Aitolkyn was selected as one of only eight Young Rock Engineers worldwide to participate in the 9th ISRM Early Career Forum in New Delhi, India — a prestigious recognition of her talent and potential in the field of rock engineering. She published three high-impact journal articles in top-tier (Q1, top 10%) journals, including: "Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment".

Aitolkyn authored seven conference papers presented at major international forums, including: "European Rock Mechanics Symposium (EUROCK)", "World Tunneling Congress (WTC)". She recently joined PwC Kazakhstan as a Consultant in the Metals & Mining Practice, specializing in strategic and operational consulting services.

Qaiser Khan has demonstrated outstanding academic and research achievements, including acceptance into the PhD program in petroleum engineering at the University of Wyoming (USA) with a fully funded scholarship. His scholarly contributions span several international conferences, where he presented pioneering work on enhanced oil recovery, machine learning applications in petroleum engineering, and CO₂ diffusion modeling. He has also submitted research papers to high-impact conferences, and are under review in a top tier journal.

Torekeldi has been a very good student and managed to publish 3 international conference papers, 2 Q1 journal papers, and has another journal paper in preparation. He participated in two international conferences and presented his work.

Nurgul Makhmetova is one of the best students in the MD program. She was ranked very highly by the hospital clerkship preceptors during her clinical courses. As a result of her longitudinal scholarly project in the human papillomavirus epidemiology, Nurgul co-authored a publication in a Q1 journal.

Olaoluwa Fabiyi has an impressive academic record, highlighted by his research on transcriptomics meta-analysis, which identifies key genes and proteins associated with traumatic brain injury. During his studies, Olaoluwa published a paper in an international peer-reviewed journal, and two manuscripts from his master's thesis are currently under review in scientific journals. He was also involved in providing support to international student community at NU.

Daiana Naiman is a top academic performer whose research focuses on the gene regulation during physical activity. Her strong interest in exercise physiology is further demonstrated by her participation in a series of extracurricular courses she took in exercise physiology, biomechanics, and rehabilitation and by the publication of a scientific paper while she was studying at NU.

Nuraiym has been an exemplary student and top academic performer throughout her 4 years in the BSN program. She has excelled in both the classroom and clinical setting in the BSN program. Her Capstone Research Project titled "Influence of Maternal Sociodemographic Factors and Co-morbidities on Neonatal Congenital Heart Disease" was exceptional - the winner of 1st prize in her Capstone Defense.

In addition to academics, Nuraiym has been athletically active as a member of the NU Women's Basketball Team and this year was awarded MVP (most valuable player). She served as Head of Media for the NU Basketball Club.

Following graduation, Nuraiym has been accepted into the MD program at NUSOM where she will continue her medical career.

Gulmerey Yeshengazina, a graduate of the Bachelor of Nursing Program (the 2-year program for working nurses), has demonstrated academic excellence, graduating top in her class. Working full time in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) at the CF UMC Heart Center, she has balanced the demands of both work and academia, achieving Dean's List and excelling every semester. Gulmerey has demonstrated leadership and professionalism, promoting the profession of Nursing in various course activities and social media projects. Her group Capstone Research project "Cardiac Surgery Centre Intensive Care Unit Nurses' Knowledge and Self-reported Compliance of Evidence-Based Guidelines for Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia Prevention" is the first such study in Kazakhstan, with plans to extend the study to other ICUs. She is an exemplary example of a nurse who believes in the power of higher education and the power of Nursing!

Karina did exceptionally well in her Capstone project titled "Predictors of All-cause Mortality among Hospitalized HIV Patients in Kazakhstan: a Retrospective Study". During this project, she demonstrated outstanding skills on retrospective data collection, statistical analysis, data presentation, data interpretation, manuscript drafting and discussion of the obtained results.

Alissa Koltunova was one of the most engaged, active and hard working students, one of the founders of the Public Health Club, class leader. She undertook and performed successfully a very challenging from methodological and practical/ethical aspects mixed-methods research for her thesis project.

Dinara is redefining reproductive health through science that speaks to real lives. Her solid research record on IVF outcomes and women’s experiences bridges clinical care and public health, with global relevance. As a rising clinician-scientist, she champions evidence-based, compassionate solutions for fertility — not just for Kazakhstan, but for the world.

5 Hackathon wins in 2024, including the nFactorial LLM Cup (1st), HackNU (2nd), and Decentrathon 2.0 (3rd).

Data Scientist at EPAM Systems (since 3rd year).

