting, both sides agreed to establish a joint mechanism for academic exchanges between HSE and Shenyang universities, as well as plans for joint international events within the BRICS framework.
Victoria Khomich
‘FURD is one of Russia’s most recognisable centres of urban expertise—from the north to the south of China. Our collaboration with educational institutions, municipalities, and urban development committees in special economic zones continues to open up new opportunities for experience exchange and integration of the faculty’s potential into the international space,’ said Victoria Khomich. ‘Joint international projects like the Urban and Innovation Environment Index and the Dynamic Urbanistics initiative—winner of HSE’s International Academic Cooperation competition in partnership with Tianjin University—demonstrate how collaborative efforts with international colleagues yield truly unique results. Our next ambitious goal is to launch an international educational programme.’
Ruslan Goncharov
‘The Vysokovsky Graduate School of Urbanism has always welcomed international cooperation. Our ambition is to become a recognised expert centre in urban development across BRICS countries—and we are steadily moving in that direction. At present, our team is studying best practices in the development of small towns in several BRICS countries, including China, and assessing how applicable they are to the Russian context. We will present interim results of this research at the Vysokovsky Forum on June 5, 2025, and I take this opportunity to invite everyone to attend. We have excellent relations with our Chinese colleagues, and we are grateful for the warm welcome and active support of our research initiatives. We eagerly look forward to putting all our plans into action,’ concluded Ruslan Goncharov.
See also:
HSE Scientists Develop Method to Compress Large Language Models Without Losing Quality
Researchers from the AI and Digital Science Institute at the HSE Faculty of Computer Science have developed a new compression method for large language models such as GPT and LLaMA that reduces their size by 25–36% without additional training or significant loss of accuracy. This is the first approach to use mathematical transformations—specifically, rotations of model weights—to make models more amenable to compression with structured matrices. The study results have been published in ACL Findings 2025. The code is available on GitHub.
Machine Learning Models Can Help Reduce Volatility and Boost Stock Market Returns
The use of machine learning models makes it possible to achieve greater accuracy in predicting risks in the Russian stock market compared to classical econometric approaches. The predictive power of these models increases by 23%, while the average investor’s return can reach up to 13% per annum. These conclusions were drawn by Nikita Lysenok from the Department of Financial Market Infrastructure at the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences. The paper has been published in Fundamental and Applied Mathematics.
HSE University at IRES 2026: Student Recruitment, Space Projects, and New Partnerships with India
The second Indo-Russian Education Summit (IRES 2026) took place in New Delhi on May 28–29. This year, the event brought together more than 70 leading Russian and Indian universities. Representatives from HSE University’s Moscow and St Petersburg campuses introduced prospective students to the university’s educational opportunities at the exhibition and shared their experience in developing Russian–Indian academic cooperation.
HSE Study Reveals Imbalance in the Generative AI Market
Researchers at HSE University analysed how effectively the global generative artificial intelligence market converts investment into real revenue, concluding that AI is currently developing faster than it is paying off. The results have been published in the journal Foresight and STI Governance.
HSE and Sultan Qaboos University: Expanding Academic and Research Partnership
In May 2026, a delegation from Sultan Qaboos University (Oman) made an official visit to HSE University. The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss new forms of cooperation and partnership and to identify areas of mutual interest. Representatives of HSE’s Moscow, St Petersburg, and Nizhny Novgorod campuses spoke about their shared interest in expanding joint projects, primarily in the field of artificial intelligence—a strategic development priority for both universities.
HSE and Peking University Expand Cooperation in Civil Society Research
A seminar involving Russian and Chinese scholars on cooperation between the state and non-profit organisations was held in Beijing. Participants discussed the evolution of institutions, cooperation practices, and challenges facing the development of the non-profit sector, and also presented the results of their research. The meeting concluded with agreements to expand joint projects and academic exchanges.
HSE to Bring Together Experts from World’s Leading Universities in St Petersburg
From May 18 to 22, 2026, HSE University–St Petersburg will become a hub of global academic dialogue. International Partners’ Week will bring together more than 100 delegates from 47 universities across 20 countries.
HSE and Peking University Discuss Prospects for Expanding Cooperation
In Moscow, HSE University’s leadership met with a delegation from Peking University headed by its President, Gong Qihuang. During the meeting, the parties agreed to strengthen partnership between the two universities within the framework of the Cross Years of Russian–Chinese Cooperation in Education (2026–2027).
Teaching a Machine to Read the Past: HSE Develops Neural Network to Decipher Manuscripts
Diaries and letters are an invaluable resource for humanities scholars. But what can be done when the text is impossible to read? At the HSE Faculty of Humanities, this challenge has been translated into the language of mathematics: a team of philologists, historians, and machine learning specialists has created an information system that not only recognises illegible handwriting but also helps analyse archival content.
Scientists Develop Algorithm for Accurate Financial Time Series Forecasting
Researchers at the HSE Faculty of Computer Science benchmarked more than 200,000 model configurations for predicting financial asset prices and realised volatility, showing that performance can be improved by filtering out noise at specific frequencies in advance. This technique increased accuracy in 65% of cases. The authors also developed their own algorithm, which achieves accuracy comparable to that of the best models while requiring less computational power. The study has been published in Applied Soft Computing.