‘As long as we think about the Middle Ages as a dark time, we will remain dark ourselves’
Every era builds its own version of the Middle Ages, and the modern age is no exception. Oleg Voskoboynikov, the youngest full professor at the Higher School of Economics, talks about the reason for the popularity of metaphors that refer to that era, why the ‘Suffering Middle Ages’ group on VKontakte [Russia’s largest social media site — Ed.] is not the same thing as medieval studies and how the desire to be different from everyone else can lead a student to study the Middle Ages.
Andrey Okounkov: 'Happiness Is not about Proving Something to Other People'
In the whole history of mathematics just 8 winners of the highest award - the Field Prize - have come from Russia. One of them is Andrey Okounkov, Academic Supervisor at theInternational Laboratory of Representation Theory and Mathematical Physics HSE. On Hamburg Reckoning, a weekly programme which broadcasts interviews with major academics on current Russian issues on the OTR TV channel, he talked about his journey from economics to mathematics, about the Faculty of Mathematics at HSE and what makes mathematicians happy.
A Great Chance of Going Global
January 28 saw the launch of a Kickstarter project developed by graduates from the HSE’s International College of Economics and Finance (ICEF).
'Journalism Is a Very Simple Profession'
In November, Ilya Azar, a journalist and graduate of the Higher School of Economics, won the HSE Alumni Awards in the category ‘Fourth Estate’. In this edition of Success Builder, Ilya speaks about how to get a job in the media, what journalistic ethics are, and how to survive in the hot spots without body armour.
'The Worst Thing You Can Do in Launching a Project, Is Think about Money'
A great idea is not enough for a startup; you have to be persistent in your search for investors, never give up, and find talented engineers ready to solve random technical issues for the sake of an ‘idea.’ Grachik Adjamyan, who is a graduate of the Moscow State Institute of Electronics and Mathematics (MIEM) and the creator of the projects Budist.ru and Wakie.com, tells Success Builder how he overcame a number of hurdles in building his startup and headed to Silicon Valley to find investors.
'Life Insurance – As a Concept It's Nothing New, It's Just Been Forgotten'
According to Maxim Chernin, director of Sberbank Insurance and HSE graduate, you need to be a good psychologist when proposing life insurance to a client. He tells us what it's like to work in the business of 'human life', whether creativity has any place in insurance work and how to inculcate a culture of medical check-ups.
'Money Is Far from the Most Important Thing in Cinema if People Are Motivated'
In November 2014 the film 'The Son' about the problems of choice in a typical life and death existential situation went on general release in Russia. It is independent filmmaker Arseny Gonchukov’s third full-length feature film. In the 'Success Builder' series he talks about how to shoot and promote auteur cinema on a minimal budget and win film festival prizes.
‘Maths Teaches Modesty above All’
This year winner of the respected Fields medal Andrey Okounkov became the new head of HSE’s International Laboratory of Representation Theory and Mathematical Physics. In an interview for the HSE News website, he talked about what is a good mathematical education, why mathematicians are more free than other academics and what to tell people who find figures difficult.
‘We Are Selling Amazingly Valuable Goods’
'Success Builder' is a section about what happens with HSE alumni after graduate — how they build their careers, how they gain recognition in their field, how they handle failure. Katya Bermant, HSE graduate, is working to develop the charity industry in Russia by using Western models and adapting them to the Russian context. She gives lectures, teaches specialist classes, conducts educational activities, and invents and implements creative fundraising methods.
‘Everything Works as It Should If You Just Do It’
'Success Builder' is a section about what happens with HSE alumni after graduate — how they build their careers, how they gain recognition in their field, how they handle failure. The first article is about Dmitry Levitsky, who graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the Higher School of Economics in 1999. He is the co-owner and manager of several chains of bars called ‘Honey, I'll call you back’ and ‘Dolls Pistols’, as well as the co-owner and CEO of Hurma Management Group.