Co-founder of DukenAI, securing over $250K investment from Microsoft and Google, with 25+ active stores.

Leading research on Language Acquisition using Neural Models in collaboration with Professor Marko Ristin, with a product release planned for May and an upcoming publication in TengriNews, focusing on a language learning app for Kazakh, including pronunciation challenges.

Top 10% GPA in Computer Science.

Finalist in a nFactorial Incubator, developed an AI-powered exam app adopted by 150+ teachers.

Driven by passion for engineering, I excel at Nazarbayev University in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. After my second year, I was selected as an Amgen Scholar at the University of Tokyo, where I refined research skills. In my third year, I earned $9,500 grant from Shakhmardan Yessenov Foundation to intern at Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, deepening my aerospace expertise. In Spring 2024, I joined Global UGRAD Exchange Program at West Virginia University. As an NU Research Assistant, I published conference papers and secured offers, including a PhD at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology and Erasmus Mundus scholarships.

A fourth-year student at the SEDS School majoring in Computer Science. During her undergraduate studies, she interned at Sergek and worked as an NLP engineer at Beeline. She actively participated in organizing hackathons within the ACM student club while also working as a research assistant in the HRI and SEDS laboratories.

She attended the SecureWV conference in Charleston and represented SEDS at the AUA forum. She was awarded the UGRAD scholarship from the U.S. Embassy, which allowed her to study abroad at Bluefield State University in West Virginia.

She plans to continue her education at the University of California, Santa Cruz — one of the top three universities in the U.S. for natural language processing (NLP) programs.

Asset Aliyev is a senior Chemical and Materials Engineering student with a strong focus on materials science. He has co-authored several research articles in journals such as Communications Materials and Scientific Reports, and presented his work at CHISA 2024 and other international conferences. Asset led a YRA-funded project on solar hydrogen production and received the “Zhi-Hong Excellence” Scholarship for a summer school at SJTU. In 2023, he interned at Aalto University, working on energy storage materials. He also represented NU at the AUA Youth Forum 2024 and revitalized the NU Table Tennis Club, serving as its President in Fall 2024.

Zhibek interned in Google as part of the Google STEP program in Zurich after her second year of undergraduate. Did a Software Engineering Placement Program in London where she worked on a Bloomberg Terminal features as a backend developer. Further, successfully shipped a new feature in Google’s Android Search App with 1 billion monthly users. Has been offered a New Graduate SWE position at top tech companies (Google, Bloomberg). Ex member of NU ACM club and finalist at Nfactorial Incubator (prestigious software development incubator in Kazakhstan).

Sultan Rzagaliyev is a graduating Computer Science student at the School of Engineering and Digital Sciences. He completed software engineering internships at Bloomberg in London (Trade Automation & Execution team) and New York (Post Trade team), as well as at Google in Krakow (Google Cloud Platform team). His work focused on backend development and large-scale distributed systems. Actively engaged in competitive programming contests on platforms such as LeetCode and Codeforces, Sultan values continuous learning and technical excellence. With a strong foundation and international experience, he aspires to drive impactful solutions and contribute to innovation in the tech industry.

Merey Orazaly, 2nd year Master’s student in Data Science, ranked top 1 of the department by GPA and was nominated with the Dean’s List award for both the Fall and Spring 2024 semesters. Actively engaged in research, currently co-authoring a paper titled "Efficient Multi-modal Transformer Hyper-parameters Optimization for Stress Detection on the WESAD dataset", focusing on advancing deep learning in mental health. Working as a data analyst in GovTech, collaborating with the Presidential Administration and the President’s Affairs Administration of the Republic of Kazakhstan to develop analytical tools and dashboards that support high-level decision-making and improve governance efficiency through real-time, data-driven insights.

A dedicated student leader and researcher, Aliyar Kadyrov served as the Undergraduate Student Representative at the Teaching and Learning Committee of SEDS and held a two-year role in Student Government as the Vice Minister of Education. Aliyar resolved over 120 academic cases, contributed to the update of the University Assessment Policy and the Spring Break Shift, and was a voting member of key university committees. As a Research Assistant to Professor Dichuan Zhang, Aliyar assisted in the seismic retrofitting research using geopolymer composites. Additionally, Aliyar represented the fourth year students in the Graduation Steering Committee 2025, and was a major representative of CEE students.

co-authored a Q1 paper (doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.1393755) and first-authored a Q2 paper (10.1007/s10965-025-04349-5). Leading my research group, I designed experiments for projects, and our poster won "People's Choice" award at NUARC 2024.

