Nazarbayev University

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Nazarbayev University (NU) is an autonomous research university in Astana, Kazakhstan. It was founded by the former President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev in June 2010. It is an English-medium institution, with an international faculty and staff.

Nazarbayev University

Kazakh: Nazarbaev Únıversıteti
Type	Public
Established	2010
President	Waqar Ahmad
Provost	Ilesanmi Adesida
Students	7089
Undergraduates	4790
Postgraduates	1691
Location	Astana , Kazakhstan
Website	nu.edu.kz

History

Nazarbayev University began admitting students to its Foundation Program in Autumn 2010.

In December 22, 2010, the Parliament of Kazakhstan adopted a law granting the University special status, which was further incorporated into the law on the status of Nazarbayev University, Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools, and Nazarbayev Foundation in January 19, 2011. As part of organizational arrangement, the university was made administratively independent from the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan.

In 2012, the Graduate School of Education and the Graduate School of Public Policy began admitting students. In 2013, the Graduate School of Business started to offer Executive MBA programme.

Chinese President Xi Jinping announced what became the Belt and Road Initiative during a 7 September 2013 speech in a lecture theatre at the university. Describing the concept as the "Silk Road Economic Belt," Xi described his vision for increasing connections between Asia and Europe via central Asia.

In June 2015, Nazarbayev University celebrated its first graduation ceremony. 380 Bachelor's degrees and 142 Master's degrees were conferred by the University.

In September 2015, the Nazarbayev University School of Medicine opened with the first admission of students to its M.D. program. In September 2017, School of Mining and Geosciences was opened.

It joined Asian Universities Alliance in 2017 as a founding member. European University Association's Independent external evaluation of NU was published in 2017.

In 2019, the School of Engineering, School of Sciences and Technologies and the School Humanities and Social Sciences were restructured into the School of Engineering and Digital Sciences and the School of Sciences and Humanities.

In February 2020, BALEAP has affirmed full accreditation of NUFYP EAP program of NU Center for Preparatory Studies. The Graduate School of Public Policy (GSPP) Masters programs are fully accredited by the European Association for Public Administration Accreditation (EAPAA) in 2020.

In 2021, University Medical Center was accredited by JCI as a single Medical Center. NU got Full membership in the European University Association and the European Network for Academic Integrity.

In July 2023, due to change in legislation, Nursultan Nazarbayev was removed from the office of the chair of the Supreme Board of Trustees. The current chair is the current president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

In September 2023, the Graduate School of Business (GSB) received accreditation from the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the Business Graduates Association (BGA).

Programs

Nazarbayev University Foundation Year Program (NUFYP)

Most students undergo one-year intensive foundation course at the Center for Preparatory Studies before entering undergraduate programs. The program provides an intensive academic, scientific, and language proficiency preparation for English-medium studies. Education is offered to both for recipients of state scholarship and privately-financed students.

Undergraduate programs

School of Mining and Geosciences (SMG)

• BSc in Geology
• BSc in Petroleum Engineering
• BSc in Mining Engineering

School of Engineering and Digital Sciences (SEDS)

• Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
• Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Computer Science
• Robotics and Mechatronics

School of Sciences and Humanities (SSH)

• Economics
• Political Science & International Relations
• Sociology
• Anthropology
• History
• World Languages and Literature
• Chemistry
• Physics
• Biological Sciences
• Mathematics

School of Medicine (SoM)

• Nursing Program (BSN)
• Nursing
• Nursing Professional Development Program (PDP)
• Medical sciences

School of Business

• Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)

Master's and doctorate programs

• Graduate School of Education
• Graduate School of Public Policy
• Graduate School of Business
• School of Engineering and Digital Sciences
• School of Sciences and Humanities
• School of Medicine
• School of Mining and Geosciences

Professional development programs

• Executive Education programs for top and mid-level managers
• Professional Development Programs at the Graduate School of Education
• Professional Development Program for public sector professionals

Library

Since opening in 2010, the Nazarbayev University Library provides access to information, technology, reference help and programming to support the learning, teaching, and research of students, faculty, and staff.

Access to information

Nazarbayev University Library provides access to a wide range of electronic and printed resources:

• Print Books and e-books
• Audiobooks
• Print periodicals and e-journals
• DVDs
• Encyclopaedias
• Dictionaries
• Central Asian newspaper microforms up to 1860s

The Library supports the language of instruction of the institution by providing a mostly English language collection. To support local culture and interests, the library has a growing collection of Kazakh and Russian literature.

The Library develops the collection according to requests from the Nazarbayev University community and Subject Librarians. Nazarbayev University Library subscribes to more than 60 databases providing access to hundreds of books, thousands of journals and millions of articles. The University of Wisconsin–Madison provides an Interlibrary Loan service for Faculty to request materials not available through the databases.

Nazarbayev University Repository

Nazarbayev University Repository is an institutional electronic archive for long-term storage, accumulation and provision for reliable open access to scientific research results and intellectual products of the Nazarbayev University community. The Repository is an opportunity for faculty, researchers, and graduate students to increase the web visibility and citation count of articles and thesis.

Technology

The Library provides computer workstations, scanners, and assistive learning technologies (Magnifier, JAWS, Braille Translator) to community members with physical and learning disabilities. Also available are E-readers.

Subject and reference librarians

Assigned to each School and Research Center is a personal Librarian that acts as a liaison between the community and the Library. Reference Librarians offer workshops, classroom instruction, and LibGuides to promote information literacy, technology, database training, citations, plagiarism, and much more.

Programming

Throughout the year, the Nazarbayev University Library acts as a consulting and training center for Kazakhstani Librarians by offering workshops, training, seminars, and webinars. The Library holds an annual seminar as a part of Eurasian Higher Education Leaders Forum (EHELF). The Library is an active member of Kazakhstan Association of University Libraries and promotes professional development for Academic Librarians.

Research

Nazarbayev University is a research-oriented university that aims at training human resources in academia and business. Research funding supported through internal research programs, sponsored funds, national and international grants.

In addition to faculty and student research, research undertaken by the following institutions:

• National Laboratory Astana (NLA) - multidisciplinary basic and applied research in the field of life sciences, energy, and other interdisciplinary areas of science, as well as activities to establish a scientific laboratory, experimental bases, centers, institutes for the development and implementation of scientific, scientific and technical, educational programs and training.
• Nazarbayev University Research and Innovation System (NURIS)
• Institute of Smart Systems and Artificial Intelligence - founded 2019, undertakes digital research with the focus on AI and machine intelligence.

Governance

The University is governed by the Board of Trustees, which operates under guidance of the Supreme Board of Trustees that administers the Nazarbayev Fund education system.

NU Campus infrastructure

• 6,811 students, 1,193 staff
• Over 20 buildings in use
• Over 270 research and teaching labs
• Technopark