
When Pictures Hinder Understanding: Illustrations May Impede Learning of Abstract Ideas
Illustrations can help remember specific actions but do not always make abstract ideas easier to learn. Researchers from HSE University and Humboldt University compared how people learn from texts with different levels of abstractness. They found that participants remembered illustrations better and performed better on related tasks after reading a multimedia text about yoga asanas than after reading an abstract text about the Nash equilibrium. The findings could help improve the selection of illustrations for educational and informational materials. The study has been published in Learning and Instruction.

'I Wish That People Would Place Greater Trust in Science'
When Tatiana Eremicheva chose Fundamental and Computational Linguistics as her field of study, she thought it would be about learning languages. Instead, she discovered it was about helping people. In this interview for the HSE Young Scientists project, she discusses science as a way of understanding the world, billiards as a team-building activity, and why learning to read is not always as easy as it seems.

Immunity to Chaos: How Personal Resources Help Us Cope with the Challenges of a Turbulent World
International conflicts, crises and digital overload—the modern world puts our minds to the test every day. Traditional psychology often focuses on the consequences: anxiety, depression, and psychosomatic disorders. But what if we looked at the problem differently—through the lens of the resources that prevent us from breaking down? Psychological immunity is precisely this set of resources. Alena Zolotareva and her group, Psychological Immunity as a Resource for Positive Functioning, are developing an integrative model of this phenomenon, adapting diagnostic tools and preparing for large-scale empirical research. Why do psychologists need to collaborate with medical professionals, and how could their research transform preventive care in clinics and corporations?

Scientific Expedition to Hainan: HSE Scientists Organise Conference on Statistical AI in China
The Statistical AI Conference was held in Sanya, Hainan Island, China, from 24 to 28 August 2026. The international event brought together leading experts in statistics, machine learning, and applied AI. Alexey Naumov, Director of the AI and Digital Science Institute at the HSE Faculty of Computer Science, and Sergey Samsonov, Head of the International Laboratory of Stochastic Algorithms and High-Dimensional Inference, were among the conference organisers.

How to Assess Students’ Knowledge in the Age of AI
A researcher at HSE University has proposed a flowchart to help lecturers decide how to assess students who use artificial intelligence. It shows where the use of AI should be restricted and where it can be incorporated into the learning process. The article has been published in IT Professional.

5th Fall into ML Conference to Bring Together Leading AI Researchers
The AI and Digital Science Institute at the HSE Faculty of Computer Science invites researchers, developers and everyone shaping the future of technology to the fifth, anniversary edition of the Fall into Machine Learning conference (Fall into ML 2026). The event will take place on October 23–24, 2026, at the HSE Cultural Centre in Moscow and will become the key meeting point for Russia’s AI community.

Scientists Train Neural Network to Generate Process Plans from 3D Models
Researchers at the HSE FCS AI and Digital Science Institute have developed CAD2TechSpec, a framework that converts 3D models of mechanical parts into machining process plans—step-by-step instructions for machine tools. The solution aims to reduce the time required for the design and preparation of technical process documentation in mechanical engineering, aircraft manufacturing, and other high-tech industries. The study findings have been published in PeerJ Computer Science.

Researchers Assess Contributions of BRICS Countries to Leading ML/AI Conferences
The HSE Scientometrics Centre analysed more than 104,000 papers published between 2020 and 2025 and presented at ten top-level A* conferences ranked by ICORE 2026. The researchers examined the contributions of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Together, these countries accounted for around 40,800 publications, or 39.2% of the total. However, the distribution is highly uneven, and a shared BRICS research space has yet to emerge.

‘Balkan Hospitality Opens Doors’: Studying Dialects on the Verge of Extinction
You cannot study spoken dialects from books. Instead, you need to go to a village, seek out its elders, and earn the trust of local residents before you can record hours of spontaneous stories. This is how Natalia Muravleva, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Humanities, conducts her research. Her internship in Serbia continued her long-standing study of dialects spoken by Macedonian settlers. In this interview, she discusses how diaspora cultural centres help researchers reach informants, why native speakers need to be interviewed only in their own language (otherwise, as she puts it, they may 'break'), and how a single field season helped her finalise her monograph. She also shares warm memories of autumn in Belgrade and of colleagues with whom grammar can be discussed in three languages at once.

HSE University to Hold Conference for Researchers Studying Medicine and Health
On December 3–5, 2026, HSE University in Moscow will host ‘Comorbid Field 3.0: Social Well-Being, Health, and Medicine in Multiple Contexts,’ an interdisciplinary scientific conference with international participation organised by the Centre for Comparative Research on Social Well-Being at the HSE University Faculty of Social Sciences together with the HSE University–St Petersburg School of Arts and Humanities, the Institute for Interdisciplinary Health Research at the European University at St Petersburg, and Sechenov University. Applications for participation are open until October 4.

