News

The Class of 2026 has become the largest in the history of HSE University’s online campus, with more than twice as many graduates as last year. A total of 2,023 students completed their studies across 28 online master’s programmes, covering disciplines ranging from psychology and law to cybersecurity and digital urban studies. For 10 of these programmes, this was the first cohort of graduates.

In 2026, Kirill Li graduated from the Bachelor's programme 'International Programme in Business and Economics' at HSE University–St Petersburg. During his studies, he undertook an internship in fintech and, as a result, became a digital product manager at Alfa Bank. Read on to find out how to choose your professional sphere and combine studies and work.

In late July 2026, Dmitry Rybin, a graduate of the HSE Faculty of Mathematics who is now working in China, used ChatGPT to disprove a longstanding mathematical hypothesis. In an interview with the HSE News Service, he discussed AI's ability to make discoveries in mathematics, reflected on his time at HSE University, and spoke about his doctoral research at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

The first graduation of the Master's in Information Security in the Financial Sector, implemented jointly by the Bank of Russia and HSE University with the organisational involvement of the Bank of Russia University, took place at the HSE Tikhonov Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics. Anton Sergeev, Programme Academic Supervisor, and Andrey Afonin, Director of the Bank of Russia University, awarded diplomas to the graduates.

On July 3, 2026, the International Preparatory Year programme held its graduation ceremony. This academic year,235 students from 57 countries were enrolled in the programme. Many of the graduates will continue their studies on HSE University bachelor’s and master’s programmes in 29 fields. The HSE News Service talked to the programme supervisors, teachers, and graduates about their impressions and plans.

Every year, the master's programmes at the HSE Tikhonov Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics (HSE MIEM) attract a large number of students from Africa and the Middle East. Each of them follows a unique path towards becoming an engineering professional. Ahead of receiving their degrees, several graduates shared their personal stories about how they chose their profession and what they learned during their time at HSE.

On June 19, graduates of the Bachelor's in Computational Social Sciences, launched in 2022, received their at the HSE University's Cultural Centre. All the graduates have completed in-depth training in a social science discipline while developing advanced competencies in data analysis and mathematical modelling.

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.

On June 14, 2026, the first graduating class of the Cognitive Neurobiology educational programme, jointly delivered by HSE University, the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech), and the RAS Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, celebrated their graduation at the HSE Cultural Centre. Twenty-two students received their bachelor’s degrees, becoming multidisciplinary specialists in modern molecular biology, neurophysiology, and cognitive sciences.

Maria Mizernaia studies Soviet literature and the history of book publishing. In this interview for the HSE Young Scientists project, she discusses plans to publish a novel about besieged Leningrad, AI-provoked reflections on what it means to be human, and how novels can help satisfy our dopamine hunger.