Founded in 1943, Mukhtar Auezov South Kazakhstan Research University is a major higher education and research centre of South Kazakhstan located in Shymkent, the third largest city of the Central Asian country. DKRU is a multidisciplinary, multi-faculty institution catering for 17,500 students by 2,900 teachers and instructors in almost 300 training programs on technology, natural sciences, economics, IT, social sciences and humanities.
It was on October 9 that Mukhtar Tolegen, Rector of the South Kazakhstan Research University, and Károly Pető, Rector’s Representative of the University of Debrecen, signed a memorandum of intent in Shymkent for cooperation between the two institutions. This MOU details the intention for launching joint research projects and developing dual-degree programs, while it also proposes possibilities for joint academic supervision and research internships for MSc students, short and long-term research visits for faculty, staff and student mobility, and the organization of scientific conferences and seminars.
Based on the profiles of both institutions, Rector’s Representative Károly Pető in his presentation delivered at South Kazakhstan Research University proposed a number of focus areas for cooperation, such as agricultural and food sciences, technical sciences, the chemical industry and energetics, economic and social sciences, the humanities and history, information technology and artificial intelligence, as well as doctoral training and research.
He underlined that the goal across all fields would be to produce joint publications, while the “university-city-industry” model could also prove to be significant, involving the two universities, the cities of Debrecen and Shymkent, and regional companies. Furthermore, he also noted that, at present, there are already 104 Kazakh students enrolled at the University of Debrecen, primarily in the fields of natural sciences, engineering, medicine and information technology.
As a matter of fact, Rector’s Representative Károly Pető took part in the visit to Shymkent as a member of a delegation from the City of Debrecen. Therefore, in addition to the signing of a letter of intent between the universities, the delegation’s program also included the signing of a memorandum on a twin-city relationship between Debrecen and Shymkent.
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