Two research initiatives from Nazarbayev University have been shortlisted for the Times Higher Education (THE) Asia Awards 2026, recognizing excellence in both STEM and the social sciences. The awards honor outstanding leadership, innovation and institutional impact across Asia’s diverse higher education landscape.
In the “Research Project of the Year: STEM” category, the NU-led project From Earth to Orbit: Kazakhstan’s Breakthrough Battery Technologies for Sustainable Energy and Aerospace was selected for its contribution to clean energy and space technologies. The multidisciplinary team—led by Professor Zhumabay Bakenov, Dr. Batukhan Tatykayev with Dr. Dauren Batyrbekuly and more than 10 researchers and graduate students—developed aerospace-grade lithium-ion batteries designed to operate under simulated space conditions. The project marks Kazakhstan’s first step toward domestically powering satellites and stratospheric unmanned aerial vehicles.
NU’s second shortlisted initiative appears in the “Research Project of the Year: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences” category. Led by Professor Shumaila Yousafzai, head of the Nazarbayev University Research Centre for Entrepreneurship (NURCE), the project Tamyr Reflections and Tolyk Adam: Reclaiming Entrepreneurship as Cultural Identity and Human Flourishing explores entrepreneurship not only as an economic activity, but as a cultural and social force.
Between 2022 and 2025, the research team published nine narrative-based books across Central Asia, co-created with entrepreneurs whose voices are often absent from mainstream discourse. One flagship publication, Tamyr Reflections: 33 Narratives of Heritage and Entrepreneurship in Qazaqstan, weaves together stories of innovation, tradition and identity. The initiative also includes community exhibitions, visual ethnography and the launch of “Tolyk Adam,” a curriculum inspired by Kazakh philosopher Abai Kunanbayev’s concept of holistic human development.
The winners of the THE Asia Awards 2026 will be announced on April 22 in Hong Kong, during the THE Asia Summit, where university leaders will discuss Asia’s growing role in global innovation and the responsibility of higher education in shaping the future.
