On July 3, 2018, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of our capital, on behalf of the Head of State N. Nazarbayev, Mr B. Sagintayev, the Prime minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan awarded a medal “For contribution to the development of Astana” to Mr Shigeo Katsu, President of Nazarbayev University.

As a modern and rapidly developing university located in the heart of Eurasia – Astana, Nazarbayev University educates the next generation of leaders of the Republic of Kazakhstan in science, public administration and various professions, thus contributing to the future development of the country. Core features of Nazarbayev University include: academic freedom and institutional autonomy both legally enshrined as Nazarbayev University operates under a special Law; predominantly internationally recruited faculty, English as the language of instruction and research; entirely merit-based admission and progression system; and integrated teaching and research starting at the undergraduate level.

Under the guidance of Mr. Shigeo Katsu, since December 2010, Nazarbayev University had achieved great success in various spheres. In 2017, Nazarbayev University was a co-founder of Asian University Alliance, which can assist NU in building a collaborative network among the 15 founding institutions in order to join efforts in the areas of research, faculty and student exchanges, joint summer programs and joint conferences/workshops. In addition, the two new Nazarbayev University schools, School of Medicine and School of Mining and Geosciences, welcomed their first students since 2015 and 2017 respectively.

On behalf of Nazarbayev University Community, we congratulate our President Shigeo Katsu with this honorable award!

The week of July 16-20, 2018 is a week of sharing experiences between two Asian universities within the “One belt – one road” (OBOR) initiative and practical aspects of Student Affairs at both universities.

Among the 40 guests from Fudan University, China, are Middle management of the Students Affairs and Development, Ph.D., Master as well as undergraduate students, who came to Kazakhstan to discuss ways of further collaboration and experience exchange; in the following spheres of student affairs, well-being, development and mentorship, career advising, education and service learning for society.

The academic part of the Summer Camp program includes lectures on OBOR by invited guests: Professor Ma Bin, Research Fellow, Center for Russian and Central Asian Studies, Institute of International Studies, Fudan University; Timur Shaimergenov, Vice Minister of Defense and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan; and Zhijian Cui, Associate professor from Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Business.

Within the cultural part of the program, guests will learn about the history and culture of Kazakhstan, architecture and history of Astana, and experience the beautiful nature of Borovoye resort.

The cooperation of Nazarbayev University with Fudan University started in 2015 when delegates from the International Students Office of Fudan University visited Nazarbayev University. The first Summer Program Youth Innovation Competition on Global Governance (YICGG) on the topic “Future Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure” was held in Astana on July 8-11, 2017, and was co-organized by Nazarbayev University and Fudan University. The event gathered 66 students from 32 countries around the world. The annual event was launched in 2007 by Fudan University, and sponsored by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in China. It now takes place in different locations every year to inspire youth to engage in global governance.

In 2017, the Youth Summit on Global Governance (on the theme “One Belt One Road and Youth Global Governance”) was organized withinYICGG-2017. On July 11, 2017, in the framework of YICGG, Fudan University senior leadership visited Nazarbayev University.

On July 3-17, 2018, Nazarbayev University hosted the "Asia Deep Dive" program (ADD), a new two-week cultural immersion program for students of the Asian Universities Alliance (AUA) member institutions.

A diverse group of 24 undergraduate students came from the following 13 AUA universities: Chulalongkorn University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, King Saud University, National University of Singapore, Nazarbayev University, Peking University, Seoul National University, Tsinghua University, University of Colombo, University of Malaya, University of Tokyo, and University of Yangon.

During the two weeks, the participants were immersed in the culture of Kazakhstan and Central Asia through lectures, sightseeing tours in Astana, and field trips to other regions of Kazakhstan. They attended a series of special classes on the Kazakh language, culture, and history. The participants also learned about modern Kazakhstan’s development, its economic and healthcare policies, as well as state programs on digitalization and modernization of public consciousness through exciting presentations by distinguished speakers.

The ADD participants traveled to the southern part of Kazakhstan to have a fully immersive experience of local culture and diversity of landscapes; and exposure to the history of the ancient Silk Road. The field trip route included the cities of Shymkent, Turkestan and Almaty.

The ADD program held at Nazarbayev University was a great contribution toward achieving the AUA objective of fostering a multicultural learning environment and promoting cultural exchanges among students.

About AUA: In 2017, fifteen flagship universities of the respective nations from across Asia jointly launched the Asian Universities Alliance (AUA), which is a first of its kind coalition with global commitment, excellence and networks. The mission of the Alliance is to jointly address regional and global challenges, specifically related to higher education and economic, scientific and technological development, by strengthening collaboration among each other.

On July 11-12, 2018, Nazarbayev University representatives visited Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Hong Kong PolyU), one of the members of the Executive Council of the University Alliance of the Silk Road (UASR), to conduct negotiations for further cooperation; especially on students exchange, and to become more familiar with the operation of the university. The NU delegation was represented by three groups of interests: International Cooperation, Finance and Budgeting, as well as Archives and Documentation Support.

During the visit, the hosts arranged a comprehensive tour around the campus; demonstrating modern university facilities, and services provided to students to help them accommodate, integrate with the community, and plan their future study and career path. Also, the hosting university shared their working practices and experience; demonstrating the structure and workflow in the departments of international affairs, student affairs, as well as in the administration of international students, admissions, documentation, finance, and audit at the Hong Kong PolyU.

As a result, further steps for enhancing cooperation between the two universities in students exchange were discussed; and the key academic areas of engineering, science, and technology were identified as the priority.

NU cooperation with Hong Kong PolyU started with the conclusion of a Memorandum of Understanding to promote further cooperation in sharing best practices, mobility, joint research, and projects on July 19, 2017. Last year, the President of Hong Kong PolyU, Professor Timothy W.Tong, visited Nazarbayev University with the Deans of the Schools of Engineering and Applied Science and Textiles. Concurrently, on 25-27 July, 2017, NU hosted 43 undergraduate students participating in the Silk Road International Summer School organized by the joint efforts of Hong Kong PolyU and Xi’an Jiaotong University. Afterwards, the cooperation was sustained through mutual visits, and participation in various conferences.