As an intern at KPO, I resolved a real-world engineering issues (particularly, optimized flow rates for corroded heat exchanger).

Socially active, I served as President of NU Taekwondo Club, Vice-President of NU AIChE, and YBS member. With AIChE, I was a part of gold-winning team in Chem-E-Car 2023 competition in India, and as Taekwondo athlete, I earned bronze in the Kazakhstan Cup 2024.

These achievements secured my admission to KAUST for Chemical Engineering.

In 2025, Akmaral won 1st place at the BCG International Case Championship, competing with top universities from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan. She also secured 1st place in national hackathons held by CSI, ERG, Sergek Group, DASCO, and others. Professionally, she completed internships at KazMinerals and Eurasian Resources Group, where she contributed to mine planning and operations strategy. At Wood Mackenzie, she led data analysis on global CO₂ storage projects. Alongside her studies, she volunteered as a math tutor for children from socially vulnerable families through the Children Development Fund and Red Crescent clubs.

Aimurat Zhetkizgenov is a Top-1 Computer Science student at Nazarbayev University, leading his class of 257 with four consecutive Dean’s List honors. He’s a builder at heart, developing AI-powered assistants, a cutting-edge multi-agent RAG system, and driving backend development at fast-paced startups. At Surfaice, he engineered LLM-driven tools that transformed construction workflows. As a Research Assistant, he created a real-time soil-water monitoring platform to support sustainable design in Kazakhstan. From launching automation tools to leading Student Government MRS initiatives, Aimurat is shaping the future with code, curiosity, and bold execution.

Highly skilled researcher in advanced lithium-ion battery technologies with two publications, presented at six international and local conferences across Kazakhstan, the USA, France, and Turkey; two more publications and a patent are in progress. Finalist of an international sustainability championship in Nizhnekamsk, funded by SIBUR Holding. Top-3 graduate in Master of Engineering Management'2025, Dean’s List diplomas holder, and capstone team leader. Former president of the Kazakh Stage club and Student Government member. TechOrda scholarship recipient. Recently secured a job at a Saudi IT company specializing in smart home solutions after successfully completing the Astana Hub Bootcamp 2.0 internship.

Yerzhan is an undergraduate Computer Science student who has distinguished himself as both a leader and a researcher. In the Student Government, he served as Minister of Media and Vice President, leading the mascot launch, SG rebranding, and building strong partnerships with school councils. As Chair of the ACM Student Chapter, Yerzhan organized workshops, tech talks, and hackathons—empowering students to pursue IT and advocating for women in STEM. He conducted HCI research with Professor Martin Lukac and is currently completing his senior project in the HRI Lab. He was admitted to NU’s Master’s in Data Science and interns as a Data Engineer at Beeline Kazakhstan.

Alumna of the School of Sciences and Humanities with a major in Chemistry. Ranked first in her cohort and recognized multiple times on the Dean’s List, Kuralay conducted research at the Advanced Nanomaterials Laboratory under the supervision of Professor Timur Atabaev. Her work focuses on semiconducting metal oxides, two-dimensional materials, and hybrid structures for photoelectrochemical water splitting and environmental remediation. She is the author of four peer-reviewed journal articles and a book chapter published by Elsevier. Kuralay presented her research at international conferences, including ACS Spring 2024 (USA), APMAS 2024 (Türkiye), NN23 (Greece), and KISM 2023 (South Korea). She has also received competitive research grants through the Sustainability Living Lab programme and the FRIP initiative by the Young Researchers Alliance.

Alumna of the School of Sciences and Humanities with a major in Languages, Linguistics, and Literature, graduated with honors, ranking top 3 in the LLL cohort. As a Writing Fellow at Nazarbayev University and beyond, she supported over 300 applicants, helping secure admissions to international programs. Her bachelor's capstone, a study on lexical storage and processing, has been submitted to the prestigious European AMLaP-2025 conference. She is passionate about interdisciplinary learning, pushing beyond by completing courses in machine learning, calculus, and statistics at NU, which she applied to original research, such as designing an LLM-bias evaluation dataset for Kazakh and analyzing lexical processing. Kamila served as Vice-Minister of Education in the Student Government, leading initiatives to improve student access to resources and actively supported the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also organized cultural events as part of the NU Japanese Club, including a concert attended by the Ambassador of Japan. Kamila was admitted to the competitive MSc Language Technology program at Saarland University, reflecting her growing focus on the intersection of language and technology.

