An increasing number of Russian students are looking to study in the UK and many of them come from one of Lancaster University Management School's most valued partner institutions: the Higher School of Economics (HSE). LUMS alumni Rinat Maksutov, Gleb Romanov, Dmitry Vasichev and Yevgeniy Korzov came to the event to share their experience of studying at Lancaster with over 15 Russian applicants to LUMS.

Yevgeniy, who is currently working for Russian Rail in Indonesia said: “I am very pleased Lancaster has established such a good partnership with HSE. My brother is an HSE student and he is looking to study in the UK in the future. The partnership between these two excellent research institutions provides a unique international opportunity for the students who wish to add value to their Russian education.”

Russian students have an excellent reputation in Lancaster mainly for their academic excellence and high intellectual potential. Students from the Higher School of Economics have an opportunity to join a Double Masters Degree with LUMS and this year Lancaster welcomed five HSE students studying on the MSc in Project Management and MSc in E-Business and Innovation. The partnership has been supported by Santander Bank who generously offers three scholarships of £5,000 to HSE students.

The event at HSE was attended by the Deputy Director of the International Department at the Russian Ministry of Education and Sciences, Mr Boris Zhelezov, who has visited Lancaster University on many occasions. Mr Zhelezov announced an exciting government scholarship scheme that will be finalised in the next few months and will support Russian students in their endeavour to study overseas.

Amongst other guests were also colleagues from the Graduate Recruitment Department in Unilever Russia, who were inspired by the quality of the applicants for the Lancaster Masters degree programmes, and who offered summer internship opportunities to those who wish to consider future graduate job in Unilever.

Dr Radka Newton, who manages the partnership with HSE, delivered an inspirational speech in fluent Russian and acknowledged the success of Lancaster alumni in Russia: “I have found the partnership with HSE very rewarding and I always like coming back to Moscow. The HSE students we currently have in Lancaster are excellent and very hard working and I hope Lancaster students will also be able to enjoy the Russian experience in the near future.”