
HSE Develops App for Assessing Phonological Processing in Children
Researchers at the HSE Centre for Language and Brain have developed a new digital tool for assessing children's phonological processing skills—the ZARYA (Sound Analysis of the Russian Language) test battery. It is the first standardised application in Russia designed to provide a fast and reliable assessment of children's ability to distinguish speech sounds, retain them in working memory, and perform phonemic analysis. The app runs on Android tablets and smartphones and is available for download from RuStore. Details of the test validation have been published in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.

Researchers Discover How Spelling Errors Slow Down Reading in Russian
Psycholinguists from the Centre for Language and Brain at HSE University–St Petersburg have shown that words that are frequently misspelled are processed more slowly by readers, even when presented with the correct spelling. The researchers confirmed this effect for the first time using Russian-language materials and found that response speed is most strongly linked to how confidently individuals can distinguish the correct spelling of a word from an incorrect one. The study has been published in The Mental Lexicon.

Scientists Discover Why Europium 'Misbehaves'
Europium is a rare-earth metal responsible for the pure red glow in displays and other luminescent materials. For a long time, however, it refused to emit light when surrounded by certain organic molecules known as acylpyrazolone ligands. Chemists have now uncovered the reason: in europium complexes with these ligands, a 'black window' appears—a charge-transfer state in which the energy absorbed by the ligand is dissipated as heat rather than emitted as light. Understanding this mechanism opens the way to designing more efficient red-emitting materials for displays, fluorescent thermometers, and chemical sensors. The results have been published in Dalton Transactions.

HSE Economists Reveal How the Wage Gap Emerges Among Vocational School Graduates
HSE researchers examined the careers of 600,000 graduates of Russian secondary vocational education programmes and found that at the start of their careers, the gender wage gap reaches 23%, doubling after three years. This disparity is largely due to male and female students choosing different occupations when enrolling in vocational schools. These were the findings made by Sergey Roshchin, Natalya Yemelina, and Ksenia Rozhkova from of the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences. The article has been published in Educational Studies.

Tremors: Scientists Develop Method for Real-Time Tracking of Hazardous Underground Vibrations
Researchers from HSE MIEM and IPKON RAS have developed a new mathematical monitoring model that can identify the source of hazardous underground vibrations in real time. The technology could help reduce the risk of damage to buildings, roads, and other infrastructure located near quarries and mining sites. The paper has been published in Russian Mining Industry.

The HSE Effect: Q1 Journal Publications and a PhD at the University of Sydney
Last year, Stephen Sodoke, a master's student on the Population and Development programme at the Vishnevsky Institute of Demography, HSE University, won the Student Research Paper Competition. This year, as a recent HSE graduate, he has published two articles in first-quartile journals and secured a PhD position at the University of Sydney. In this article, Stephen Sodoke discusses his research and the role HSE played in shaping his academic career.

HSE Researchers Determine Which Internet Users Are More Likely to Fact-Check
Researchers at HSE University examined the strategies employed by Russian internet users to verify unreliable information and the factors that motivate them to do so. The study found that more than half of users who encounter potentially false information online attempt to verify it by locating the original source. The likelihood of fact-checking is influenced by several factors, including age, place of residence, social status, information literacy skills, and the use of AI. The findings have been published in Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes.

Bioinformatics Researchers Identify Twenty Potentially Pathogenic Mutations in Gene Associated with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Researchers at HSE University, in collaboration with colleagues from other Russian institutions, have identified which mutations in the ACVRL1 gene may be pathogenic in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. The team modelled how genetic variations affect ATP binding to the protein—a process essential for transmitting signals required for normal vascular function. The researchers found that 20 of the 32 variants studied can disrupt signal transmission and are therefore likely to cause disease. The findings have been published in the Journal of Structural Biology.

Population Lifespan Is Governed by Mathematical Laws
Researchers at HSE University and MSU have established a universal law governing the time to extinction of a population in a random environment. Their analysis of the evolution of branching processes—complex probabilistic systems—shows that, regardless of the initial population size, extinction follows strict mathematical laws. The results have been published in the Journal of Applied Probability.

Sociologists: Conservative Consumers Dominate Russian Middle Class
The Russian middle class cannot be regarded as a homogeneous and uniformly stable social group. Similar income levels often mask significant differences in financial strategies, lifestyles, and levels of economic security. This is the conclusion reached by sociologists at HSE University. The study has been published in Voprosy Ekonomiki.


Submission deadline: June 29, 2026