Global Classrooms: NU Students Learn and Grow Around the World
This year, more than 60 Nazarbayev University students spent a semester abroad, studying at top-ranked universities across 12 countries — from Canada and Germany to South Korea, France, Turkey, and Singapore. The experience offered not only access to world-class academics but also new perspectives on global citizenship and culture.
For Aruzhan Mubarak, a Political Science and International Relations student at the School of Sciences and Humanities, a semester at the University of Bremen in Germany opened unexpected academic doors.
“I took courses that weren’t available at NU, like Politics of Mental Health and Party Politics and Social Change,” she says. “ I was able to present Kazakhstan’s perspective on international relations, participate in meaningful discussions, and gain exposure to various global viewpoints.”
Dilnaz Tursynbekova, a master’s student in Eurasian Studies, spent Spring 2025 at Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen through the Erasmus+ Program. Her exchange, she says, was transformative for her research.
“The courses I took, from Understanding Large Language Models to Data Science for Linguistics, directly supported my thesis on improving ChatGPT’s performance in Kazakh,” she explains. “Learning from experts in computational linguistics was both inspiring and deeply motivating.”
For others, cultural immersion proved just as meaningful. Economics student Akerke Berkutova described her semester at Sabancı University in Istanbul as “one of the most transformative chapters” of her life.
“I joined campus events like the Sakura Festival and Ramadan iftar that brought together students from many countries,” she recalls. “Representing NU at an international fair filled me with pride and gratitude. I also discovered new career paths at the university’s job fair.”
Academic exchanges, students say, extend far beyond classroom learning. They cultivate independence, adaptability, and cross-cultural understanding while building lifelong friendships and professional networks. Nazarbayev University continues to expand its network of more than 50 partner institutions in 19 countries, opening new doors for students eager to explore the world. As these young ambassadors return home, they bring back not just knowledge, but a deeper sense of global connection that strengthens the NU community.
