'I Am Very Happy to Have the Opportunity to Study at HSE University'

This fall, Madhavi Karunarathne came to HSE University from Sri Lanka, where she earned her bachelor’s in finance at the University of Colombo. She is now beginning her studies in the Master’s Programme ‘Strategic Corporate Finance’. The new master’s student came through Russia’s Open Doors Scholarship Project for international prospective master’s students, which allows scholarship recipients to study at one of 21 participating Russian universities tuition-free. Madhavi spoke with HSE News Service about why she chose HSE, what it was like to participate in the Open Doors Scholarship competition, and how she is liking her studies.

On choosing HSE University

Choosing the university was not necessarily an obvious choice at first. The Open Doors Scholarship Project has over 20 participating universities, so I had to do some research to find out which ones were particularly strong in economics and finance—particularly strategic corporate finance, which is my area of interest. However, once I understood that HSE is one of the strongest universities for the economic sector, the choice was clear.

I had also heard a lot about HSE University from a friend of my sister’s in Sri Lanka, who did his master’s in law at the Nizhny Novgorod campus. He was always telling me about how HSE is the best university in Moscow for economics. So that’s why I was drawn to HSE. (It was also from him, by the way, that I learned about Russia’s Open Doors Scholarship competition.)

On participating in the Open Doors Scholarship competition

It was actually pretty tough. The screening process was very thorough. First, we had to submit all our documents (including all certificates I had been awarded – related to sports, leadership, etc.) in a portfolio. We were asked about our research publications, and we had to write a motivation letter about why we were applying. After you pass the initial screening round, you proceed to the second round, which is the online test. The test was also very difficult. I was extremely relieved when I learned I passed both of these rounds, since the test was so difficult. I am very happy to have gotten this opportunity to study at HSE University with full tuition coverage.

The Open Doors Scholarship Project awards scholarships in a wide range of subject areas, like business management, finance and credit, the humanities, and science-related subjects. Due to my background in finance, I applied to two areas: Business Management and Finance and Credit. On the test, however, I only got through the Finance and Credit area. Nonetheless, I am very pleased with my results—now I am building upon my experience with finance.

On the perks of the Open Doors Scholarship

The Open Doors competition wasn’t just helpful to me in getting into one of the best universities in Russia. I have also met a lot of friends from different countries through it—many of whom study here at HSE, but also other universities in Russia. It was nice to have a network of international friends here already from the very beginning.

They helped me with getting around the city and getting to know the metro system. The group is quite active. I’ve made friends from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India.

On studying Strategic Corporate Finance at HSE

So far, I am really enjoying my classes in the Master’s Programme ‘Strategic Corporate Finance’. The programme is very advanced and challenging. In Sri Lanka, where I earned my bachelor’s, we only had lectures. Here we have lectures and seminar classes. In seminars, we learn all sorts of things, because we can take what we’ve learned in the lectures and practically apply it. As for the lecturers, they are knowledgeable very impressive – and they are really good teachers.

We have about 60 students in our classes. Of the students, about 20, or a third, are international students. We do a lot of group work, and in each team, there is always one international student. I like this collaborative format. Over the course of the class we can get to know a lot of people, and the group work is especially helpful to me since I don’t know much about Russian economics specifically—back home, for example, I know how to get information about the Sri Lankan Central Bank, but here when you go to the Russian Central Bank website, everything is different, so my team members help me with that.

On the faculty and staff

The International Office staff, our programme academic supervisor, and our programme manager have all been very helpful. For example, before I came here, I knew I wanted to study sustainable finance. However, when I was browsing professors’ profile pages on the HSE website, I couldn’t find anyone in finance who was engaged with this specific subfield. I wrote to Lyudmila Esipova, our programme manager, and she immediately sent my email to our programme supervisor, Anastasia Stepanova, who then found a specialist who does work in my area outside the university and was willing to be my supervisor. I was very grateful for their support and flexibility—now I will be able to pursue research in sustainable finance—a relatively new, and, in many countries, underdeveloped field.

On Moscow

I haven’t been able to get out an explore much yet, but I did manage to visit Red Square and GUM (a shopping complex on Red Square – ed. note), which were both amazing. I’ve heard they are especially beautiful at night when they are all lit up. I look forward to exploring more of the city in December when we have our winter break!

On future plans

If I get the opportunity, I would like to work in Russia. I hope to work part-time as an intern at a company next year, and then, after graduation, I would like to work here in Russia for a few years.