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HSE Faculty of Mathematics is one of the newest faculties at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (first students were admitted in 2008), founded jointly by the HSE and the Independent University of Moscow. It awards the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Master of Science] in Mathematics and Mathematical physics. Pure mathematics extends the initial specialization of the university (human and social sciences).

Aim of the project
The main objective for the foundation of the Faculty of Mathematics, NRU HSE was to create the first math department in the former USSR that would be internationally competitive in the following sense  :
 * Employment terms and conditions (including salary range and research funding) should be attractive for mathematicians from developed countries, primarily those of Russian origin;
 * Hybrid strategy of instruction that combines Konstantinov's system and the best practices of leading Western math departments (such as teaching assistantships, cumulative grading scheme , free IELTS test with minimum score of 6 required , etc.), as well as the Bologna process implementation.

Current state
The faculty has been indeed successful in attracting researchers from the USA, France, the UK, Japan etc., and not only those of Russian origin (surprisingly enough for the Russian academic employment practice). 50% of faculty under 40 hold a Ph.D. degree from leading Western universities (Harvard, Princeton, Toronto, etc.), 40% of the undergraduate students are winners of national math Olympiads (which is currently the highest rate in Russia ). However, these manifestations of popularity are not enough to judge about the success, because, as of 2011, the faculty is only three years old (e. g. no students have completed their studies yet).

Notable faculty members and associate faculty members
Fedor Bogomolov (Head of the HSE Laboratory of Algebraic Geometry) one of the creators of the theory of hyperkahler manifolds.

Igor Krichever (director of the HSE Master of Science program in Mathematical Physics, previously the dean of the math department at the University of Columbia), the fourth on the list of the most cited Russian mathematicians.

Sergey Lando (Dean of the HSE Faculty of Mathematics) -- one of the authors of the ELSV formula.

Victor Vassiliev (Chair, the joint department of the Steklov Institute of Mathematics and the HSE Faculty of Mathematics, the president of the Moscow mathematical society) -- the creator of the theory of finite type invariants.

Mikhail Verbitsky (Professor) -- prominent mathematician, widely known in Russia as a controversial critic and political activist.

Notable projects co-implemented by the Faculty
Moscow Mathematical Journal (jointly with AMS and Independent University of Moscow), currently the most cited Russia-based international mathematical journal.

Math in Moscow (jointly with AMS, CMS and IUM), a one-semester educational programme in advanced mathematics, taught in English and covered by NSERC and NSF's travel grants to Canadian and US students, selected by CMS and AMS respectively. International Master's program in mathematics, directed by Igor Krichever and conducted in English (jointly with the Steklov Institute of Mathematics). Laboratory of algebraic geometry and its applications, the research group supervised by Fedor Bogomolov and funded from one of the three so-called 'mega-grants', recently awarded by the RF government to math departments in Russia (the other two recepients are the MSU Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics and the SPbSU Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics ).

Criticism
In the last decade, Russian educational authorities have been introducing the Unified State Exam for graduates of high schools and correcting the high school educational standards accordingly. The Higher School of Economics was one of the promoters of this reform. A large part of academic mathematics community and especially the Independent University of Moscow were uncompromising opponents of the Unified State exam in its current form and generated a society-wide discussion, resembling math wars in the USA. Based on this fact, some observers suspect that, providing resources for the joint math department with the IUM, the Higher School of Economics attempted to "buy" the opinion of many leading mathematicians regarding the Unified State exam.