International Centre for Research and Teaching Opens at HSE University
The grant for the creation of the International Centre for Research and Teaching (ICRT) at HSE University was provided by the Ministry of Education and Science as part of the Digital Economy Personnel federal project of the Digital Economy national programme. The Centre will implement retraining programmes and conduct internships for leading experts in the digital economy.
Professors and doctorate students of Russian and foreign higher education institutions engaged in mathematics and computer science will be able to undergo training, retraining and internship programmes at ICRT. The Centre is to hold webinars, conferences and seminars. In addition, it will analyse world’s best practices in mathematics and computer science teaching.
One of the key activities of ICRT will be the development of teaching, methodological and test materials to be used by professors of different universities to develop and improve their own educational programmes.
Ilya Samonenko, deputy dean for education of the Faculty of Computer Science, HSE University, is appointed head, and Professor Vladlen Timorin, dean of the Faculty of Mathematics, HSE University, the research supervisor of the International Centre for Research and Teaching.
“HSE International Centre for Research and Teaching is organised as a research and teaching group that will include leading employees of the Faculties of Mathematics and Computer Science and other departments of our university, as well as some other educational and research institutions,” said Ilya Samonenko.
He added that a large number of materials are now publicly available that can be used to prepare lectures in mathematics and computer science. "However, there are very few quality materials for practical training. Our task is to give teachers complete sets of materials that they can effectively use in their subjects," concluded Ilya Samonenko.
The educational programmes of the Centre will be interesting not only for professors of mathematics and computer science, but also of humanities. For them, the Centre will implement programmes on digital literacy and data processing methods required in state-of-the-art research.
Vladlen Timorin, academic supervisor of the International Centre for Research and Teaching, drew attention to the fact that ICRT invites universities as well as individual professors for cooperation. “We offer programmes in Moscow, but we are also ready to come to regions. We also offer distance learning programmes. We are waiting for professors and doctoral students for internships. Professors can take advanced training or retraining courses. We are ready to work with professors on textbooks, lectures and other educational products. The level of our scientific team makes it possible to involve our partners in international scientific projects,” Timorin said.
Special attention will be given to scientific internships and consultations for teachers from various universities who will be involved in the work of ICRT. Specialists from the Centre will contribute to research and the preparation of articles on mathematics and computer science.
ICRT plans to make active use of the existing facilities in the field of distance education. Existing Coursera courses will be used for the widest possible audience coverage. In addition, new courses will be developed to suit the Centre's needs.
Ivan Arzhantsev, dean of the Faculty of Computer Science, reminded that HSE University has a strong training system for mathematicians, data scientists, and software engineers. “The Faculty has been working for six years, and during this time we have formed research groups in the field of theoretical computer science, discrete mathematics, probability theory, mathematical statistics, machine learning, bioinformatics, software engineering, system programming, process-oriented information systems, and modern financial technologies. There are three bachelor and seven master programmes, each of which includes original courses, and the range of them is constantly updated. We actively cooperate with leading IT companies, and this cooperation also contributes to regular updating of the curricula. I am very glad that the International Centre for Research and Teaching was created at HSE University, and for us this is an opportunity to share our accumulated knowledge and experience with a wide professional audience,” concluded the Dean.