UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State welcomed a delegation of senior administrators from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, in Almaty, Kazakhstan on April 25. The visit, coordinated by Penn State Global, marked a milestone in the evolving relationship between the two universities that was established in 2023 when the first general Memorandum of Understanding was initiated by Penn State Law. Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi and Al-Farabi University Rector and Chairman of the Board Zhanseit Tuimebayev re-affirmed an interest in expanding the scope of collaboration by renewing the MOU as a university-wide agreement in a signing ceremony.
“Kazakhstan is positioning itself as an international higher education hub in the region, and Al-Farabi is one of the country’s top institutions," said Sabine Klahr, interim vice provost for Penn State Global. "We look forward to developing collaboration between Penn State and Al-Farabi. A delegation from Penn State will visit Al-Farabi and other partner universities in Kazakhstan soon, which will help to solidify our connections there."
Al-Farabi is one of the top-rated universities in Kazakhstan and, similar to Penn State, is a comprehensive, research-intensive university that plays an important role in economic development of the region through innovation and commercialization of research results. Ranked 230 in the QS World University Rankings 2024 and 44th in the QS Asia University Rankings 2023, it was the first among Central Asian universities to join the UN “Academic Impact” (UNAI) program and to become the UNAI Global Hub Sustainable Development, aimed at supporting 10 internationally recognized principles of the UN.
University representatives from various colleges and departments (College of Education’s ExCEL program, Department of Applied Linguistics, Intensive English Communication Program, English for Professional Purposes Intercultural Center, Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures, Penn State Law) met with the delegation to discuss the possibility of establishing collaborative educational programs, administrative vists, as well as faculty exchanges and research opportunities.
“Facilitating faculty-to-faculty linkages and communication on both educational and research topics, as well as involving students, will be critical for the success of this budding relationship,” said Vlad Likholetov, associate director of partnership agreements in Penn State Global. Support mechanisms, such as the Bolashak scholarship program in Kazakhstan and Penn State Global travel awards, exist on both sides to enable continued interaction between the two universities, he added.
For more information contact Vlad Likholetov at vzl12@psu.edu.