Undergraduate student of the School of Sciences and Humanities majoring in World Languages, Linguistics, Literatures, and Cultures. She is among the top four students in her cohort and has consistently received the Dean’s list award. She is proficient in Spanish, French, and Turkish. Her Capstone project explores the role of female archetypes in Mexican poetry. She is an active member of the Latino Social Dance Club and Spanish Club, where she helped organize events attended by the Ambassador of Spain. She was also invited to a formal lunch at the Ambassador’s residence. She completed a course from the oldest Spanish institution, the University of Salamanca. Additionally, she interned at the Ministry of External Affairs of Kazakhstan and the Samuryk Business Academy.

Undergraduate student of the School of Sciences and Humanities majoring in Sociology. She participated in the exchange program at Renmin University of China and was selected for the ValEUs summer school at Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey. Former president of NU Sociology and Anthropology Students’ Association (SASA), co-founder of NU Philosophy Club “Vox”, AAO mentor, and Student Government member. Ranking first in her cohort, she is a recipient of the President’s Stipend for her academic excellence and the Jacafa Scholarship by Nippon Foundation, annually awarded to 5 driven students from Kazakhstan. She is a research assistant for Professor Matvey Lomonosov’s project on Citizenship and National Identity in Eurasia, a Writing Fellow under the NU Writing Center, and a student representative for the student-led journal “Eurasian Insights”.

Alumna of the School of Sciences and Humanities with a major in Political Science and International Relations. She worked as a Research Assistant to Professor Alexei Trochev, contributing to research on the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which was published in the Harvard Dataverse. She also interned at the Kazakhstan Institute of Public Development and the CoronaNet Research Project, contributing to research on governance and policy-making. Additionally, she gained professional experience as an assistant in the Marketing Department of the School of Sciences and Humanities. Involved throughout her university experience, she was a member of the Association of Political Science Students, Legal Literacy Club, E.quality, and the NU K-Pop Cover Dance Club (YBS), where she helped promote intercultural engagement and gender equality on campus through both academic and extracurricular activities.

Being one of the top students in her major, Madina Shakar has demonstrated outstanding academic abilities, as she was published in the “Journal of Eurasian Studies” as a co-author and assisted in projects on Central Asian politics, sustainability, and multiethnic governance. She established the Beine student organization, raising awareness on climate and gender issues via art exhibitions across Astana and promoting charity culture on a grassroots level. For her exceptional academic and non-academic performance, she received Nazarbayev University President's stipend and sponsorship from the School of Sciences and Humanities, representing Kazakhstan at the European Universities Debating Championship 2023 in Burgas, Bulgaria. Madina Shakar was accepted to the universities of Oxford and ETH Zurich for her further academic pursuits.

Alumna of the School of Sciences and Humanities with a major in Political Science and International Relations. Involved in 4 research projects led by Dr. Jessica Neafie, Dr. Andrey Semenov and Dr. Sabina Insebayeva, she studied a range of topics including multivector foreign policy, connective action against domestic violence and nuclear energy politics in Kazakhstan. As a co-founder of Qazaq youth initiative "Steppe Organization for Peace", she advocates for just victim assistance for the survivors of nuclear weapon testing at Semipalatinsk Test Site. She attended the UN Headquarters in New York City in 2023 and 2025, and EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium Conference in Brussels in 2024. As the President of E.Quality Club at NU, she initiated and co-led the anti-harassment campaign "Respect. Empower. Prevent.", fostering institutional change and community engagement.

Undergraduate Mathematics Student at Nazarbayev University and President of the Student Government, representing over 7,000 students and leading eight ministries. Over the course of the year, she dedicated more than 700 hours to student government activities. She collaborated with university leadership, faculty, and staff, playing a key role in addressing student concerns and implementing positive changes across campus. As a Research Assistant in the Green Energy and Environmental Research Group, she investigates microplastic pollution using microscopy and lab methods. She also interned at the Economic Research Institute, where she analyzed macroeconomic indicators and worked with the Bureau of National Statistics on national datasets. In summer 2024, she represented Kazakhstan in Indonesia as part of the AUA Asia Deep Dive exchange program, promoting cultural and academic collaboration across Asia. In recognition of her contributions, she received the Tolyq Adam 2025 award. Outside of academics, she is the creator of Study Plum, an educational YouTube channel with over 7,000 subscribers, making learning accessible and engaging for all students in the region.

