HSE Development Programme News

Scientists at HSE University have investigated the effect of parks on the cognitive and emotional resources of city dwellers. The researchers compared brain electrical activity in 30 participants while they watched videos of walks through parks and along busy highways. The results showed that green urban environments with trees produce a consistent effect across individuals, helping the brain calm down and relax. By contrast, walks along busy streets were found to be distracting. The findings have been published in Scientific Reports.

Research (scientific) structural units of HSE University planning to conduct joint research with foreign universities and research centres are invited to take part in the competition.

HSE University and Nauka Publishers have signed a cooperation agreement. Nauka Publishers, Russia’s oldest scientific publishing house, which will celebrate its 300th anniversary next year, is also one of the largest in the world. Under the agreement, the parties will work together to promote the results of HSE University’s research and to advance science communication.

Scientists at HSE MIEM, in collaboration with colleagues from China, have developed a method to improve the durability of perovskite solar cells by addressing iodine loss from the material. The researchers introduced quaternary ammonium molecules into the perovskite structure; these molecules form strong electrostatic pairs with iodine ions, effectively anchoring them within the crystal lattice. As a result, the solar cells retain more than 92% of their power after a thousand hours of operation at 85°C. The study has been published in Advanced Energy Materials.

An international team, including researchers from HSE University, has created the first comprehensive map of quadruplexes—unstable DNA structures involved in gene regulation. For the first time, scientists have shown that these structures function in pairs: one is located in a DNA region that initiates gene transcription, while the other lies in a nearby region that enhances this process. In healthy tissues, quadruplexes regulate tissue-specific genes, whereas in cancerous tissues they influence genes responsible for cell growth and division. These findings may contribute to the development of new anticancer drugs that target quadruplexes. The study has been published in Nucleic Acids Research.

Chinese students gained practical knowledge in the design, assembly, and operation of small spacecraft and systems, as well as in quantum mechanics, superconductivity, and materials science for solar energy.

In January, HSE University hosted the third GameDevFest of the Faculty of Computer Science—a computer game festival organised by the School of Software Engineering and the project group ‘Computer Game Software Engineering—PIKI’ with the participation of the Vintorog game studio. Guests had the opportunity to play a variety of video games, including demo versions created by FCS students and other aspiring game designers.

Scientists at the HSE AI Research Centre have developed a novel approach to determining robustness in deep learning models. Their method works eight times faster than an exhaustive model search and significantly reduces the need for manual verification. It can be applied to particle physics problems using neural networks of various architectures. The study has been published in IEEE Access.