News

An international team of researchers including scientists at HSE University have tested 11 communication strategies aimed to encourage pro-environmental behaviours. The sample included nearly 60,000 individuals from 63 countries. While interventions aimed at reducing psychological distance from climate problems proved to be effective, those targeting behaviours which require more effort, such as tree-planting or reducing one's carbon emissions, were not as successful. The study findings have been published in Scientific Advances.

Researchers at HSE University, having examined the role of daydreaming in the Russian cultural context, conclude that constructive daydreaming can help people with gaining insight into their life's trajectory, fostering personal growth, discovering existential meaning, enhancing psychological wellbeing, and cultivating a balanced temporal perspective. The study findings have been published in Cultural-Historical Psychology.

An international team of researchers, including neuroscientists at HSE University, has developed a computational model for simulating semantic dementia, a severe neurodegenerative condition that progressively deprives patients of their ability to comprehend the meaning of words. The neural network model represents processes occurring in the brain regions critical for language function. The results indicate that initially, the patient's brain forgets the meanings of object-related words, followed by action-related words. Additionally, the degradation of white matter tends to produce more severe language impairments than the decay of grey matter. The study findings have been published in Scientific Reports.

From April 26 to May 7, a team of professors and students from HSE University-St Petersburg conducted a field study in the Indian Himalayas. Below, Aleksei Sorbale, academic supervisor of the Bachelor's programme 'Political Science and World Politics', and Pavel Bazarov, a student of the Master's programme 'Global and Regional History', speak about their research and share their impressions of the expedition.

Students of the School of Economics and Management took part in the CFA Regional Societies Research Challenge, which was held in Abu Dhabi (UAE). The team from HSE University-St Petersburg represented Russia and took third place.

The HSE Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence for Cognitive Sciences (AICS) has launched regular seminars, offering students and scientists from various universities and research centres the opportunity to share their latest research and discuss the most recent developments in artificial intelligence in a friendly and constructive atmosphere. The first seminar was held on May 15.

Prof. Olga Volosyuk, Head of the School of International Regional Studies, Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, spoke to the HSE News Service about international relations, research, and conferences organised by the School.

HSE University has improved its position in the recently published Times Higher Education (THE) Young University Ranking, rising from 98^th to 87^th place. This is the best position among Russian universities. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, holds first place.