Future graduate student at MIT Sloan School of Management in the Master of Finance program with a concentration in Financial Engineering. Alumnus of Nazarbayev University with a major in Mathematics and double minors in Economics and Quantitative Finance. Former intern at Ernst & Young. Research assistant on projects in optical physics and economic modeling. Associate Analyst at the NU Student Investment Fund. Winner of Central Asia’s first Stock Pitch Competition. Finalist at the Harvard Global Case Championship. Contributor to trading algorithm development and inflation forecasting research

Alumnus of the School of Sciences and Humanities at Nazarbayev University, with a major in History. He worked as a Research Assistant under Professor Rozaliya Garipova, contributing to a project on the history of marital law, religious reforms, and the regulation of Islam in the Volga-Ural region. His own research focused on imperial religious reforms in the Northern Kazakh Steppe, with particular attention to the relationship between Russian colonial governance and local religious authority. He presented his findings at the Fourth European Convention on Turkic, Ottoman, and Turkish Studies “Turkologentag 2023” in Vienna, as well as at the 8th Annual Conference on Collaborative Governance in Transitional States at Nazarbayev University’s Graduate School of Public Policy in 2024. In 2023, he also contributed to the organization of the National Scholarly Student Conference “Zhas Ghalym V.” Beyond his academic work, he conducted oral history interviews with elderly citizens of Kazakhstan and published articles as part of the media project Terek Story. He also completed an internship at the Presidential Archive of Kazakhstan in Almaty, where he worked as both an Intern Archivist and Assistant at the Center for Educational Projects and International Cooperation, gaining practical experience with Russian-language archival documents.

Alumna of the School of Sciences and Humanities with a major in Economics. She worked as a research assistant to an interdisciplinary project on Circular Economy under the guidance of Professor Ferhat Karaca, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Professor Zhanna Kapsalyamova, Department of Economics. For her academic performance, Aruzhan was awarded the President's Stipend three times. She will pursue a MSc degree in Economics at University of Bonn.

I’m an MBA '25 alumni. I'm a Head of Marketing with over 5 years of experience promoting educational products in both B2C and B2B sectors across the CIS market. Throughout my career, I have launched over five educational products from scratch, generating a total revenue of $20,000+. I develop marketing strategies, build and manage teams, make strategic and tactical decisions, and work closely with funnel analytics and performance data.

I am Zeeshan Mohammad, a Full-Time Master of Business Student 2025, and after completing my MBA I am currently working as a Manager in the Reserve Bank of India in Mumbai (India). Reserve Bank of India is equivalent to the National Bank of Kazakhstan

Aliya is an Executive MBA graduate of Nazarbayev University, having completed the program with honors. A recipient of the prestigious Bolashak international scholarship, she also holds a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management from the United Kingdom.

Currently, she leads the HR Projects and Policies function at Tengizchevroil, Kazakhstan’s largest oil and gas company. She is an ICF-certified coach and a certified change management professional, with a strong focus on talent development, internal capability building, and knowledge sharing. Aliya is a frequent speaker at professional conferences and an advocate for continuous learning in the workplace. Beyond her corporate role, she is deeply committed to volunteer work supporting educational, environmental and social initiatives of the community. Aliya coaches and mentors young professionals helping them to unleash their potential and inspire them to further development. She actively promotes diversity and inclusion principles within and outside her workplace.

As part of her EMBA journey, Aliya co-authored a capstone project focused on launching a poultry farm in Astana — a socially impactful and economically viable business model aimed at supporting food security and regional development. The project attracted immediate interest from potential investors and demonstrated how academic insight can translate into real-world entrepreneurial solutions.

She regards the EMBA program as a transformative experience — one that deepened her strategic perspective, enhanced her leadership effectiveness, and connected her with a diverse, high-impact professional network.

Altynay Nashirali graduated with honors from the Master’s in Finance program at Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Business (NU GSB), earning a perfect 4.0 GPA. She previously completed her undergraduate studies in Mathematics at NU.

Her master’s thesis explored how Kazakhstan’s stock market responds to monetary and fiscal policy signals - an interest sparked during her internship at the National Bank of Kazakhstan. As part of the master’s program, she also attended the Summer School at the London School of Economics. Currently working as a research assistant at NU GSB, her research interests include asset pricing and climate finance. She aspires to pursue a PhD and a career in academia.

