Student Research Paper Competition 2021 Kicks Off at HSE University
The annual HSE Student Research Paper Competition (SRPC) helps young researchers try their hand in a real academic competition, where leading experts and professionals from HSE University assess their research papers. This year, participation will be open from September 1 to October 15.
The competition is open to any student of a Russian or international university, as well as 2021 graduates. If you already have a term paper or any other publication, then you have already taken the first step. You then need to edit your paper according to the competition criteria before finally uploading it to the website.
Anton Rigin has participated in SRPC three times and won twice (in 2019 and 2020). This year, he is going to apply with his master’s paper in the category for 2021 master’s students and graduates. ‘If your term paper or thesis is good and contains a research outcome, you can simply submit it for the competition with minimum editing (to comply with the competition’s formal requirements). If you already have a finished paper, why not do it and forget about it till December? It won’t do you any harm, and it can do you some good’. He recommends not thinking about the competition results: ‘If you win, it’s good, but if you don’t, you lose nothing. The competition has a blind reviewing procedure, and after you apply, you can do nothing about it anyway’.
Ivan Gruzdev, HSE Director for Internal Monitoring and Student Academic Development
I suggest looking at several figures. Last year, the number of papers submitted for SRPC grew to 1,924, 318 of which were from external participants. According to the Centre for Institutional Research, about 22% of HSE students are involved in various research activities, while a recent national student survey carried out by HSE and TSU showed that 12% of senior students have experience in various research paper competitions. This means that the HSE SRPC, which is open to all students and recent graduates, has huge potential to attract more participants. I am very hopeful that this year, the number of papers submitted for the competition will grow, and that their quality will be at least as good as in previous years.
How does the competition work and what’s new in SRPC-2021? Every year, more and more students participate in the competition, and the number of fields grows. Today, the competition includes 24 categories ranging from mathematics and media communications to law and design. This year, participants can apply with a paper in Demography for the first time. The full list of categories is available on the competition website.
Applications are open for papers not only in Russian and English. Now, such competition fields as Philosophy, Philology, and World Economy, Global Politics & Asian Studies accept papers in French, German and Spanish.
Mikhail Denisenko, Director of the HSE Vishnevsky Institute of Demography
The launch of the ‘Demography’ category of the SRPC competition has been a long time coming—not only because HSE University offers two master’s programmes in demography: Demography and Population & Development. Demography-related topics are very popular among students of various departments and profiles today. And this is no coincidence. The problems of population connect demography to many other research fields, and the pressing demographic problems in the contemporary world are among the leading issues in the global and national political agendas of the 21st century. We hope to see the submission of papers in demography not only from HSE students, but from people from other universities and institutions too.
Bachelor’s students and this year’s master’s and graduates are assessed in separate categories in each field except mathematics. Paper submission and assessment are performed completely online. Each paper is subject to two independent objective assessments by experts, and papers are anonymized. More information on the terms of participation and application rules is available here.
Competition winners and prize winners receive the following:
At the rector’s discretion, first-prize winners can receive a special scholarship.
A certificate in their portfolios, which adds points for an increased scholarship for achievement in research.
Eligibility for an increased state academic scholarship for achievement in research.
Additional points in applications for state-funded places in HSE master’s programmes (if allowed by the programme) and a tuition discount for fee-paying places.
Winners who are HSE students or staff members will get travel grants to present papers at a conference or a summer school. Winners who are students of other universities will be able to ‘activate’ their grant if they start studying or working at HSE University.
An invitation to Science Republic, a project that supports students with high academic potential.
The Centre for Student Academic Development and the HSE Endowment will also offer some other prizes and awards.
Elif Shipi, prize winner at SRPC-2020
Participation in such a competition means a lot, particularly if you are planning to continue in academia. I had known in advance that even participating in SRPC, not to mention winning it or getting a prize, is a big advantage for one’s portfolio and application to master’s programmes. I first applied in my third year of studies, but my paper didn’t win anything. I decided not to give up and tried to apply when I was a fourth-year student: it was a joint project with my classmates. Participation in the competition is a special opportunity to demonstrate your capabilities as a researcher. When you apply for SRPC, you understand that you are ready to send this very paper for publication, to present it at a conference or a competition outside your faculty or department, which means to communicate your study to the world. SRPC helps you understand that your paper is worthy, that you are able to move in the direction of your choice.
The results of the competition will be announced and published on the website in December.
More information on SRPC terms is available on the official website. If you have any questions, you can also contact the organizing committee: tzakharova@hse.ru or phone +7 (495) 772-95-90 ext. 27778 (contact Tatyana Zakharova or Elena Titova).