HSE University’s Joint Master’s Programme with Skoltech Named Best Educational Initiative at Data Fusion Awards 2023
VTB, CNews, and Skolkovo have announced the winners of the Data Fusion Awards 2023, a nationwide cross-industry award in the sphere of big data technology. The awards recognise the top projects in the public sector, business, and education. The English-taught Master’s programme Math of Machine Learning, implemented jointly by HSE University’s Faculty of Computer Science and the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, was named the educational initiative of the year. Second place in this category was awarded to the Graduate School of Business’s Master’s programme Business Analytics and Big Data Systems.
Data Fusion is an annual international conference on machine learning, data analysis, and artificial intelligence technologies. It brings together business, government, academics, experts, students, and enthusiasts to discuss issues related to the application of data science. The Data Fusion approach involves merging data, fusing machine learning algorithms, and synergising processes to produce fundamentally new data analysis capabilities.
The Data Fusion Awards recognise achievements in developing the data fusion trend, implementing successful cross-industry projects in big data analysis using machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms, as well as developing relevant open-source solutions and educational initiatives for training specialists. A jury of recognised data experts, big business, and government representatives selected eight projects to receive awards in four main categories. In the Data Fusion in Education category, the Master’s programme Math of Machine Learning run by the HSE University Faculty of Computer Science and Skoltech was named the educational initiative of the year.
Alexey Naumov, Academic Supervisor of the Math of Machine Learning programme
‘It is a great honour for me and my colleagues from HSE University and Skoltech to win the prestigious Data Fusion award! This year will see the fifth graduation in our programme. As early as their master’s theses, students are actively involved in scientific activities in the working groups of HSE University and Skoltech, as well as publishing papers at A* conferences (ICML, NeurIPS, ICLR, COLT, etc.) and in leading Q1 scientific journals. Every year, the programme’s students and alumni become Yandex Science Award and Fellowship winners. Our graduates work at leading technology companies, including Yandex, Sber, DeepMind, Samsung, Huawei, Waymo, and also attend postgraduate courses at leading Russian and foreign universities, including HSE University, Skoltech, Ecole Polytechnique, Cambridge, Cornell, EPFL, and MILA. Winning the Data Fusion competition is confirmation that we are doing everything right!’
To compete in the Data Fusion in Education category, applicants had to submit a detailed application elaborating not only the programme and the discipline content, but also the practical side of graduate training, showing that graduates go on to become active players in data fusion. This nomination is particularly difficult to compete in, as each educational programme has its own focus, specifics, and applicant and graduate profiles. The ability to demonstrate success in the field of AI in the scientific and applied field is the key to the jury’s appreciation.
Armen Beklaryan, Academic Supervisor of Business Analytics and Big Data Systems programme
‘This victory brings recognition in the expert community and increases prestige in professional circles—a wide range of private and state companies in the data fusion community start to show an interest in partnership with the programme. To me, second place in this category is confirmation that the programme is moving in the right direction, in line with current trends. The active work that HSE University’s Graduate School of Business has been doing on the programme for the last two years has yielded results.’
The Master’s programme in Business Analytics and Big Data Systems is the only programme at a Russian university to be ranked in the Business Masters category of the international QS World University Rankings by Programme. The programme is positioned in the field of business analytics (QS Business Master’s Rankings: Business Analytics—MSc in Business Analytics, specialisations: Operation Analytics).
Technological sovereignty is the key to the country’s sustainability in the coming decades, stressed Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, who moderated the main plenary discussion of Data Fusion 2023. ‘The IT industry has been an area of special attention for the government in the last few years,’ he said. ‘Today, there are about 23,000 IT companies in Russia, with an increase of more than 70% in 2022. There is no doubt that our country has globally competitive digital solutions in operation. Now they need to be prepared for export.’