The Linguistic Convergence Laboratory and the School of Linguistics at HSE University have created corpora of the Abkhaz-Adyghe languages spoken in the Western Caucasus. The corpora serve as valuable resources for studying these languages with their unique features and demonstrate the potential for their modern use. The corpora were developed through a series of field expeditions to the Caucasus conducted by HSE University researchers and students, combined with modern linguistic processing methods and collaboration with colleagues from regional universities. In this interview with the HSE News Service, Yury Lander, Leading Research Fellow at the Linguistic Convergence Laboratory and Associate Professor at the School of Linguistics, discusses the work of linguists.

A new permanent column, <em>Key to the Text</em>, prepared by the team of the School of Philological Sciences at the HSE Faculty of Humanities, has launched on the Arzamas media platform. The first instalment focuses on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel <em>The Idiot</em>: the authors explore the evolution of the meaning of the word ‘idiot’ from antiquity to the nineteenth century and its central role in the writer’s conception of the novel.

Sankha Basu, Assistant Professor at the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT-Delhi), taught a course at the Spring School 'Logic, Linguistics and Formal Philosophy' hosted by the International Laboratory for Logic, Linguistics and Formal Philosophy. This was his first visit to a Russian university, and he shared his impressions with the HSE News Service.

Mira Bergelson, Professor at the School of Philological Studies, Director of the Centre for Sociocultural and Ethnolinguistic Studies at the Faculty of Humanities, celebrated her birthday on April 1

Blini, Round Dances, and Warm Meetings

On February 8-9, 2026, First International Scientific Conference "Human Sciences and Sustainable Development" was held in Iraq. A report at the conference was presented by Prof. Felix Azhimov, Dean of the HSE University Faculty of Humanities.

Darya Iskusnykh, a third-year student at the Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies of the HSE Faculty of Humanities, won first place in the Grammar and Composition category at the 18th Russian Olympiad of Persian Language and Literature. The finals of the intellectual competition took place in Moscow at the Institute of Asian and African Studies (IAAS) of Lomonosov Moscow State University with the support of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

New interactive editions of Russian classics—Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol and Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky—have been released in the Live Pages mobile app. They were prepared by students and graduates of the School of Philological Studies at the HSE Faculty of Humanities. The project, which has been developing for more than ten years in collaboration with experts from the School of Linguistics, offers readers not just text but digital books enriched with maps, timelines, and commentary for deeper immersion in the works.

HSE University in 2025

The 24th Christmas film seminar of the HSE Laboratory for Studies in Economic Sociology (LSEI), held at the end of December, was devoted to the causes of anxiety and depression among young people. The focus of the discussion was the 2018 film <em>Eighth Grade</em>, whose main character is a 13-year-old schoolgirl.

Following a working meeting between Felix Azhimov and his colleagues from PolyU, a cooperation agreement was signed. The document formalizes plans for joint educational and research initiatives, including the organization of student exchanges and a conference.

On September 17–20, 2025, the First Caucasus School on Experimental Research and Cognitive Sciences took place at the Gornaya Legenda venue of Adyghe State University (ASU). The event was organised by the ASU Experimental Linguistics Laboratory, the HSE Centre for Language and Brain, and the HSE Centre for Sociocultural and Ethnolinguistic Studies. The school brought together over 50 participants—students, doctoral candidates, and early-career researchers from across Russia, along with lecturers and speakers from France, Serbia, China, Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

The Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna hosted the Archival Impulse Summer School, co-organised by JINR physicists, historians from the HSE Faculty of Humanities, and staff from the Archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ARAS). This first archival summer school continued the joint initiative of HSE University and JINR to examine and preserve the unique historical legacy of physicists.

On September 15–16, 2025, the HSE Centre of Classical and Oriental Archaeology at the Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies, Faculty of Humanities, held an international conference marking the fifth anniversary of excavations carried out by HSE archaeologists as part of the Parion Mission of Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun, at the agora of Parion.

From August 26–29, 2025, the largest annual linguistics conference, Societas Linguistica Europaea, took place in Bordeaux, France. Doctoral students and researchers from HSE University took part in the event. The paper ‘Lability Drift in Modern Aramaic languages’ by Elena Shvedova was highly praised by the expert community and took first place among PhD student presentations. In an interview with the HSE News Service, Elena Shvedova spoke about her research and the conference itself.

On May 30, 2025, a general meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) announced the results of the elections for its full and corresponding members. Around 1,800 individuals took part in the voting. Among those elected this year are scholars from HSE University.

An HSE delegation, led by Rector Nikita Anisimov, visited China for negotiations with the administration of the country’s top universities. The parties agreed to expand bilateral scientific and educational collaboration and signed several documents. In particular, a strategic partnership agreement was established with Peking University, one of the oldest and most prestigious educational institutions in China.

HSE University hosted a presentation of the Centre for South Arabian Studies, established under the Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies at the Faculty of Humanities. The centre’s work aims to enhance the study of languages and cultures while fostering closer collaboration with scholars and universities in the Arabian Peninsula. The presentation was attended by HSE Rector Nikita Anisimov and diplomats from Yemen, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

This year, celebrations were held at several university locations

On March 2, an HSE Open Day for prospective undergraduates and specialist students will take place — one of the largest and most significant events for applicants, their parents, and the entire university. Visitors will have the opportunity to speak with students and representatives of educational programmes, plan their admission process, and immerse themselves in the HSE University atmosphere for a day. The event will be held in Russian.