Research & Expertise

The economic and political transformation following the fall of the socialist bloc has affected health and average life expectancy differently in former socialist countries. In nations where reforms led to true political and economic liberalization, health indicators are higher than in countries with hybrid regimes, according to a study by Vladimir Kozlov, a Research Fellow at HSE’s Laboratory of Social and Demographic Policies, and Dina Balalaeva, an Assistant Professor in the School of Political Science.

From the 18th to 21st February the biggest American (in fact international — like the American Association of Political Science) professional association of researchers in international relations, global politics and comparative politics, the International Studies Association held it’s 56th annual convention, this time in New Orleans. As in recent years, more than 6,000 participants came from all over the world.

For the first time since the 2010 heat wave in Moscow, demographers have estimated the effects of abnormal heat, wildfires and air pollution on morbidity and mortality. Extreme heat in Moscow in the summer of 2010 caused nearly 11,000 additional deaths from diseases of the nervous and cardiovascular systems and respiratory and kidney conditions, according to a group of researchers including Tatyana Kharkova and Ekaterina Kvasha of the HSE Institute of Demography, members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, MosEconomMonitoring, and Swedish researchers.

From January 29 – February 2, 2015, second-year political science students of the HSE Faculty of Social Sciences, together with students of the MGIMO Faculty of Political Science, went on a field trip to Chisinau, Tiraspol, Comrat, and Taraclia. The purpose of the expedition was to study the territorial identities of Moldova’s different ethnic groups.

In an interview for CIRGE Washington University on the ongoing reforms and pending challenges in Russian doctoral education, Senior Research Fellow at HSE’s Institute for Higher Education, Igor Chirikov explains the peculiar economic, social and bureaucratic problems and academic traditions that are hampering the careers of Russian academics but he also gives reasons to be optimistic about change for the future.

On January 27, 2015, HSE First-Vice Rector Prof. Vadim V. Radaev and Dr. Greg B. Yudin announced the closure of ‘Classics in New Economic Sociology’ - a mega translation project of the HSE Laboratory for the Studies in Economic Sociology. The project ran from 2001-2015.

HSE’s Laboratory for Anti-Corruption Policy placed 28th in a global ranking of analytical centres that work with the quality of public administration.

Students who choose to pursue a master's or postgraduate degree are at a distinct advantage over those who stop after receiving a bachelor's degree, and can expect higher starting salaries and a wider career choice. Some students, particularly those studying the humanities, medicine, and natural sciences, are more likely to pursue further studies beyond the undergraduate programme, observesYana Roschina, senior research fellow at the HSE's Laboratory of Economics and Social Research, in her report 'Factors Influencing Russian Students' Educational and Employment Plans'.

Life expectancy among Russians has been increasing over recent decades. However this is more recovery than growth – making up for previous declines. Mortality rates fell in the same areas that previously accounted for their growth in the late 20th, early 21st centuries – cardiovascular disease, and external causes of death: murder, suicide, alcohol poisoning and car accidents, according to senior academic researchers at the HSE’s Institute of Demography Evgeny Andreev, Ekaterina Kvasha, and Tatyana Kharkova.

From the 8th - 10th January, teachers at the Department of Sociology at the Faculty of Social Sciences Olga Savinskaya and Elizaveta Polukhina, and HSE graduate Anastasia Poilova took part in the The Qualitative Report Sixth Annual Conference organised by the international peer-reviewed journal Qualitative Report.