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Regular version of the site

About

Since the 1990s, doctoral education around the world has been undergoing significant changes related to the growing heterogeneity of the student body, the diversification of degrees and training models, and the expansion of trajectories for doctoral graduates. These trends are also relevant to China and Russia, but the current state of doctoral education in these two countries differs significantly. In Russia, in contrast to the global trend of massification, there has been a steady decrease in the number of applicants, graduates, and dissertations over the past 10 years. China, on the other hand, has made significant progress since the advent of the doctoral education system in the 1980s, and the Chinese system has now become one of the largest in the world. The proposed joint comparative study aims to identify common features and differences in the transformation processes of doctoral education in China and Russia, as well as factors that contribute to or hinder the development of doctoral education at the national, institutional, and individual levels.

The project is the winner of the first International Academic Cooperation competition, which was held by HSE University in 2024. The project implementation period is 2024–2026.

Team (HSE University)

Evgeniy Terentev

Project Head, Senior Research Fellow

Svetlana Zhuchkova

Deputy Head, Research Fellow

Jennet Babayeva

Research Assistant

Ksenia Vilkova

Research Fellow

Anna Lulikyan

Research Assistant

Natalia Maloshonok

Senior Research Fellow

Maksim Nikitin

Research Assistant

Danila Pavliuk

Research Assistant

Nikolay Rakov

Research Assistant

Nikita Smirnov

Junior Research Fellow

Elena Tarasova

Research Assistant

Team (Tsinghua University)

GUO Fei

Associate Professor

JIN Tianyu

Postdoc Researcher

WANG Chuanyi

Associate Professor

Publications

Жучкова С. В.Павлюк Д. М. Аспирантура в приоритете? Совершенствование аспирантуры как элемент программ развития вузов «Приоритета-2030» // Университетское управление: практика и анализ. 2024. Т. 28. № 1. С. 21-33.

 

Смирнов Н. М. Эффективность грантовой поддержки аспирантов в России: квазиэкспериментальный анализ программы РФФИ // Высшее образование в России. 2025. Т. 34. № 3. С. 77–99.

Барьеры при подготовке диссертаций в российской аспирантуре / С. В. ЖучковаА. И. НефедоваЕ. А. ТерентьевН. М. Смирнов; Национальный исследовательский университет «Высшая школа экономики», Институт образования. — М.: НИУ ВШЭ, 2025. — 52 с. — 100 экз. — (Современная аналитика образования. № 2 (85)).

Smirnov N. From productivity to wellbeing? Topic modelling of doctoral education research // Higher Education. 2025. (online first)

Smirnov N., Rakov N. It’s (not) a match! How doctoral students in Russia experience the gap between expectations and reality // Innovations in Education and Teaching International. 2025. (online first)

Smirnov N.Tarasova E. Motivation matters: How enrollment motives shape doctoral experiences and career aspirations // Plos One. 2025. Vol. 20. No. 9. Article e0330679

Rybakov, N.V., Zhuchkova, S.V., Bednyi, B.I. (2025). Industrial Doctoral Students: Specifics of Educational Experience and Doctorate-Employer Cooperation. Vysshee obrazovanie v Rossii = Higher Education in Russia. Vol. 34, no. 12, pp. 64-84, doi: 10.31992/0869-3617-2025-34- 12-64-84 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

News

Around one in three doctoral students begin their studies without clear goals, while only around 10% of graduates successfully defend their dissertations on time. What factors have influenced this trend over the last decade? Researchers from the IOE Centre of Sociology of Higher Education conducted a study examining the motivations of PhD students across Russian universities.
January 29
Researchers from the HSE Institute of Education took part in the International Academic Forum ‘Russian Education: Inheritance and Transformation,’ held on December 5–7 at Nanjing University and organised with the support of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China. The forum explored how education systems respond to social, technological, and institutional change, with Russian education serving as the central lens for international comparison and reflection.
December 19, 2025
The Institute of Education at HSE University and the School of Education at Tsinghua University invite submissions to a special issue of the International Journal of Chinese Education. This issue will look at hybrid doctoral programs that bring together strong academic standards and the real needs of industry and the job market. 
July 24, 2025
The Russian and Chinese postgraduate education systems originally borrowed their institutional frameworks from the Soviet Union. However, in the 21st century, they have evolved along different paths. While key performance indicators for postgraduate programmes in Russia are declining, China is seeing a rapid increase in the number of postgraduate students. These contrasting trajectories and the reforms undertaken in each country in recent decades were the focus of a roundtable discussion held as part of the 25th Yasin (April) International Academic Conference.
April 23, 2025
In March 2024, researches of the Institute of Education visited leading universities in Beijing, China, to strengthen established ties and deepen research cooperation. As part of their visit, scholars shared their research results and gave guest lectures.
April 05, 2024