Research & Expertise news at HSE University

HSE University and the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) have agreed to cooperate in the development of new technologies, the digital transformation of the economy, and the social development of the country. The agreement was signed by HSE University Rector Nikita Anisimov and ASI Director General Svetlana Chupsheva at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Researchers from the HSE Faculty of Social Sciences will study social processes in African countries, the issues and features of the continent’s demographic development, and problems related to the causes of separatism and decentralisation in particular African states during a multi-day scientific expedition that will be launched in June 2023.

Season VI of Science Battles at HSE University is entering the homestretch. The June semi-final determined the list of finalists and helped many viewers choose their favourites. This time, young researchers decided to figure out how to conduct a police lineup without destroying a person’s life, as well as how to improve a child’s academic performance without instilling neurotic perfectionism. They also found out that fungi and mould help heal scars and save the environment, and that adherents of post-feminism have very mixed feelings about their own images on TikTok.

Physicists from the Joint Institute for High Temperatures of RAS, HSE University, and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technologies have developed the first open-source GPU-based code for the simulation of microparticles motion in a plasma flow.  OpenDust is optimised for graphics accelerators, that allows it to calculate the forces acting on microparticles significantly faster than existing alternatives. A paper with the findings has been published in Computer Physics Communications.

A team made up of HSE researchers and paediatricians of the Turner Research Institute for Children’s Orthopedics have compared the cognitive functions of children with and without arthrogryposis. The experiment revealed that children with arthrogryposis exhibit a slight delay of a few milliseconds in their brain responses to words associated with hand movements. The researchers suggest that this discovery be taken into consideration when teaching children with motor impairments and developing diagnostic tools. The paper has been published in Clinical Neurophysiology.

Researchers from HSE University and Tambov State Technical University (TSTU) have developed intelligent robotic systems for the monitoring and quality control of fruits and vegetables. The system allows gardeners to carry out agrotechnical and protective activity, ensuring the highest possible quality of the crop.

Researchers of the HSE Centre for Language and Brain have investigated the impact of both auditory and visual noise on semantic processing during reading to determine if it results in a more superficial reading style that emphasises the meanings of individual words over connections between them in a sentence. It appears that noise does not affect reading comprehension but can cause a decrease in reading speed when even unintelligible conversations are occurring nearby. However, when exposed to visual noise, individuals tend to read slightly faster, possibly due to the irritating nature of the noise. The study findings have been published in PLOS ONE.

A team of researchers from HSE University, the Russian Academy of Sciences Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, and Molecular Technologies, LLC have jointly proposed a new treatment for osteoarthritis. This is currently the first disease-modifying osteoarthritis drug to act simultaneously on bone and cartilage tissue metabolism and on inflammation. The study findings are published in Scientific Reports.