News

HSE University, the National Research League of Cardiac Genetics, and the Central State Medical Academy of the Administrative Directorate of the President will hold the Second ‘Genetics and the Heart’ Congress with international participation. The event will take place on February 7–8, 2026, at the HSE University Cultural Centre.

Researchers from the HSE Center for Language and Brain took part in brain surgery on a patient who had been seriously wounded in the SMO. A shell fragment approximately five centimetres long entered through the eye socket, penetrated the cranial cavity, and became lodged in the brain, piercing the temporal lobe responsible for language. Surgeons at the Burdenko Main Military Clinical Hospital removed the foreign object while the patient remained conscious. During the operation, neurolinguists conducted language tests to ensure that language function was preserved.

The key objectives of the partnership include joint projects in microelectronics and the involvement of company specialists in supervising the research activities of undergraduate and postgraduate students. Plans also focus on the preparation of joint academic publications, the organisation of industrial placements and student internships, and professional development programmes for the company’s specialists.

HSE University and the InfoWatch Group of Companies marked the start of a new stage in their collaboration with the signing of a new agreement. The partnership aims to develop educational programmes and strengthen the practical training of specialists for the digital economy. The parties will cooperate in developing and reviewing curricula, and experts from InfoWatch will be involved in teaching and mentoring IT and information security specialists at HSE University.

An international team, including researchers from HSE University, examined an unusual SARS-CoV-2 sample obtained from an HIV-positive patient. Genetic analysis revealed multiple mutations and showed that the virus had been evolving inside the patient’s body for two years. This finding supports the theory that the virus can persist in individuals for years, gradually accumulate mutations, and eventually spill back into the population. The study's findings have been published in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology.

Scientists at the HSE Centre for Language and Brain have demonstrated a more accurate way to identify the boundaries of language regions in the brain. They used magnetoencephalography (MEG) together with a sentence-completion task, which activates language areas and reveals their functioning in real time. This approach can help clinicians plan surgeries more effectively and improve diagnostic accuracy in cases where fMRI is not the optimal method. The study has been published in the European Journal of Neuroscience.

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.

A team of researchers from Russia and the United Kingdom has, for the first time, provided a detailed account of the emergence and evolution of the Russian Sign Language (RSL) interpreter training system. This large-scale study spans from the 19^th century to the present day, revealing both the achievements and challenges faced by the professional community. Results have been published in The Routledge Handbook of Sign Language Translation and Interpreting.

Associate Professor Yulia Zaitseva of the Faculty of Computer Science’s Big Data and Information Retrieval School and Research Assistant Ekaterina Nistyuk of the Laboratory on Algebraic Transformation Groups have been named among the winners of the Young Russian Mathematics research grant competition. Also among the awardees is Vladislav Pokidkin, a PhD student at the Faculty of Mathematics.

Researchers at the HSE AI Research Centre have developed an AI model that opens up new possibilities for the diagnosis and treatment of serious diseases, including brain cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. Using artificial intelligence, the team studied G-quadruplexes—structures that play a crucial role in cellular function and in the development of organs and tissues. The findings have been published in Scientific Reports.