Aigerim is an alumna of the Multilingual Education program at Nazarbayev University and holds a second Master’s degree in Gender Studies from Spain. Her research on curriculum ideologies among Kazakh language teacher educators, framed through a Third Space perspective, earned her the LISIG Thesis Award. She promotes digital literacy through a local NGO, supporting both children and elderly learners. Fluent in five languages, she explores how education fosters identity, belonging, and care. Aigerim is committed to building inclusive, reflective learning environments in both classrooms and broader communities.

Alumna of Nazarbayev University’s Graduate School of Education, Aigerim Kazhigaliyeva holds an MA in Multilingual Education and a PhD in Education. Her doctoral thesis on English-medium instruction in Kazakhstani universities now guides the bilingual teaching model she oversees as Deputy Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities at Astana International University. Aigerim founded the volunteer initiative University Bridge in 2020; through 13 multilingual research-sharing sessions it has linked nearly 1000 early-career scholars from fifteen Kazakhstani and several partner overseas universities, catalysing cross-border collaboration and mentorship . She represented NU at the Asian Universities Alliance Youth Forum in Malaysia, championed student interests as class representative, and continues to advance equitable, innovative practice across Kazakhstan’s higher-education landscape.

I began my career as a physics teacher and spent many years in the classroom before taking on a leadership role as a vice principal. During this time, our students achieved outstanding success in international science Olympiads, winning medals in nearly every top competition available to school students. Thanks to these results, our school was recognized as “The Best Olympiad School” for ten consecutive years.

Currently, I serve as the Head of the Project Department at the "Bilim-Innovation" International Social Foundation. Our department works to share the best practices of our schools by supporting and training teachers across the country. Over the past three years, we have trained nearly 20,000 teachers in more than 350 schools and equipped 137 schools, mainly science classrooms, with high-quality educational tools and equipment. Our work integrates teacher training, classroom improvement, and ongoing mentoring.

In 2014, I completed an internship in Education Management at the University of Leicester in the UK through the Bolashak program. After ten years, just as I encouraged my students to pursue excellence, I also chose to continue my own learning. In my 40s, I enrolled in the MSc in Education Leadership program at NUGSE as part of my professional growth. My thesis focuses on the professional development of rural teachers—an area that combines both my field experience and long-standing commitment to supporting educators in rural areas. In addition to my thesis work, we have also published two academic journal articles on rural education. Based on these articles, we have subsequently published a guidebook, further contributing to the growing body of knowledge in this important area.

Slyamzhar Akhmetzharov is a graduate of the PhD program in Public Policy at the Graduate School of Public Policy, Nazarbayev University. He has worked in several analytical institutions, including serving as a department head at the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. He currently works in public sector. The knowledge and experience he gained at the university have provided a solid foundation for his dedicated service to the country.

Aneliya Kassymova is a student from Graduate School of Public Policy (MPP, 1st Year). She recently achieved first place at both the regional and global levels of the NASPAA Student Simulation Competition 2025, distinguishing herself among top public policy students from leading institutions, including New York University and Cornell University. Her outstanding performance demonstrated advanced policy analysis, data-driven decision-making, and collaborative leadership in addressing urgent global challenges. Recognized for her high academic standing, Aneliya also leads impactful sustainability initiatives with SDSN Youth Kazakhstan and conducts research on public-private partnerships in waste management. Her drive, leadership, and accomplishments continue to position her as a rising force in public policy and sustainable development.

Dastan Kosherbayev is a distinguished graduate of the Graduate School of Public Policy at Nazarbayev University (MPA, 2022). He currently serves as Chief Strategy and International Development Officer and Member of the Management Board at NAC Kazatomprom JSC.

Dastan began his career in investment policy before transitioning into the nuclear industry in 2016. Over the years, he has held several key leadership roles at Kazatomprom, including Deputy Executive Director of JV KATCO, Director of the Sales Department, and Chief Commercial Officer. Since 2023, he is a Member of the company’s Management Board.

With a strong foundation in both business and public administration, Dastan exemplifies the values of leadership, strategic thinking, and public service fostered at GSPP.

Ayana Karakozhayeva, graduating with a Master’s in Mining Engineering, has made remarkable contributions to environmental sustainability through her research on mine tailings. Her work harnesses machine learning and geostatistics to tackle the critical challenge of acid mine drainage (AMD)—helping to transform mine tailings from an environmental risk into an opportunity for responsible mining. Ayana presented her innovative research at GeoEnv 2024 in Greece and co-authored a paper in a top-tier Q1 journal. She is a rising leader in data-driven solutions for mine waste management and sustainable mining.

