Higher School of Economics in Moscow

The Higher School of Economics in Moscow (HSE, Russia) is the 38^th in the 2019 QS Young University Ranking, the 84^th in the 2018 Times Higher Education Young University Ranking. The institution improved its position in the Times Higher Education World University Ranking: in 2017 it was in the 401-500 domain, in 2019 it is in the 301-350 domain.²² The business incubator of the institution, the HSE{Inc} has ranked the 7th best incubators of the world by UBI Global 2018.²³ Other notable achievements of the institution: Although it is a young university, founded in 1992, it is one of the leading universities of Russia, and, in economics and social sciences, it is outstanding even in Europe and Eurasia. A significant achievement is that the HSE offers 80 online courses, and the number of its MOOC students is over 1 million. The institution has 41 double and parallel degrees with foreign universities and 28 own programs in English. In 2015 the total revenue of the institution was 13 billion rubles (approx. 170 million EUR), and that means a 45% increase compared to 2012.²⁴

Among its best practices, two things are the most noteworthy. One is the very conscious development strategy in line with governmental policies and the institutional solutions that guarantee the successful implementation of the strategic goals. The other is the business incubation in the HSE.

Development, strategy

Since its founding in 1992 HSE has developed from an economics institute into a comprehensive state university. Based in Moscow, with branches in St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, and Perm, HSE continues to grow.

• In 2009, HSE became Russia’s only national research university specializing in social sciences and the humanities. The following year, it became an autonomous educational institution and was renamed National Research University - Higher School of Economics (HSE).

• In 2010 HSE opened its first international research laboratories. Renowned international scholars and leading HSE researchers jointly head them.

22 UMR: https://www.umultirank.org/study-at/national-research-university-higher-school-of-economics-rankings/

23 https://strategy.hse.ru/en/rating/

24 https://www.hse.ru/en/info/

• In 2011, HSE acquired the Moscow State Institute of Electronics and Mathematics, the Management Training Centre, and the GASIS Academy of Continuing Professional Education.

• In 2013 the HSE began to work with Coursera. Over the course of a year, a total of 350,000 people from 190 countries enrolled in HSE courses.

• Also in In 2013, the HSE Lyceum opened as part of the university. It is the first secondary school in Moscow that teaches according to new education principles, promoting ‘cooperation and mutual respect, regardless of age and status’. The HSE Lyceum has become one of Russia’s top 10 secondary schools and ranks as the second best school in Moscow. It is regarded as the best school in the country for social sciences, humanities and economics.

• In 2014 HSE established a new Faculty of Computer Science.

• In that same year, major internal reforms began at HSE with the creation of ‘big faculties’, which are responsible for implementing educational programmes.

The main reasons for the reform were the need to optimize management, to transfer resources and responsibilities from the central budget to big departments, as well as to overcome ‘departmentalization’ (when certain subjects had little or no interaction with those in other departments). As a result, by the beginning of 2015, 11 big faculties had been formed at the Moscow campus from 28 faculties and schools.

• In 2015, the first HSE online courses opened on the National Open Education Platform.

• The same year HSE’s student government was reformed to include a United Student Council and a Student Rights Commissioner.

• In 2016, a new position was introduced in the university management structure.

The Vice President is responsible for developing the strategy for HSE's innovative ecosystem, building relationships with the technology industry, and creating mechanisms of feedback from employers to adjust the competency requirements of university graduates.

• The same year a Faculty of Physics was founded as part of HSE. The faculty was created in collaboration with leading Russian Academy of Science institutes such as the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, the Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems, the Institute of Solid State Physics, the Prokhorov General Physics Institute, the Institute for Spectroscopy, and the Space Research Institute.²⁵ (HSE 25 Years Facts and Figures)

25 https://www.hse.ru/en/info/hist/

In 2008, the university adopted a long-term Development Strategy up to 2020. The goal is to make HSE internationally-recognized cutting-edge research, educational, analytic, consulting and project centre in social sciences and economics. It seeks to make major contributions to Russia’s innovative development and global competitive ability.²⁶ It seems rather remarkable that the institutional strategy is in line with several governmental policies. The first is the Development Program as a National Research University launched in 2009. The program's strategic goal is to make the winner institutions centres for research and education that joins the ranks of the world's leading research universities in terms of the quality of its capabilities and results.²⁷ The second is the Innovative Infrastructure Development that started in 2010. Its primary purpose is to form a complex system to generate innovation and develop a sustainable model of innovative interaction between science, business and society in the knowledge economy.²⁸ The third is the 5-100 Russian Academic Excellence Project launched in 2012. The goal of the project is to develop modern, world-renowned universities in Russia, to ensure that at least five Russian universities rank among the top one hundred of the world's leading universities by 2020.²⁹ The HSE won all the three projects in open competition.

