Earlier this month, Professor Liz Jones, Vice-Dean (Education), and Jon Wheatley, Head of Communications and Marketing for the Faculty of Engineering Sciences met with Deputy Chairman of the Board, Yerkinbayev Kaisar Kairatuly and Abay Rakhmet, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Centre for International Programmes from the Bolashak programme and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan to explore opportunities for strengthening collaboration.
The discussion built on existing engagement with the Bolashak programme, focusing on how UCL and the Ministry can work more closely to support student mobility, academic exchange, and research collaboration. The Bolashak programme, Kazakhstan’s flagship international scholarship, supports high-achieving students to study at leading global institutions and plays a key role in developing future leaders across government, industry, and academia.
Particular areas of interest included expanding participation in scholarship pathways, enhancing opportunities for visiting scholars and professional development, and identifying new avenues for joint initiatives aligned with shared priorities in education and engineering innovation. The meeting also highlighted the potential for future collaboration through structured partnerships and targeted engagement with Bolashak scholars and alumni.
This engagement reflects UCL’s continued commitment to deepening strategic partnerships in Central Asia and supporting the development of global talent through high-quality education and research collaboration.
Engaging with colleagues from the Bolashak programme and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education provided a valuable opportunity to deepen our shared ambition for international collaboration. At UCL, and particularly within UCL Engineering, we are committed to developing global partnerships that support talent, innovation and real-world impact. We look forward to building on this dialogue to create meaningful opportunities for students, researchers and future leaders from Kazakhstan.
