Transport and Cities: HSE’s Faculty of Urban and Regional Development Co-Organises First International Transport and Logistics Forum
The HSE Faculty of Urban and Regional Development acted as a partner in organising the first International Transport and Logistics Forum, held in St Petersburg in early April and bringing together more than 6,000 participants from 82 countries. With the faculty’s support, a key session was held entitled ‘A Driverless Future: How Driverless Transport is Changing the Concept of Spatial Organisation from the City to the State’ and moderated by Russian Minister of Transport Andrei Nikitin.
The event was organised in line with instructions issued by the Russian president to ensure the global competitiveness of Russia’s transport corridors. Participants included government representatives, regional leaders, executives of leading companies, and international delegations.
The forum highlighted a new reality: transport today is no longer merely a supporting function but a system that shapes economic growth, security, and international cooperation. The transport sector currently accounts for more than 6% of Russia’s GDP. The country is capable of offering advanced solutions for the global community and playing a significant role in shaping a new architecture for global logistics and international trade.
The participants identified key priorities for the development of Russia’s transport system, including infrastructure synchronisation, the expansion of the Baikal–Amur Mainline (BAM) and the Trans-Siberian Railway, digitalisation, and the introduction of autonomous technologies. In the coming years, freight and rail transport volumes between Russia and China are also expected to increase.
HSE plays an important role in the digital transformation of the road sector, particularly through the Institute for Transport Economics and Transport Policy Studies, which is part of the Faculty of Urban and Regional Development. Mikhail Blinkin, academic supervisor of both the faculty and the institute, moderated one of the forum’s five plenary sessions, ‘Automation and Digital Technologies in Road Sector.’ Institute experts Alexander Chebotaryov and Andrew Borisov also took part in the forum, engaging with business partners.
Opening the session, Mikhail Blinkin noted that the road sector has served as an effective testing ground for digital technologies for more than half a century. For instance, the first commercially successful IT product developed by Bill Gates in 1972 was a programme designed to process signals from pneumatic sensors used for traffic counting.
‘In the field of digital development, the institute works closely with Rosavtodor as well as leading developers of intelligent transport systems, which are widely used across the country’s road network. The institute is among the founding members of the all-Russia Digital Age of Transport Association. A number of conceptual approaches proposed by the institute—such as the concept of a backbone road network—have been recognised by the industry and incorporated into federal legislation,’ Mikhail Blinkin noted.
It is also worth emphasising that HSE’s Faculty of Urban and Regional Development has established a sustained professional dialogue with international partners in the field of urban development. Today, the faculty serves as an expert centre facilitating the exchange of best practices among cities in BRICS countries and integrating international experience into Russia’s policy agenda. Transport remains one of the faculty’s key focus areas, as it underpins the connectivity of urban structures.
One of the key outcomes of the faculty’s participation was the advancement of an international expert dialogue within the framework of Russian–Chinese cooperation. At the invitation of Victoria Khomich, First Deputy Dean of the HSE Faculty of Urban and Regional Development, leading international experts took part in the forum. Among them were Nicholas You, Executive Director of the Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation and Founder and former Chair of the UN-Habitat World Urban Campaign Steering Committee, and Yang Shuai, Chief Executive Officer of the Shenzhen Urban Transport Planning and Design Institute.
The invited experts participated in the forum’s key session, ‘A Driverless Future: How Driverless Transport is Changing the Concept of Spatial Organisation from the City to the State,’ moderated by Russian Minister of Transport Andrei Nikitin. The session concluded that transport solutions have a decisive impact on urban development and demographic processes.
‘How we live, how our cities are organised, and how our demographic patterns evolve largely depend on the transport solutions we adopt,’ the minister noted.
According to Nicholas You, the introduction of driverless transport could radically transform the use of urban space. With high vehicle utilisation rates (up to 95% of the time), land use could become far more efficient, particularly in cities where roads currently occupy as much as 65–75% of the urban environment.
Yang Shuai presented China’s practical experience: in Shenzhen, around 1,000 autonomous vehicles are already in operation, with a cumulative mileage of 118 million kilometres, demonstrating a transition from the experimental stage to a fully operational model.
The participation of international experts invited by HSE’s Faculty of Urban and Regional Development contributed to discussions on key areas of transport system development. Nicholas You and Yang Shuai were awarded by the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation for their contribution to strengthening international partnerships—an important step in the development of Russian–Chinese relations.