It is an important strategic decision that – although the institution has the intention of keeping its broad educational and research portfolio, from 2016 the resources are concentrated on those research areas where they are competitive on a global level. These are, for example, Foresight and Science, Technology and Innovation, Cognitive Neuroscience: from Computational Models to Neurotechnology, Education and Human Development in Changing World, Urban and Transportation Policy. On these areas, so-called strategic academic units were established. They are either international consortia or excellence centers.³⁰

Besides the traditional academic bodies like the Academic Council, several bodies were set up to oversee the effective operation of the institution and the implementation of its strategy.

• A Supervisory Council was established to conduct public expertise and control the process and efficiency of the strategy’s implementation. The council consists of representatives from the government, expert communities, corporations, business associations, media, and the public. The council regularly evaluates the effectiveness of strategy implementation. It provides

recommendations on amendments to HSE’s Charter, the establishment of branches and representative offices, draft plans for HSE financial and economic activity, HSE financial audit procedures, and other issues.

• The International Advisory Committee is an advisory body of HSE which monitors and measures the University’s progress towards improving its international competitiveness among leading global educational and research centres.

• The Board of Trustees was established to help solve short-term and long-term challenges related to the university’s development. It also serves to attract and supervise the use of additional financial resources to support its activities in priority areas of development.

• The Supervisory Council of the HSE Development Programme monitors and carries out expert reviews of the effectiveness of the development programme for the 2009-2018 period.³¹

The human resources indispensable for the strategic development is to be ensured by raising the monthly salary of leading young researchers will be raised from 280.000 rubles (approx.3.700 EUR) to 480.000 rubles (6.400 EUR) by 2020. (PLACING HSE ON THE GLOBAL UNIVERSITY MAP ³²)

Business Incubation

The HSE{Inc} is the business incubator of HSE. It was founded in 2006 by students and professors, to provide an environment where young entrepreneurs can build and develop their start-ups. It was the 1st students’ business incubator in Russia. The HSE{Inc} has quickly become a catalyst for student entrepreneurial activities far beyond the university’s walls. It was ranked the 7th best incubators of the world by UBI Global 2018 (in 2015 it was the 14th, so it is steadily improving its position).

The incubator has a coworking space, where best startups (the “residents”) work and develop their own business. There are 15 startups in residence, but more than 30 projects receive services regularly. Up to now, 480 startups have been supported. They get a fully equipped office space, administrative and consulting support. They also enjoy free participation at HSE and industry events and take full advantage of networking

31 https://www.hse.ru/en/info/governance/

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opportunities provided by the incubator’s team. There are two special programs for startups:

• HSE{consult} provides a full range of free consulting services to all startups and technological projects. Topics of consulting include patent services, due diligence, marketing and promotion, legal services, taxation etc.

• HSE{pro} is a program for the residents. It includes educational and consulting support as well as office space. Companies receive full support from the incubator team, experts and professionals in various fields. The program of support depends on individual goals and needs of the residents. Together with the incubator team young entrepreneurs create and develop the strategy of their company, marketing plan, calculate the financial plan etc. The incubator offers a real opportunity to find a mentor from the professional and to raise the investment.

Besides, there is a project called the “Startup of the Year”, an award for young entrepreneurs, a Case Championship, and a contest of business projects. There are more than a hundred events per year, with more than 8.000 participants. The incubator hosts the Centre of Prototyping and 3D-modeling and the Centre of Social Entrepreneurship.

Teaching entrepreneurship also contributes to the success of incubation. The entrepreneurship courses of the HSE{Inc} are so popular that 60% of the participants come from other higher education institutions. Spotting the best business ideas and managing the best entrepreneurship students is part of the program. The most talented students become residents for two years. The business game of the HSE called Iron Entrepreneur are also very popular abroad. The university cooperated with the best similar initiatives of foreign institutions, such as the MIT Enterprise Forum, the Aalto Venture Garage or the University of Texas StartupSauna. ³³

33 https://inc.hse.ru/