Saule Kassymova is a PhD graduate from the Graduate School of Public Policy of 2024. Her research focused on vaccine hesitancy and public trust in health systems. Her dissertation examined the role of trust in COVID-19 vaccination in Kazakhstan from 2020 to 2022, employing discourse analysis, social media content analysis, secondary quantitative data analysis, and observational research. She currently works at the World Health Organization Country Office in Kazakhstan, supporting efforts to improve vaccine demand and acceptance.

Yermukhan Zhuniskenov has published 5 journal articles and 6 conference papers indexed in Scopus between 2022 and 2025, accumulating a total of 51 citations and achieving an h-index of 4—all before completing his Master’s degree. Yermukhan actively participated in two international conferences, and was in the list of main presenters in one the conferences held in Kuala Lumpur. His research focuses on the utilization of natural polymers and nanoparticles to enhance oil recovery, contributing innovative approaches to the field.

Adiya Muratkhozhina was an integral member of our research team in several industrial projects. She contributed to projects with Kazmunaygas and Kazgermunay focused on enhancing oil recovery from fields in Kazakhstan. She was also the main researcher in a joint research project between Nazarbayev University and KBTU. Adiya also co-authored a Q1 journal publication, based on her research. Beyond academics, she served as the president of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) student chapter and actively participated in various university activities and committees at the school level.

Aruzhan Anuarbekova as the best student of the MMM program. Academically, she is at the top of her class. Aruzhan is a fine thinker who appreciates the complexity of biomedical matters. She is always punctual on assignments and performed very well in all MMM courses. She has a bright future in front of her and will certainly become a talented scientist.

Akniyet Kenzheshova is studying biomarkers of bladder cancer, and has published an article in Current Medicinal Chemistry journal - the neuroprotective role of the novel GLP-1R agonist in Alzheimer’s disease.

Zhalaliddin Makhammajanov published 6 papers during his PhD, 3 of them as first author, all of which are Q1. In the course of his PhD he has become the NUSOM expert in mass spectrometry and managed to finish his thesis early.

After a summer working as a waiter during Work and Travel —while classmates interned—I felt behind and vowed to transform adversity into opportunity. I taught myself Python and AI, winning the DataSaur Hackathon with a fake‑vehicle detection model. At ISSAI, I developed a YOLOv8 wildfire model to save lives and co‑created the OpenThermalPose dataset. I consistently maintained a 3.77 GPA, ranked first in my cohort since year one, earning five Dean’s List honors. I led a team at AI FOR BI to build an AI tender platform, winning the BI Synergy Sprint. At MBZUAI, I advanced multilingual zero‑shot encoder models.

Meruyert Toleuova consistently ranked among the top Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering students throughout her studies at NU and contributed to the WICAN research group, developing an IGABEM-based framework for identifying nanoelement shapes from electromagnetic scattering. In 2024, she founded the NU Aeromodelling Club to promote competitive aerospace engineering at NU. Under her leadership, team LASHYN became the first NU team to qualify for the Teknofest International UAV Competition. Recognized for her academic excellence, research contribution, and leadership, Meruyert received graduate program offers from JHU, UPenn, the University of Padua, and more.

Tomiris is ranked top 1 in her class, has been awarded Dean's List 6 times, and is a member of the University Volleyball team. She has been working as an RA since junior year and have participated in several International Conferences, including International Conference on Smart and Advanced Manufacturing 2024 (ICSAM’24) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and 74th International Astronautical Congress in Baku, Azerbaijan. She has also participated in the 2024 ”Zhi-Hong” International Summer School of Advanced Materials in Shanghai, China, and is now working on a paper as a first author under the supervision of Professor Shriff Gouda. Tomiris was accepted for a Master’s degree at Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, and the University of Padua for a full-ride scholarship, and decided to continue her education at KAIST in the Fall.

Alumnus of the School of Sciences and Humanities at Nazarbayev University with a degree in Anthropology. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Archaeological Anthropology at New York University. As a research assistant, he worked with Dr. Paula Dupuy, Dr. Reed Coil, Dr. Katherine Erdman, and Dr. Abay Namen on multiple archaeological projects across Kazakhstan and Georgia. During his undergraduate studies, Miras participated in excavations at seven archaeological sites. His research interest lies in studying human migration and adaptation to steppe and mountains of Central Asia by analysing ancient stone tools found in different parts of Kazakhstan. Beyond academics, Miras served as president of the NU Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Grappling Club.

