First Research Battle at HSE: How it Went
On March 18, 2017, HSE hosted its first Research Battle. Under this project, students who are excited about their research discuss their work. The event was organized by HSE students together with the Polytechnic Museum and the Student Initiative Support Centre.
The audience gathered at the Key Tech Hub and heard five presentations. Tatiana Bolgina, a linguist, discussed the location of speech areas in mapping the brain. Natalia Korobova, a programmer, spoke about the complicated principles of how cell membranes work. Kirill Makarov from the Laboratory for Economics of Innovation gave a presentation dedicated to relations between science and society. Semyon Presnyakov, an engineering student, explained to audience in very simple terms what slow-wave structures in amplifiers are and what terahertz waves are useful for.Kirill Chmel, a political science student, addressed the construction of the image of a terrorist in Russian media. As a result of both audience and jury votes, Kirill was announced the winner of this battle.
‘I envy you, since you had this opportunity to speak before a remarkable audience, which asked interesting and relevant questions and was so positive. Believe me, any lecturer dreams about speaking to that kind of audience!’ said Dmitry Dagaev, jury member, in his speech to participants.
The audience liked this format. ‘The idea is magical, since you see real students speaking in the TED format about some incredible things’, said Anna Lozovaya, student at the Faculty of Social Sciences, ‘These projects are a major inspiration for us to develop as researchers; one immediately wants to write articles, do research and be as brave as the guys who took part in the battle. For me, each one of them is a hero, as they demonstrated their research to the audience and the entire HSE, and they really have done something they can be proud of’.
‘All this is happening at your university, in the next laboratory, but we rarely know what is happening in the other rooms’, said Ekaterina Braginets, MA student on the programme ‘Measurement in Psychology and Education’, ‘I was glad to have the opportunity to listen to smart and energetic people, especially in an attentive and active audience. This is a great way to look at something other than your own research, your research centre, and have a productive rest’.
Five more research battles will take place by autumn 2017. The winners in each round will have an opportunity to fight in the finals for an academic travel grant covering a trip to Europe.
The next battle is taking place in April. The working language of the event is Russian. Applications are accepted until March 28.
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Prepared by Ivan Kryukov, 3rd-year student at the Faculty of Social Sciences