Vladimir Averin is in his fourth year of studying at HSE ICEF and has become an absolute winner in the Econometrics Universiade 2023, an annual competition organized by Moscow State University. This has been Vladimir’s second win, last year he showed second best result. In 2023 Vladimir is starting his PhD study at Yale University (USA). In this interview, he tells about the benefits of studying at HSE, why Econometrics requires creativity, and how to win a scholarship from Yale University Department of Statistics and Data Science.