The Office of the Provost provides institutional support for the development, review, and implementation of academic policies and educational initiatives that advance enhancements in learning and teaching experiences.
In particular, the scope of the Office’s efforts encompasses:
- Advancement of the university-wide approaches to improving the quality of education delivery;
- Provision of institutional oversight to enhance the overall quality of instruction, curriculum design, and program management;
- Support of academic professionals in applying innovations in teaching and learning;
- Support of institutional planning and effectiveness through institutional research;
- Promotion of technology-enhanced learning processes across the university;
- Coordination of external institutional review processes.
Office: №4006, Block C2
Phone: + 7 (7172) 70 90 45
Mail: provostoffice@nu.edu.kz
Address: 53, Kabanbay batyr Ave., 010000, Astana, Kazakhstan
Rehan Sadiq
Provost
Prof. Sadiq is a world-renowned researcher and academic leader whose research in asset management of water supply systems, environmental risk analysis, and lifecycle assessment of the built environment has earned international acclaim.
His 800 publications, with approximately 29,000 citations, place him among the 100 top-cited civil engineering researchers worldwide. Prof. Sadiq is a Fellow of five major professional societies and engineering associations in Canada and has been honored with the prestigious CSCE Albert E. Berry Medal for his contributions to environmental engineering.
He joins NU from his role as Provost and Vice-President Academic (Okanagan campus), Professor of Civil Engineering, and Distinguished University Scholar at the University of British Columbia (UBC). As Provost and member of UBC Executive, he led or co-led key strategic initiatives to strengthen the University, including increasing the number of international students at UBC Okanagan campus, securing significant number of additional government funded student places in health and technology related areas, launching new programs (at Bachelor, Masters and Doctoral levels) in engineering, business, education, health and natural sciences, and consolidating UBC’s position among the world’s finest universities (41st in Times Higher Education ranking).
Bjorn Birgisson
Vice Provost for Research and Innovation
Professor Birgisson is a globally recognized researcher in sustainable infrastructure systems, pavements and transportation engineering, and sustainable construction materials. He is an international member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and theEngineering Mechanics Institute.
Throughout his career, Professor Birgisson has held senior academic and research leadership positions at leading universities worldwide. As Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of Engineering at Aston University (UK), he increased student enrollment by 45%. As Vice President for Research at KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), he led the university to the top national ranking in European Union Horizon 2020 grant funding, reinforcing its standing among Europe’s leading technical universities. As a Distinguished Professor at Texas A&M University (USA), he founded and directed the Center for Infrastructure Renewal, which became a national hub for research in the field. Professor Birgisson holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota.
Aida Sagintayeva
Vice Provost for Academic Planning and Budget and Dean of the Graduate School of Education
Doctor Sagintayeva (Ph.D., Ablai Khan Kazakh University of International Relations and World Languages) is a person who started her professional career from being a faculty at M. H. Dulati Taraz State University. Dr. Sagintayeva was a Vice-Rector for International Cooperation at the Eurasian National University.
Luis Ramón Rojas-Solórzano
Associate Provost for Graduate Studies
Doctor Luis Ramón Rojas-Solórzano is a visionary, strategic, and proactive academic leader who has built a successful career in higher education for more than 30 years. He got his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering in 1997 at Carnegie Mellon University, USA. He started his academic career in 1988 after a three-year stint in the industry. He got his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering and MSc in hydraulics engineering at the Universidad Simón Bolívar, Venezuela (1985, 1991), which was the place where he grew his first 25 years in academia, retiring as a tenured, full professor in 2013.
Doctor Rojas-Solórzano has been a visiting professor and scientist in the USA (Carnegie Mellon University, Phillips-Respironics, DRESSER-RAND), France (IMT-Atlantique, Nantes), Spain (UPC), Portugal (UNL-NSCT), and Peru (PUCP). After joining NU in 2013, Doctor Rojas-Solórzano has served as head of Graduate Programs, and most recently, director of Graduate Studies in SEDS, successfully applying the NU graduate framework to masters and doctoral programs. Doctor Rojas-Solórzano is an experienced academic who practices a student-centered educational approach and respects the multiple and varied perspectives of his peer faculty, staff, students, and the community he has served. He believes that influential educational leaders of today appreciate diversity as a valuable resource to strengthen inclusion and enhance excellence in higher education. The associate provost of Graduate Studies oversees academic and administrative support to ensure a high-quality educational experience for all NU masters and doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars. Dr. Rojas was appointed to this post in January 2022. In September 2022, he received the inaugural “NASA POWER/RETScreen Excellence Award, Category: Educators and Researchers,” recognizing his achievements in research-integrated teaching of clean energy technologies.
Lasha Markozashvili
Associate Provost for Teaching and Student Success
Lasha Markozashvili is an accomplished leader with over a decade of progressive experience in higher education leadership and public administration, specializing in academic governance, strategic transformation, and quality assurance.
Prior to joining NU, he served as the Assistant Vice President at American International University, Kuwait. In this role, he provided strategic oversight for academic schools and successfully coordinated critical institutional and program-level accreditation efforts. Previously, as Vice-Rector at the British University in Georgia, he delivered significant results by successfully managing and securing full institutional accreditation and finalizing the validation of academic programs with the University of Buckingham. His background also includes valuable experience in public service, having served in the Georgian government as Deputy Head of the Analytical Division at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where he was responsible for coordinating complex interagency policy initiatives and crisis management operations. He holds a PhD in Political Science from Adam Mickiewicz University.
