Nazarbayev University (NU) hosted its Embassy Day, welcoming ambassadors and representatives from 15 embassies in Astana, including those of Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, the United States, Uzbekistan and others. The evening opened in a warm and welcoming atmosphere with a performance by the NU Orchestra, followed by remarks from President Professor Waqar Ahmad.
President Ahmad introduced NU’s leadership and academic portfolio, noting that the university rose to the 401–500 band globally in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026, becoming the first among universities in Central Asia and the Caucasus and fourth in the CIS region. A QAA-accredited, research-intensive institution now in its fifteenth year, NU integrates education, research and innovation across engineering, natural sciences, medicine, social sciences, humanities and education.
“Alongside the core mission of any leading university, excellent teaching, high-quality research, and measurable impact on the economy and society, we carry two additional responsibilities. The first is to support the development of higher education across the country. We work with other universities to raise standards in teaching and research. We also run development programs for rectors, vice rectors, deans, and school principals. The second major responsibility is to strengthen the country’s integrated healthcare system. We have an outstanding School of Medicine and the four best teaching hospitals in Kazakhstan,” said President Dr. Waqar Ahmad.
NU currently enrolls about 8,000 students, including international students from 38 countries, across 78 undergraduate, master’s and PhD programs. Vice President Assel Uvaliyeva highlighted the university’s strong culture of research engagement among students.
“About 25% of all new research publications from NU are co-authored by students. We have remarkable examples: for instance, our current PhD student Aizhan Akhmadi made a significant breakthrough in understanding the function of the J1 protein associated with Parkinson’s disease, and published her findings in a Nature Research journal,” she noted.
NU maintains more than 50 university partnerships across 23 countries through active exchange programs. The university also offers its own competitive Abay Grant, which covers full tuition and includes a monthly stipend, for foreign students. Beginning next year, NU will additionally introduce partial Abay Scholarships covering 50%, 40%, or 30% of tuition.
During the reception, the Institute of Smart Systems and Artificial Intelligence (ISSAI NU) showcased its digital innovations, including Kazakhstan’s first Kazakh Large Language Model (ISSAI KAZ-LLM), alongside new multilingual and generative AI tools.
NU Embassy Day 2025 served as an opportunity to build on NU’s relationships with newly appointed ambassadors and share recent institutional achievements and strategic priorities.
Photo: Мухаммедали Набатов, NU Image
