Research & Expertise news at HSE University

In the spring of 2023, the fifth strategic project of the Priority 2030 programme, 'Human Brain Resilience: Neurocognitive Technologies for Adaptation, Learning, Development and Rehabilitation in a Changing Environment,' was launched at HSE University. The strategic project brings together researchers from all campuses of HSE University. In her interview with the HSE News Service, Olga Dragoy, head of the strategic project and Director of the HSE Centre for Language and Brain, shares an overview of the advanced technologies neuroscientists are creating today, the underlying inspiration driving these efforts, and the operational dynamics of interdisciplinary applied projects.

Victoria Dobrynskaya, Assistant Professor at the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences, has analysed the price dynamics of 2,000 cryptocurrencies from 2014 to 2021 and investigated the association between downside risks and average returns in the cryptocurrency market. As it turns out, cryptocurrencies exhibiting a greater risk tend to yield higher average returns. The study has been published in International Review of Financial Analysis.

The movement of human eyes mirrors the cognitive processes occurring in the brain. Today, neuroscientists can precisely monitor their parameters with millisecond accuracy. Video-oculography holds the key to understanding numerous phenomena related to reading, perception, and language production processes. IQ.HSE interviewed Andriy Myachikov, Leading Research Fellow at the HSE Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience (ICN), about the method of video-oculography, or, in scientific parlance, eye-tracking, and its applications in psycholinguistic research.

On December 15, the Second Sino-Russian Economic Cooperation Workshop–Youth Forum took place online. The event was organised jointly by HSE University and the Shanghai University School of Economics. Anastasia Stepanova, Deputy Vice Rector of HSE University, Associate Professor at the School of Finance, and one of the workshop organisers, talked to the HSE News Service about cooperation with Shanghai University and the topics covered by the workshop.

Two researchers from the HSE Faculty of Computer Science—Aibek Alanov, Junior Research Fellowat the Centre of Deep Learning and Bayesian Methods, Research Fellow at AIRI; and Pavel Braslavski, Associate Professor, Senior Research Fellow at the Laboratory for Models and Methods of Computational Pragmatics—are among the winners of the 2023Yandex ML Prize (formerly the Ilya Segalovich Award).

Researchers at the HSE Laboratory for Linguistic, Intercultural, and Creative Competencies have examined the role of the Big Five personality traits in moderating the development of creativity among individuals who use multiple languages and have intercultural experiences. It has been found that acquiring multiple languages and engaging with diverse cultures can enhance an individual's creativity and compensate for some deficiencies in communicative abilities. That said, language practices are likely to foster creativity only in mentally stable individuals. The paper has been published in the International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism.

In an interview for HSE News Service, Fuad Aleskerov, Distinguished Professor of HSE University and Member of Academia Europaea, shares his insights into making decisions under deep uncertainty, highlights the crucial role of cooperation in this context, and unveils plans for the upcoming launch of a specialised course on decision-making and the establishment of a mirror laboratory at HSE University.

On November 24–25, 2023, the 12th ICEF-CInSt International Finance Conference took place in Moscow. Researchers from Russia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the USA, Canada, Italy, and the United Kingdom contributed as speakers and discussants. The organisers and participants of the conference shared their impressions of the event with the HSE News Service.