On December 4, 2025, AlmaU hosted a meeting with representatives of the British Council – Michael Holgate, Regional Director for Central Asia, and Robert Taylor, Country Director for Kazakhstan, who were on a working visit to Almaty.
From AlmaU, the meeting was attended by:
• Sholpan Tazabek, Vice-Rector for Global Partnerships;
• Renata Kudaibergenova, Vice-Rector for Science and Commercialization;
• Kseniya Yuzhaninova-Karadenzli, Dean of the Graduate School of Business;
• Zhaniya Khaibullina, Head of the Center for Sustainable Development;
• Dayana Balgabekova, Director of the Institute of Education;
• Kamran Guseinov, Director of the Institute of International Relations.
During the meeting, the parties discussed current and prospective areas of cooperation between AlmaU and the British Council, including the development of international partnerships, research projects, initiatives in the creative industries, secondary and higher education, as well as sustainability and climate-related projects. Robert Taylor also presented the findings of the British Council’s new study, Next Generation Kazakhstan, focused on the values, attitudes, and expectations of Kazakhstani youth.
A separate part of the discussion covered AlmaU’s ongoing collaboration with UK partners. AlmaU participated in the Creative Spark: Higher Education Enterprise Programme, implemented by the British Council to support creative entrepreneurship and the development of creative industries across Central Asia and the Caucasus. Within this initiative, the university collaborated with the University of Northampton, developing educational and project-based initiatives in the creative economy.
AlmaU also supports international academic mobility and internships, including the national research internship program “500 Scientists.” Between 2023 and 2025, three faculty members completed research fellowships at Queen’s University Belfast. In turn, over the past two years, AlmaU welcomed two student interns from the University of Cambridge and the University of St Andrews.
In addition, AlmaU’s Vice-Rector for Global Partnerships, Dr. Sholpan Tazabek, serves as a national consultant for the British Council in developing a quality assurance framework for transnational education in Kazakhstan, in collaboration with the UK’s Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), highlighting the strategic nature of this partnership.
The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organization for cultural relations and educational opportunities, delivering programs in education, arts, English language, and international cooperation in more than 100 countries.
British Council representatives highly praised AlmaU’s potential and expressed strong interest in further strengthening the partnership and developing joint initiatives.