How to close a lot of gaps in six weeks

As artificial intelligence continues its victory march in all spheres of our life, interest in educational products focused on AI is far from diminishing - in fact, it has never been so high. At AWC, courses and workshops on AI for researchers remain an important part of the program.

@ Svetlana Protopopova

This fall, we ran a repeat of the course “From a Research Idea to a Paper Draft,” which was first piloted a year ago. Konstantin Nefedov, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Management, St. Petersburg School of Economics and Management, guided HSE researchers in exploring AI tools to help formulate research questions, select relevant sources, and choose suitable journals. The curated selection of tools included only well-established and reliable resources. By the end of the course, participants had not only gained practical AI skills but also produced a draft literature review, which they then discussed and refined with peer feedback.

Let’s hear from the participants about what they found most valuable:

• “The course gave me several ideas that determined my work on the paper. The most influential was the idea of the author's voice. It was not clear before what the boundary for my own position and criticism was. The second great idea concerns arguments and finding the right place for my paper in overall discussion.” 
• “The course was great, thank you so much! I gained a much clearer understanding of how to build a strong research argument, structure a literature review, and critically evaluate sources.”
• “I have closed a lot of gaps in my current understanding of my future paper. The trainer’s comments were productive and helpful, thank you for using my short text to propose several beneficial ideas. During the course I returned many times to my research question and tried to reformulate it. It was very important for me because I properly understood my key research objectives and focused on the arguments more clearly.”

Excellent results in just six weeks! A huge thank you to Konstantin for his willingness to share his expertise with colleagues and for excellent, highly relevant materials.

As this semester—and this year—gradually draws to a close, we are wrapping up our ongoing projects and preparing to return in January with new ideas. We’re just steps away from reviewing our achievements, planning for the year ahead, and enjoying a well-deserved break.