Maksim Nikolaev

I am currently working as a Senior Project Manager at Skillbox Holding. I studied Philosophy at Moscow State University, Russia and Intellectual History (Culture Studies) at National Research University Higher School of Economics, Russia, as well as Social and Cultural Anthropology at University of Vienna, Austria. In my Master's thesis I studied Formation of a Research University (Case of the HSE School of Cultural Studies). In my PhD project I plan to study Academic Freedom in Russian Higher Education, specifically Post-Soviet Transformations 1991-2014.

research interests
academic freedom, history of universities, Soviet and post-Soviet education, oral history, Russian educational reforms, history of science

current research project
Working title – “Academic Freedom in Russian Higher Education. A Study of Post-Soviet Transformations (1991-2014)”.

My project aims to analyse changes in the understanding and implementation of academic freedom in Russian universities in the context of political and legal changes. The research aims to explore the historical development and transformation of the concept of academic freedom in Russian universities against the backdrop of significant political and social changes.

My central research question is what has academic freedom meant in Russian universities between 1991 and 2014 and how has it been affected by legal, institutional and political changes? The research methodology includes narrative interviews and archival research. The focus will be on five universities with different governance models. The research will not only analyse the formal guarantees of academic freedom, but also identify contradictions between legal norms and their practical implementation.