‘Over several years of cooperation, we have built a relationship of trust with our Chinese partners. We work together in the field of urban development, where HSE’s Faculty of Urban and Regional Development serves as a key hub for urban studies, and we continuously exchange experience with our international colleagues. Transport is the thread that ensures the connectivity of the urban system and effectively turns a city into an integrated whole. It is particularly noteworthy that the colleagues from China whom I invited took part in the key session on driverless transport alongside the Minister of Transport and were recognised by the ministry for their contribution to strengthening partnership. We will always be pleased to support cooperation between our countries in urban development and to assist relevant agencies and government bodies,’ concluded Viktoria Khomich, first deputy dean of the faculty.
See also:
HSE Scientists Develop Method to Compress Large Language Models Without Losing Quality
Researchers from the AI and Digital Science Institute at the HSE Faculty of Computer Science have developed a new compression method for large language models such as GPT and LLaMA that reduces their size by 25–36% without additional training or significant loss of accuracy. This is the first approach to use mathematical transformations—specifically, rotations of model weights—to make models more amenable to compression with structured matrices. The study results have been published in ACL Findings 2025. The code is available on GitHub.
Machine Learning Models Can Help Reduce Volatility and Boost Stock Market Returns
The use of machine learning models makes it possible to achieve greater accuracy in predicting risks in the Russian stock market compared to classical econometric approaches. The predictive power of these models increases by 23%, while the average investor’s return can reach up to 13% per annum. These conclusions were drawn by Nikita Lysenok from the Department of Financial Market Infrastructure at the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences. The paper has been published in Fundamental and Applied Mathematics.
HSE University at IRES 2026: Student Recruitment, Space Projects, and New Partnerships with India
The second Indo-Russian Education Summit (IRES 2026) took place in New Delhi on May 28–29. This year, the event brought together more than 70 leading Russian and Indian universities. Representatives from HSE University’s Moscow and St Petersburg campuses introduced prospective students to the university’s educational opportunities at the exhibition and shared their experience in developing Russian–Indian academic cooperation.
HSE Study Reveals Imbalance in the Generative AI Market
Researchers at HSE University analysed how effectively the global generative artificial intelligence market converts investment into real revenue, concluding that AI is currently developing faster than it is paying off. The results have been published in the journal Foresight and STI Governance.
‘Entering Robotics Now Means Growing with the Area’
Unmanned vehicles, courier robots, and smart speakers are rapidly becoming a part of our lives. In 2026, the HSE Faculty of Computer Science opens its new Bachelor’s Programme ‘Design of Intelligent Robotic Systems’ (DIRS). It will train specialists at the intersection of IT, artificial intelligence, and robotics. Academic Supervisor of DIRS Vadim Morgachev explains how studies are organised and why graduates of the programme ‘will definitely be accepted into the future.’
HSE Scientists Train Neural Network to 'Hear' Faults in Electric Motors
Researchers at the AI and Digital Science Institute of the HSE Faculty of Computer Science have developed a new method—the Signature-Guided Data Augmentation (SGDA) framework—that achieves 99% accuracy in motor fault detection and 86% accuracy in fault classification. The application of this approach can reduce industrial equipment repair costs, minimise downtime, and improve production safety. The study results have been published in Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence.
HSE and Sultan Qaboos University: Expanding Academic and Research Partnership
In May 2026, a delegation from Sultan Qaboos University (Oman) made an official visit to HSE University. The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss new forms of cooperation and partnership and to identify areas of mutual interest. Representatives of HSE’s Moscow, St Petersburg, and Nizhny Novgorod campuses spoke about their shared interest in expanding joint projects, primarily in the field of artificial intelligence—a strategic development priority for both universities.
HSE and Peking University Expand Cooperation in Civil Society Research
A seminar involving Russian and Chinese scholars on cooperation between the state and non-profit organisations was held in Beijing. Participants discussed the evolution of institutions, cooperation practices, and challenges facing the development of the non-profit sector, and also presented the results of their research. The meeting concluded with agreements to expand joint projects and academic exchanges.
MIEM Tech Day at Pokrovka: Exploring HSE’s Engineering DNA Together
On May 26, 2026, the central atrium of the building at 11 Pokrovsky Bulvar will host the annual large-scale festival of engineering developments created by project teams from the HSE Tikhonov Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics (HSE MIEM). The programme includes presentations of the best student technological projects, stands from partner companies and joint workshops, a lecture series featuring practising engineers, a round table on the development of engineering education, and presentations of MIEM master’s degree programmes.
HSE Students Among Winners of Yandex High-Tech Startup Accelerator
Yandex has announced the results of its Yandex AI Startup Lab accelerator, whose final round featured 12 IT projects. Over the course of three months, their creators—students and young entrepreneurs—worked alongside the company’s experts to develop their products. Four startups in digital marketing, medicine, and robotics were named the best, with their teams receiving cash prizes and cloud resource grants. Among them was Gradius, a startup founded by students from HSE University.