PhD student of the School of Sciences and Humanities majoring in Physics. She is a research assistant of Associate Professor Zhandos Utegulov and currently studies heat transfer phenomena in insulators and semiconductors irradiated with swift heavy ions and has spoken at international conferences in the field of radiation damage in materials. She received the Dean’s list award twice. In addition, Anna is an active member of the Women in Science club, which organizes various career guidance events for schoolchildren in Kazakhstan and helps young women scientists develop their professional skills in a comfortable environment.

Aida Anderson is a poet, translator, and literary scholar. A graduate of Nazarbayev University and an MA student in Eurasian Studies, she explores Kazakhstani Russophone literature at the intersection of language, identity, and marginalization. Her poetry and essays have appeared in Angime, Daktil, and Polutona, while her translations have been published in international journals such as Turkoslavia and Tule Review. Aida’s latest poetry cycle, “hunger” (Daktil, 2024), was shortlisted for the Qalamdas Literary Prize named after Olga Markova. Aida was repeatedly named to the Dean’s List for academic excellence and presented her research at the international CESS/ESCAS Conference in Lisbon. In Fall 2025, she will begin her PhD in Slavic and Eurasian Languages and Literatures at Yale University. Aida’s academic work focuses on the emergence of a distinctive Kazakhstani literary tradition in the wake of Independence. This research foregrounds the cultural contributions of marginalized voices, especially in the midst of social, cultural, and political change.

School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Bachelor in Chemical Engineering

Founder of Aqua Point

School of Engineering,

Bachelor in Chemical Engineering

Lead Data Scientist, Apple

School of Science and Technology, Bachelor in Biological Sciences

Human Microbiome Laboratory in the National Laboratory Astana

Graduate School of Education, PhD in Education

Chair of the Board “ORLEU” National Teacher Professional Development Center

School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Bachelor in Economics

Entrepreneur, CEO of “Health Project”

School of Science and Humanities, Bachelor in Mathematics

Deputy head of the Center for Analysis and Monitoring of Socio-Economic Reforms under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Bachelor in Chemical Engineering

Field Engineer, Schlumberger, South Sakhalin, Russia

School of Medicine, Master in Public Health

Deputy Chairperson, National Research Cardiac Surgery Center

Graduate School of Business,

Executive MBA

Deputy Governor of the National Bank of RK

Graduate School of Education, PhD in Education

Rector of K. Zhubanov Aktobe Regional University

School of Medicine, Molecular Medicine

Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Embryologist

School of Engineering,

Master in Engineering Management

Direct Sourcing Manager, Electrovoz Kurastyru Zauyty LLP

Graduate School of Education, Master in Educational Leadership

PhD student at the University of Cambridge, the chair of the "Education For All" non-profit foundation

School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Bachelor in

Electrical Engineering

Founder of AERO Startup

School of Medicine, MD

UNV Laboratory Specialist, WHO

Graduate School of Public Policy,

Master in Public Policy

CEO of SmarTest Prep Educational Company (small enterprise) and founder of the project "Aiyel Bolsam

Graduate School of Public Policy, Master in Public Administration

Vice-Minister of Digital Development, Innovation, and Aerospace Industry

Graduate School of Business, Master in Business Administration

Developer of hybrid FocusED now-SaaS smartphone platform development to be integrated with a virtual classroom mobile application

School of Sciences and Humanities, Bachelor in Physics

PhD student in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University

School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Bachelor in Computer Science and Master in Engineering Management

Founder and CEO of Alpha Design IT Company

School of Mining and Geosciences
Master of Science in Mining Engineering
PhD student at the University of Adelaide

Australian Government-Funded Scholarship holder
The ARC Training Centre for Integrated Operations for Complex Resources member
Publications in Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment (SERRA)

Graduate School of Education
MA in Multilingual Education
PhD student at the Education University of Hong Kong

The Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme recipient by Research Grants Council
Publications in top-tier academic journals: ReCALL, EUROCALL conference proceedings

School of Engineering and Digital Sciences
Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering

PhD student at the University of Arizona

School of Engineering and Digital Sciences
Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Master’s student at the University of Tsukuba

School of Medicine
Master of Public Health

The Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+) PhD grant holder
PhD student at the University of Basel

School of Engineering and Digital Sciences
Master of Science in Robotics

Director for data science department at Jusan Bank

School of Engineering and Digital Sciences
Bachelor of Civil Engineering

Schwarzman Scholars
Founder of Dixi School

School of Sciences and Humanities
Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences

Technical Research Associate at Harvard Medical School
Yessenov Research Scholar