Research & Expertise – News

The start of a new academic year is an excellent time to plan the next steps in your academic career. On September 1, HSE University announced the start of its annual Student Research Paper Competition (SRPC-2022). Participation is open to students of Russian and international universities and to 2022 graduates. Last year, a total of 2,196 papers were submitted to the SRPC, of which 435 were from external participants.

In their paper published in Science in 2021, a DeepMind team showed how neural networks can be used to describe electron interactions in chemical systems more accurately than existing methods. A team of researchers from Skoltech, the Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, HSE University, Yandex, and Kyungpook National University show in their comment in Science that DeepMind AI’s ability to generalise the behaviour of such systems does not follow from the published results and requires revisiting, the Skoltech website says.

The results of the vote were announced at the General Assembly of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), which took place from June 1-3. The newly elected Members and Corresponding Members of the RAS include eight scholars from HSE University.

The annual HSE Student Research Paper Competition (SRPC) helps young researchers try their hand in a real academic competition, where leading experts and professionals from HSE University assess their research papers. This year, participation will be open from September 1 to October 15.

Yury Belousov, Associate Professor at the HSE Faculty of Chemistry, joined his colleagues from Moscow State University, Lebedev Physical Institute, and the University of Camerino, Italy, to work on a review, in which they compared and analysed over 200 lanthanide azolecarboxylates. The scholars were the first to systematize the scattered published information in a single source, which will be useful for technology developments in electronics, metallurgy and nuclear medicine, as well as in the chemical and nuclear industries. The review was published in Coordination Chemistry Reviews.

The annual awards ceremony of the Student Research Paper Competition (NIRS) was held on February 8, Russian Science Day. This year, 165 people received awards, including not only HSE students but also contestants from Saint Petersburg State University, Moscow State University, Far Eastern Federal University, Mount Holyoke College (USA), and other universities. Another 160 participants became laureates of the competition, with 1,924 papers submitted in total.

Fedor Kluev, a student first-year student in the Bachelor’s programme in Chemistry at HSE University, was the only first-year undergraduate student to win a prize in this year’s Student Research Paper Competition (SRPC). He began working with his academic supervisor, Denis Chusov, when he was still in high school. In an interview with the HSE News Service, Fedor talked about his research, the role of science in human life, and the importance of popularising science.

A group of Moscow scientists has discovered and explained the activity mechanism of a new anti-cancer molecule — diphenylisoxazole. This molecule has been shown to be effective against human cancer cells. The research, published in the journal Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, makes it possible to produce an affordable cancer treatment drug.