On Campus

Behrang Kamali-Shahdadi, from Iran, recently joined the HSE University Department of Theoretical Economics as an assistant professor and will start teaching courses in autumn 2023. In his interview, he shares his experiences of getting a PhD from an Ivy League university, working at a new university in Iran, and his research on matching attorneys to poor defendants, unskilled workers to firms, and baby boomers to universities.

Arnab Roy Chowdhury, Assistant Professor at the HSE School of Sociology, Moscow, has worked at HSE since 2017. In 2022, he was named one of the university’s best teachers by student vote. He has published several papers in internationally recognised journals and supervised a number of doctoral students. Below, Dr Chowdhury talks about his research career, the changes in the global academic environment, and the larger role of international scholarly cooperation.

Jean-Francois Jabir is an assistant professor at the HSE University Department of Statistics and Data Analysis and a senior research fellow at the Laboratory of Stochastic Analysis and its Applications (LSA). In his interview, he talks about stochastic analysis and its applications, why he is still impressed by the training level and dedication of Russian students, and how to live in Moscow with a limited knowledge of Russian.

Anatolie Cecalenco was born in the Republic of Moldova and entered the Bachelor's programme 'Political Science' at HSE University. Then, he continued his education on the Master's programme 'Business and Politics in Modern Asia' at HSE University-St Petersburg. Currently, Anatolie is a PhD student and a lecturer at the campus. He also works as an ESG specialist for the company Business Solutions and Technology (which formerly operated in Russia as Deloitte). We talked to the PhD student about his studies and work.

Every year, HSE University students and recent graduates vote for their Best Teachers. Among the winners of this year’s vote was Martin Beisswenger, Assistant Professor at the School of History at the HSE University Faculty of Humanities. In the latest in our series of interviews with this year’s Best Teachers, we spoke to Martin about the significance of winning the competition, building a balanced curriculum, and how to respond to criticism.

The results of the 2022 student vote for Best Teachers of HSE University have been announced. This year, there are more winners among international faculty than ever before. The HSE News Service talked to 2022 winners Cemal Eren Arbatli and Arnab Roy Chowdhury about their attitude to students’ assessment of teachers, their experience of positive and negative feedback, and the challenges of teaching online.

Tiago Teixeira Saraiva, Research Fellow at the Quantum Nanoelectronics Laboratory, has talked to the HSE LooK about joining HSE University back in 2019, making breakthroughs in superconductivity research, and working with Russian students. He also shares what makes Moscow particularly attractive for him and gives a useful tip to future postdoc fellows at HSE University.

Alaa N. Assaf is a doctoral student at HSE University’s Faculty of Law. In addition to doing research for his PhD thesis, he teaches undergraduates. Alaa has shared his thoughts on studying international law, life in Moscow, and what he misses about teaching in person.

Peio Zuazo-Garin, ICEF Assistant Professor and a PhD graduate from the University of the Basque Country, joined HSE University at a time when all the usual formats of research and teaching were disrupted by the pandemic. In an interview he told how to adapt to a new place of work online, what are the pros and cons of academic prestige, why he loves Moscow and why he recalls bullfighting during the discussions with ICEF students.

HSE University is focused on achieving leadership not only at the national level, but also internationally, so internationalisation has been and remains a priority area of the University's development strategy. In an interview with the HSE bulletin Okna Rosta, Yulia Grinkevich, Director for Internationalisation, talked about various approaches to internationalising the campus environment, the progress HSE has made in this regard to date, and the tasks that remain in the 2030 HSE University Development Programme.