YESSENOV FOUNDATION OUTCOMES 2024

Could you identify the main trend of the Yessenov Foundation’s activity?
We have been returning to pre-pandemic volumes and forms of work in the outgoing year. All the Foundation’s classic programs have been fully restored. We appreciate that the number of applications submitted to our competitions has returned to pre-pandemic levels, and, regarding some programs, has even increased. This year we received 171 applications for the Yessenov Data Lab Program, which is three times more than in 2023. The number of applications for other programs has also increased. For example, the number of grant applicants for the “Research Internships in the World Laboratories” and Yessenov Launch Pad Programs increased by 10-20 % this year. However, we do not intend to fully return to or exceed the pre-pandemic performance. The world has changed radically over the past years, and our goal is to respond flexibly to this, meeting the demands of time and market changes. And I believe we manage to do it.

What regions of the country participate more actively in your competitions?
Mostly Almaty and Astana, but there is always a logical explanation for this since the best universities in Kazakhstan are located there. However, the participants come from all over the country: Shymkent and Aktobe, Ust-Kamenogorsk and Uralsk, Petropavlovsk and Atyrau, Kyzylorda and Zhezkazgan, Taldykorgan and Semey. Of course, there are many participants from smaller cities, towns, and other settlements. Over 10 years of work have not been in vain for us. Having never spent on additional PR, the Foundation managed to become a nationally known, ultimate scientific and educational organization.

What are the achievements of the Foundation’s flagship programs that helped it build an impeccable reputation in Kazakhstan?
10 winners of the Research Internships Program were selected in December 2023. Almost all of them completed their internships mostly this summer. For example, Daniil Filimonov, a student at Nazarbayev University, studied robotics at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Laboratory in Switzerland, Leila Akisheva worked at the Berkeley Physics Laboratory, California. Venera Tastanbekova, a master’s student, worked for three months at Marco Ruella’s Lab at the University of Pennsylvania. And the future chemical engineer Alikhan Kalmakhanbet studied the production of solar panels at Shenzhen University.

Speaking about the Yessenov Scholarship Program, it is worth mentioning Chingiz Dauletbayev from the North Kazakhstan State University named after M. Kozybayev (specialty – general medicine), and Aisha Nurmanova from Nazarbayev University, who specializes in chemical engineering and materials science. They are the Program’s winners who actively participated in various events held by the Foundation as well as information sessions at universities, and contributed much to the dissemination of information about our activities. The winners of this Program, Shakhmardan Makhmetkhozha (specialty – oil and gas), Aknur Kalilayeva (specialty – mathematics), and Adelina Mukhamedyanova (specialization – petroleum engineering), became the Foundation’s experts and participated in the selection of applications. In 2024, 19 best Kazakhstani students were awarded the Yessenov scholarships. They represent the following universities: Karaganda Medical University and Suleyman Demirel University (SDU), Satbayev University and West Kazakhstan Medical University, East Kazakhstan University named after Amanzholov and Almaty University of Energy and Communications, Kazakh National Medical University named after Asfendiyarov and Karaganda State University.

Yessenov Data Lab is our third important program. 20 young Kazakhstanis from different regions successfully completed its 4-week intensive course. They were at different stages of their career—some are still studying, while others are already working in research institutes, laboratories, or government educational institutions. This year, the Program was concluded with a team building event in the mountains, which the participants of the Summer School for Analysts also rated as a highly effective activity. The first 3 weeks of the YDL were held online, and the last week of the training was held offline in Almaty.

In June, we finished the English Language Program for regional universities at Kozybayev University, and in September, we launched it at a new university – East Kazakhstan University named after Amanzholov, which won our grant competition in the spring. More than 300 students and teachers at Kozybayev University could improve their English proficiency levels over two years of the Program, and 50 of them successfully passed the IELTS exam at the expense of our IELTS fund. In October, 164 students and teachers at EKU started classes under the Program. The Program will be completed there in 2026.

The Yessenov Foundation announced recently the winners of the Research Internships Program who will do researches at the best laboratories in the world in the summer of 2025. Are there any changes to your Programs in the upcoming year?
We are developing, constantly adding something new to our portfolio and adapting existing programs to changes in the world and Kazakhstan. There is no need to radically change or update anything in 2025. We are only considering changing the format of the Yessenov Data Lab Program. We are planning to conduct the first two weeks online and the last two weeks offline since we received feedback from the School participants, and came to the conclusion that this adjustment will improve training effectiveness and enhance the students’ learning outcomes.

According to plan, in 2025, no less than 300 young talented Kazakhstanis will become the participants of the Shakhmardan Yessenov Science and Education Foundation’s programs, that will contribute to developing the country’s intellectual potential and implementing the Foundation’s mission.