The New University of Astana opens in the heart of Eurasia

ASTANA. June 24. KAZINFORM Kazakhstan continues on the path of higher educational reform by creating a new university in the capital city of Astana. The grand opening ceremony of the "New University of Astana", JSC will be held in Astana on June 28, 2010 with participation of President Nursultan Nazarbayev as well as other high-ranking Kazakh officials and foreign partners of the University, such as University College London, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Fuqua School of Business of the Duke University, Partners Harvard Medical International, University of Pittsburgh and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, University of Pennsylvania, Argonne National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Kazinform refers to Special Issue No 29 of the Kazakh Embassy in the U.S.A.

The New University of Astana has been established at the initiative of the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev to ensure the rapid development and upgrade of the country's education and science, building science, technology and engineering elite in compliance with international standards. The New University aims to address the issues of human resources, economic development and transforming Astana into a scientific, educational and cultural center of Eurasia, with competitive human capital.

The strategy for the University development 2010-2012 was approved on October 17, 2009 at the first meeting of Board of Directors of the New University of Astana chaired by Prime Minister Karim Masimov.

The Nazarbayev University is an important national project which is expected to have a large-scale effect on Kazakhstan's development and will benefit its citizens. The University will be positioned to become the national brand by harmoniously combining national identity, best international models of education, science and research practice.

Situated on the left bank of the Essil River in Astana, a vibrant newly built part of Kazakhstan's capital, the university campus covers a huge territory and is designed to meet social, cultural, training and accommodation needs for more than 20,000 students and professors.

The campus comprises twelve buildings, including a library, a foundation school, cafeteria, administration, and an institute of information and communication technologies.

Three main principles underlie the development strategy of the new university, including partnering with leading international educational centers and universities, founding a large research institution with up-to-date scientific infrastructure, and introducing a modern management and financing model.

The New University will comprise three faculties, including engineering, natural sciences, and medicine. In two years, a graduate school of business and public policy will be added.

The admission requirements to the university are rather tough and demand a good certificate of secondary education and proficiency in English, to be confirmed by recognized international systems of testing (TOEFL and IELTS).

Admission to the foundation courses started in 2010, while undergraduate courses will be launched in 2011. Later, in 2012, doctorate and Master's degree programs will be available. 500 government scholarships have been made available to the talented children of Kazakhstan who will enter the Nazarbayev University in 2010.

Academic program requires four years of study at the university. Those who need to improve their English or other mandatory subjects will have a pre-study foundation course. Graduates of the Nazarbayev University will earn two diplomas, a Kazakh and a foreign one, coming from an international partner university.

The New University cooperates with several leading universities globally ranked in the top 30 universities of the world.

Students will have the opportunity to study abroad at the University's Academic Partner for one semester and up to 2 years in some programs.

The agreements on the development strategy of the Nazarbayev University were signed with the following partners:

- UCL (University College London) to set up the Foundation Program - First year of the undergraduate programs (basic education);

- PHMI(Partners Harvard Medical International Inc.) to set up the Medical School;

- Duke University to set up the Graduate School of Business;

- iCarnegie (affiliated with the University of Carnegie Mellon) to set up the School of Natural Sciences;

- University of Wisconsin-Madison to set up the School of Social Sciences and Humanities;

- UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) to set up the Center of Life Sciences;

- UPenn (University of Pennsylvania) to set up the Center for Education Policy.