Conference at HSE to Focus on Plans for Developing Science and Technology over Next Decade
On November 6—7, 2014, Higher School of Economics will held the IV International Academic Conference ‘Foresight and STI Policy’. The conference is being organised by HSE Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge with International Research and Educational Foresight Centre, included in its structure since 2006. The centre is the only one in the CIS that has the status of a UNIDO Regional Centre for Technology Foresight.
40%
of entrepreneurs working in the wholesale trade sector reported a decline in sales in 3Q 2014. Companies are complaining of low demand and a collapsing range of products sold. This information is presented in a new Monitoring the Business Climate in the Wholesale Sector report by HSE ISSEK Centre for Business Tendency Studies.
Membership of the WTO Expertise Centre’s Advisory Board announced
On 14 October the Higher School of Economics hosted the first meeting of the Advisory Board of the WTO Expertise Centre which comprises Yaroslav Kuzminov, NRU HSE rector, and Leonid Gokhberg, first vice-rector and director of NRU HSE ISSEK. The meeting was followed by the press conference of heads of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, Sberbank, and the HSE — co-founders of the centre.
81%
of parents whose children study in educational institutions are satisfied with the quality of their education. This information was obtained through a survey of Russian families conducted in the autumn of 2013 as part of the Monitoring of Education Markets and Organisations project conducted jointly by HSE and the Public Opinion Foundation.
International Workshop “Horizon 2020 & International Researchers’ Mobility: EU Supporting Tools”
On October 6, 2014, HSE hosted International Workshop “Horizon 2020 & International Researchers’ Mobility: EU Supporting Tools”. The event was organised by the Centre for International Projects of HSE Institute for statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge under EU 7th RTD Framework Programme BILAT-RUS-Advanced project (“Advancement of the Bilateral Partnership in Scientific Research and Innovation with the Russian Federation”).
29%
of Russians expect the economic situation to deteriorate in the next 12 months. In the previous quarter, the share of negative assessments was only 22%. This information is presented in a report by the Centre for Business Tendency Studies at HSE ISSEK. The report, ‘The Economic Sentiment Index (HSE Index) in 3Q 2014,’ is based on a survey of 5,000 Russians age 16 and older (surveys are conducted quarterly by the Russian Federal State Statistics Service).
S&T Foresight prospects were discussed by the board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs
At the meeting of the board of directors of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE) on October 8, Alexander Chulok, deputy director of the HSE Foresight Centre told representatives of the expert and business communities about the prospects the S&T foresight system opens to Russian companies.
Priority S&T development areas were discussed at the Federal Agency for Scientific Organisations
A joint meeting with representatives of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and the Ministry of Education and Science was held at the Federal Agency for Scientific Organisations (FASO), designed to discuss adjustments to the list of priority S&T development areas and the list of critical technologies for the RF. Dr. Alexandr Sokolov, deputy director of the ISSEK and director of the HSE Foresight Centre, gave a progress report.
35%
of Russian universities do not have dormitories for students. Another 6% of institutions of higher education view the quality of their student housing as bad. This information was obtained during a survey of vocational education leaders carried out in the autumn of 2013 as part of a Monitoring of Education Markets and Organisations (MEMO) study conducted by HSE (the project is coordinated by HSE ISSEK) in collaboration with the Levada-Center.
300 million tons
of concentrated agricultural and forest waste are produced by Russian industry each year. Refining and using this waste as energy would allow Russia to hold a respectable place in the emerging markets of biotechnology products and bioenergy. This information comes from “Russian S&T Foresight: 2030. Biotechnologies”, a report that was prepared by the Higher School of Economics under commission by Russia’s Ministry of Education and Science.