10 KAZAKHSTANIS WILL HEAD TO THE BEST LABORATORIES IN THE WORLD

The competition to win the 10 places available on the Shakhmardan Yessenov Science and Education Foundation’s Research Internships has wrapped up in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The ten winners – all promising young Kazakhstani scientists and practitioners – will conduct scientific research in 2024 in the world’s best scientific laboratories.

We asked Shakhmardan Yessenov Foundation founder, Kazakh businessman Galimzhan Yessenov, for his thoughts on the program heading into 2024:

“We have been implementing this program for 10 years. When we created it at the suggestion of member of the Board of Trustees Eldar Akhmetgaliyev, we understood that its purpose was to increase the competitiveness of Kazakhstani students and young scientists when applying to foreign master’s and doctoral programs, and we’re pleased to see the program continue to help achieve this objective a decade on.

Importantly, program participants conduct their scientific research not just in the world’s best laboratories, they carry out research that’s fully aligned with their own programs of research and study, as well as personal and professional interest.

Nearly every program winner – and we have had 120 of them from the past 10 years – indicate that the program was a springboard into their careers and their progression in the world of scientific research. I am especially glad that many have returned to Kazakhstan, bringing home the knowledge and expertise they gained abroad. The number of Kazakhstanis enrolling in master’s and doctoral studies abroad has grown significantly in recent years, and we’re proud that our program and all the hard work that has gone into it has contributed towards this progress.”

This year, the competition for the Research Internship program received 142 applications from students and staff of more than 30 higher educational institutions across the country, 88 of whom were women. The selection of the winners took place in two stages. At the first stage, the specialists and experts of the Shakhmardan Yessenov Foundation evaluated the written materials submitted as part of each application, following which 29 candidates were selected to go through to the final round. This consisted of individual and group interviews held by Yelena Amreyeva, the Foundation’s psychologist coach.

We asked her to shed some light on the interview process and how the program and its candidates have evolved over the years – here’s what Amreyeva told us:

“In individual interviews, we study how well the written materials submitted for the competition correspond to what the candidate shows in a face-to-face conversation. It also happens that when you see person live and recall the essay, you realize, well, it can’t be that it was one person. In addition, it is important to understand how motivated a grant applicant is to conduct research, to realize their potential in scientific work.

The individual’s value system is also something we pay close attention to. In the team interview, you can see how the candidate interacts and talks with other people, which is important as we want to understand the collaborative and ethical principles of the candidates.

This is my tenth time participating in the selection for this program. Something that has changed from the early years is that we initially asked candidates about the practical applicability of their research – now, they themselves come prepared to tell us about its relevance and application.

We’re increasingly seeing that candidates’ and participants’ research has become more applied and specifically relevant to questions in Kazakhstan, especially in medicine and IT. Candidates now talk more articulately about their topics and are better able to distil complex scientific topics into easily understood language.

There has also been a broadening of where candidates come from, in terms of educational background. In the early years we received a large proportion of applications from Nazarbayev University, while in recent years, this has broadened to encompass a pool of talent from other universities in Kazakhstan – which is a positive development as it show’s Kazakhstan’s intellectual development continuing to grow and spread.

Importantly, there are more female applicants than ever, including from sectors where women have been traditionally underrepresented in Kazakhstan, such as IT.

This year’s candidates were exceptionally strong, so we were able to select 10 truly talented participants.”

The Executive Director of the Foundation, Aiganym Malisheva, is also pleased with the results of the year. She commented on how much the program offers to successful participants in support of their internships:

“The amount of the grant allocated for a 3-month internship is approximately US$9,600, which covers visa costs, food and board, medical insurance, travel, and extra-curricular activities. This is crucial as it’s important that participants are able to live comfortably as well as complete their work, and it increases the success rate of the program.”

The Research Internship program began in 2013 as the Foundation’s very first program. Its participants are Kazakhstani undergraduates, graduate students, interns and early career researchers, specializing in areas including natural sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, geography, geology, ecology), mathematics and statistics, information and communication technology, engineering, manufacturing and construction, and healthcare. Over the 10 years of the foundation’s activity, more than 120 Kazakhstanis have won participation in the program, 110 of whom have already completed their research in the best laboratories in the world.