Impressions from the XVI April Conference: International Participants
The HSE Look talked to several researchers from the HSE international labs about their impressions from the April Conference.
Understanding the Evolution and Acquisition of Cognitive Systems through Language and Music
On April 27 John F. Bailyn, Professor at the Department of Linguistics, State University of New York will speak on ‘Language, Fire, Music and Chess: Thoughts on the Evolution and Acquisition of Cognitive Systems’. The event is organized by HSE School of Linguistics. An expert on the workings of the linguistic component of the mind, Professor Bailyn recently spoke with the HSE news service about his upcoming lecture and research interests, as well as his experience studying Russian, his favourite music and a host of other topics.
Euthanasia is the Result of Society’s Individualization
Values such as religious beliefs impact attitudes towards euthanasia. The more people value independence and autonomy, the higher their approval is of euthanasia. Conversely, conformism and an adherence to traditions are negatively linked to attitudes towards euthanasia, Maxim Rudnev and Alexandra Savelkaeva, researchers at the HSE Laboratory for Comparative Studies in Mass Consciousness, said at HSE’s XVI April International Academic Conference.
53%
of Russians believe that the right to free health care is the most important of all the rights and liberties that citizens enjoy in our country.
57%
of Russian companies offered training for their employees in 2014. In 2013, the number of such companies was significantly higher at 72%.
Using Maternity Capital Proves Complex
Maternity capital has supported numerous families in regions across the country, helping people solve their housing problems. At the same time, many people have not accessed these funds, as the programme is quite limited. Maternity capital is not very useful when buying an apartment in the city, as it does not go very far, and two other options for using it – towards children’s education or the mother’s pension – are longer-term issues, noted Elena Gorina, Senior Research Fellow at the HSE’s Institute for Social Development Studies/Center for Studies of Income and Living Standards, during the XVI April International Academic Conference at HSE.
12,918
managers, researchers and teachers from Russia, eastern Europe and central Asia have taken part in training activities at the Russian Training Centre in its four years of existence.
Russian Demography is Full of Pitfalls
Russia’s current demographic dynamics seem to be positive. Life expectancy is growing, and the population is growing, not only by means of migration from other post-Soviet countries, but also by natural increase, even if it is not big yet. At the same time, researchers assess the near demographic future with moderate optimism, which is mostly due to the forming age structure of the population, said Anatoly Vishnevsky, Director of the HSE Institute of Demography, in his report.
Russian Regions React to the Crisis in Different Ways
Economic inequality between the Russian regions will manifest itself clearly in the context of the current crisis. While the 2009 crisis passed almost painlessly for regional budgets, the situation today is quite different. The regions will be forced to look for anti-crisis strategies in the context of continuously decreasing oil revenues, said Natalia Zubarevich, Leading Research Fellow at the HSE Centre for Studies of Income and Living Standards, in her presentation on ‘Crises in Russia: Regional Perspective’ as part of the XVI HSE April International Academic Conference.
HSE to Join SESS.EuroPhD Consortium
HSE has been officially invited to join the European PhD in Socio-Economic and Statistical Studies (SESS.EuroPhD) Consortium starting from the 2015/2016 academic year. At a recent annual seminar held in Rome, all the participants expressed a strong interest in HSE becoming a full member of the consortium.
Deadline for abstract submission - November 15