Research & Expertise news at HSE University

Idalia Fedotova, researcher at HSE University and the RAS Ivannikov Institute for System Programming, examined lexical differences across Khanty dialects and found that members of this relatively small ethnic group speak three distinct languages—rather than two, as previously thought. The findings are published in Ural-Altaic Studies.

A team of scientists from HSE University, the RAS Institute of Spectroscopy, and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology have developed a cold atom chip for devices with high accuracy of measurements. The researchers are currently working to create atomic clocks which could be used on spacecraft and the ISS. The paper has been published in Optics & Laser Technology.

As a result of the 2023 Teacher-Student Team Research Project  competition, the project ‘The Development of Automated Approaches to Identify the Aetiology of Cryptogenic Stroke with the Aim of Preventing Secondary Acute Cerebrovascular Accident’ has been created with funding from the HSE Academic Fund Programme. The project is led by Sofya Kulikova, Senior Research Fellow of the Laboratory of Interdisciplinary Empirical Studies (LINES).

Researchers from HSE University and the Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry have developed a machine learning model that can predict the word about to be uttered by a subject based on their neural activity recorded with a small set of minimally invasive electrodes. The paper 'Speech decoding from a small set of spatially segregated minimally invasive intracranial EEG electrodes with a compact and interpretable neural network' has been published in the Journal of Neural Engineering. The research was financed by a grant from the Russian Government as part of the 'Science and Universities' National Project.

COVID-19 came as an unexpected challenge for humanity. Countries adopted different, sometimes diametrically opposed approaches to minimising the pandemic's impact: from hard lockdowns to no restrictions at all, as in Sweden. It was only last week that China began to relax its zero-tolerance policy. Researchers of the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences have identified a few factors which tend to have the greatest impact on the spread of COVID-19—in Russia, such factors include ambient humidity and temperatures, population mobility, the share of internal migrants in the local population, and household incomes. The study findings are published in Population and Economics.

The HSE Project and Academic Laboratory for Economic Journalism, the Digital Media and Promotion Office and the HSE Public Relations Office present the second issue of the information and analytical digest titled Russian Economy: Aspects of Global Transformation Shift (available in Russian). It focuses on the development of electric vehicles in Russia, including various aspects and key players of the industry.

About a year ago, HSE University was among the first group of Russian universities to receive a grant from the ‘Priority 2030’ Strategic Academic Leadership Programme and began implementing strategic research projects. HSE University recently defended its report before the programme's board. Elena Odoevskaya, HSE University Vice Rector and coordinator of the HSE Development Programme for the Period until 2030 and the ‘Priority 2030’ programme, spoke to the HSE News Service about what has been achieved this year and how the format of strategic projects is changing at the university.

A study by the HSE Centre for Language and Brain has confirmed the role of the corpus callosum in language lateralisation, ie the distribution of language processing functions between the brain's hemispheres. The authors came up with an innovative language task for their study subjects and applied advanced neuroimaging methods to the data collected. A paper on their findings has been published in PLoS ONE.  The research was financed by a grant from the Russian government as part of the 'Science and Universities' National Project.