We are open to the whole world: a meeting of the founding members of Kazakh-American Consortium of Universities has opened at Satbayev University

Representatives of the leading 19 American and over 20 Kazakhstani universities of Kazakhstan gathered at Satbayev University to discuss the future of cooperation in the field of education in such areas as STEM, IT, renewable energy and agriculture. Such a large-scale meeting was held with the support of US Embassy in Kazakhstan and the non-profit organization Institute of International Education (IIE). Moderator was Joel Erickson, a representative of Stepe Global Education.

Consortium work was opened with the welcoming speech by Satbayev University’s Rector Meiram Begentayev, who noted the importance of internationalization of education, the opening of branches of leading foreign universities at Satbayev University, and also stressed University's openness to expanding the geography of academic cooperation.

First Vice-rector for International Cooperation and Strategic Development Samgat Yermekbayev, in turn, shared the cooperation results between the country's first technical university and the TOP 100 universities in the world, about double degree programs and invited American colleagues to collaborate with regional universities.

 “It is a great honor for us to host such a large-scale meeting. Such a powerful dialogue platform will certainly bear fruit. I am sure that today's work of Consortium and high-quality networking within the walls of Satbayev University creates fertile soil, thanks to which new scientific projects of scientists from Kazakhstan and the USA will appear,” Yermekbayev summed up.

During the meeting, the participants discussed the key challenges and prospects of partnership between universities of the two countries. Special attention was paid to student exchange, curriculum development, international research and technology commercialization. Representatives of American universities shared their experience in building successful academic partnerships, and Kazakh colleagues talked about their achievements in technology and science sphere. American and Kazakh experts presented cutting-edge research, curriculum elaboration, and discussed strategies aimed at improving the higher education in Kazakhstan and supporting the country's economic growth.

The meeting of Consortium's founding universities is the first step towards even new initiatives of cooperation between large and regional universities in Kazakhstan and the United States, such as double-degree programs, summer schools and short-term study programs.

Institute of International Education is a large non-profit organization in the USA with more than 100 years of experience in international education, which, together with its subsidiary, Step Global Education, coordinates exchange programs for students, teachers and specialists in Kazakhstan, as well as supports international educational projects. With the support of these organizations, Kazakh-American consortium was created, which included 20 universities in Kazakhstan.