From July 20 to 27, 2026, the HSE Faculty of Urban and Regional Development (FURD) is hosting a summer school for students from Tianjin University dedicated to the preservation of cultural heritage. Throughout the week, participants have attended lectures, practical workshops, and field visits to some of Moscow’s most iconic heritage sites. The summer school is the faculty’s first international programme of this kind and forms part of the expanding educational cooperation between Russia and China.

A development project for Novy Urengoy, prepared by the Vysokovsky Graduate School of Urbanism at the HSE Faculty of Urban and Regional Development (FURD), has beenshortlisted for the Guangzhou Award for Urban Innovation, one of the world’s leading international competitions in urban planning.

In 2026, a new Bachelor’s programme in Development and Urban Planning will be launched at HSE University’s Faculty of Urban and Regional Development. The educational programme’s key partners are the MR development company and the A101 Group of Companies.

The annual Student Research Paper Competition (SRPC) offers students the chance to showcase their work, such as term papers or theses. It is a valuable opportunity to receive expert feedback and recommendations aimed at improving research, as well as to take the first steps in an academic career. Below we outline the key features and deadlines for submitting entries.

The first international joint summer school of the Vysokovsky Graduate School of Urbanism (GSU) at both the HSE Faculty of Urban and Regional Development and Brest State Pushkin University (BrSU), hosted by BrSU, has come to a close. The programme focused on studying buffer zones along the railway lines encircling the city centre. Participants included students from the GSU’s Urban Planning degree programme, as well as students from BrSU and Brest State Technical University.

At the end of June, 2025, Shukhov Lab hosted the graduation ceremony for the first cohort of the online Master’s programme Digital Urban Analytics offered by HSE University. The programme trains interdisciplinary professionals—team leaders who are equally well-versed in both the analytical and managerial aspects of urban projects.

On March 2, an HSE Open Day for prospective undergraduates and specialist students will take place — one of the largest and most significant events for applicants, their parents, and the entire university. Visitors will have the opportunity to speak with students and representatives of educational programmes, plan their admission process, and immerse themselves in the HSE University atmosphere for a day. The event will be held in Russian.

A team from HSE University's Faculty of Urban and Regional Development took part in the Global Mayor’s Forum—a global event in urban development. Held in December 2023 in Guangzhou (PRC), the largest congress of urban planners brought together more than 800 guests from 65 cities and 37 countries, as well as nine international organisations.

An international consortium of research organisations from China, India, and Russia, including HSE University’s Faculty of Urban and Regional Development represented by experts from the Vysokovsky Graduate School of Urban Studies and Planning and the Centre for Social Research and Technological Innovation (CITY), is developing an index of technological and spatial urban development (the Urban & Innovation Environment Index). Recently, a list of the top 10 largest cities of the BRICS countries was published on the project’s website. The Russian capital took the first place in the ranking, followed by Beijing, Shanghai, Sao Paulo, and Guangzhou.

On September 1st, a new season of the open Student Research Paper Competition (SRPC) started. This competition is aimed at developing the potential of university students who are interested in academic activities. Students, as well as 2023 graduates of Russian and foreign universities, can submit their papers for the competition until October 15^th, 2023. This year SRPC turns 20 years old, throughout the competition’s history, Vadim Radaev, HSE University’s First Vice Rector, has been the chair of the organising committee. In today’s interview, he talks about the history of the competition and the key stages in its development.

More than 650 faculty members were named Best Teachers

The Rediscovering Russia project invites universities, commercial and non-profit organisations to apply to organise and conduct student expeditions in 2023. Candidates can apply until June 15^th, and the winning expeditions will receive financial and organisational support.

On March 12, HSE University will hold a university-wide Open Day for prospective students of bachelor’s and specialist programmes. The event will be held in the Pokrovka Building and will feature presentations by faculties and campuses, a talk by the Admissions Office, activities from student organisations, a tour of the university’s historical buildings and much more. Those interested in attending must register in advance.

The start of a new academic year is an excellent time to plan the next steps in your academic career. On September 1, HSE University announced the start of its annual Student Research Paper Competition (SRPC-2022). Participation is open to students of Russian and international universities and to 2022 graduates. Last year, a total of 2,196 papers were submitted to the SRPC, of which 435 were from external participants.

Every year, students who have just finished their second year of the Bachelor’s in Urban Planning of the Faculty of Urban and Regional Development (FURD) at HSE University undertake field work in various Russian regions. They get to know more about cities in detail, learn to identify what’s typical and unique about them, and apply primary data collection methods. This July, the students’ field studies took place in cities in the Urals.

Associate Professor Kirill Puzanov of the HSE Vysokovsky Graduate School of Urbanism and HSE University Professor Oleg Baevskiy have held lectures at the Red Square Book festival. They talked about perceptions of the city, its private and public aspects, chamber and representative spaces, and imaginary (or ‘vernacular’) areas. The open lectures took place as part of the HSE University Open to the City project.

This academic year, some minors have become Microdegrees—qualifications confirming that a graduate has the required competencies for specific professional tasks

HSE University has placed 66th in the Times Higher Education Young University Rankings 2022, which assess universities younger than 50 years old. The THE Young University Ranking is the first in a series of global rankings to be published in 2022.

FURD researchers Karine Nikogosyan and Diana Kodzokova in cooperation with researchers from HSE University and St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering (SPSUACE) used eye tracking to study how residents who own cars and those who don’t look at the shared courtyards of multistorey apartment buildings.

Researchers from HSE University conducted a study of 15 of the world’s largest cities in Europe, Asia, and North America that assessed the cities’ labour market activity, post-quarantine economic recoveries, and the extent to which their digital infrastructures were prepared for the crisis. The study showed that Seoul and Shanghai, followed by Moscow, dealt with the crisis most effectively. Singapore and Stockholm ranked 4^th and 5^th, respectively.