This is the 18481st most frequent Russian word.
являясь
"Being" or "while being."
The word 'являясь' is used here as a present active participle form of 'являться', meaning 'being'. It introduces an additional detail about the subject of the main clause, highlighting his status as a student while performing the action of the main verb (tries to learn).
Являясь студентом, он постоянно старается учиться чему-то новому.
Being a student, he constantly tries to learn something new.
In this sentence, 'являясь' describes a property or characteristic of the project while leading into the main statement about the effort and time required. It maintains the same participle usage, describing an aspect of the noun in the main clause.
Этот проект, являясь амбициозным, требует много усилий и времени.
This project, being ambitious, requires a lot of effort and time.
Here 'являясь' emphasizes the subject's role within the team, providing context for his observed behavior of assisting others. Again, its participle form combines the participial clause with the main clause.