Project Centers

One of HSE's key goals is to increase its graduates' competitive power on the labor market. This is reached partially with the help of research projects: since 2009, HSE has been applying a system of project groups (PGs) and project centers (PCs).

Young specialists (undergraduate and PhD students) do research for external customers (businesses, state institutions, foreign companies) under the supervision of HSE experts who combine research with practice. PG and PC results present successfully completed projects. Information about their progress and the students' findings is shared at conferences and seminars, as well as through publications.

Project group is an impermanent group of young specialists and practicing researchers created to work on a project for 4 to 10 months.

Project groups are created on a competitive basis. Several factors are taken in consideration when evaluating a project group application, including: qualifications of its leaders; availability of a team of young researchers; opportunities for students to acquire practical skills and competences when carrying out the project; availability of a customer willing to finance the research.

Project centers are a logical continuation of project groups. project centers are created basing on successful project groups. Unlike project groups, project centers are long-term structural units of HSE and its departments thus possessing a limited number of staff. DETAILS Project group and project center staff can include faculty members, PhD and undergraduate students either from HSE or other universities. Project group staff doesn't have to remain unchanged and can be renewed as it isn't necessarily limited to those who joint the group initially.

Project groups and project centers can also involve external experts as project leaders or workshop participants.

 

Customers can be represented by both national and foreign businesses and non-profit organizations.

 

The customers finance the projects together with HSE. This way, the customer can benefit from lower costs while the university students improve their theoretical knowledge through practice, the graduates gain project-work experience thus improving their competitive power on the labor market. One of the most important aims of project groups it to engage students and undergrads into practical, real-life work, to develop their project-work skills, to underpin their theoretical knowledge with practical experience and professional contacts.

Project work opens wide opportunities for student-faculty collaboration. Young specialists adopt their supervisors' experience and take a shot at real-life work.

While working on the customers' commissions, young specialists also fulfill some educational goals: they prepare reality-based study cases; prepare term papers, theses, master's dissertations; organize masterclasses with invited experts; create internship opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students. This is how educational, project and research components are integrated into the study process.

 

PROJECT WORK ADVANTAGES

Project work is aimed at several types of participants (the customers, the university, faculty, young specialists) with each of the participants gaining certain benefits.

 

WHAT THE CUSTOMER GAINS:

• A substantial decrease in costs: the projects are co-financed together with HSE
• Individual approach: PGs and PCs can complete the projects that other specialized organizations are reluctant to contract
• Guaranteed novelty of project results (fresh view + innovative solutions by the young specialists + the leaders' experience) • An opportunity to employ new, well-educated graduates with relevant work experience who already proved themselves and so match the company's requirements and can fit in easily

 

WHAT DOES THE UNIVERSITY GAIN FROM PROJECT WORK?

• «Expert source» status in various spheres
• Project-based institutional partnerships with the representatives of the real sector
• Development of the academia through the extension of research centers system
• Graduates' increased competitive power on the labor market

 

FACULTY GET AN OPPORTUNITY:

• to continue doing practical work and solve real problems that are not simplified for educational needs
• to find assistants, followers, future colleagues among the students and to develop projects together (not only as part of the education process)
• to pass on their own experience to the young specialists

 

UNDERGRADUATE AND PHD STUDENTS:

• acquire real-life experience and so enrich their CVs
• acquire practical skills
• adapt to the modern labor market conditions, understand what employers need.

 

HSE PROJECT CENTERS

PC Innovative Systems Management (headed by Eduard Fiyaksel)

PC for Anti-Corruption Policy (headed by Elena Panfilova)

PC University Development (headed by Maria Dobryakova)

PC for the Analysis of Financial Markets (headed by Tamara Teplova)

PC for Municipal Administration (headed by Simon Kordonsky)

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
http://academics.hse.ru/project
Project centers websites