URBANA, Ill. — Eighteen presentations were featured during two in-person sessions at the Bolashak 2025-2026 Research & Professional Development Showcase on May 8 inside the Illini Union.
The showcase was an opportunity for Bolashak scholars to share their research projects and marked the end of the 2025-2026 program.
Bolashak scholars Ulbossyn Ualikhanova, an instructor at Gumilyov Eurasian National University in Astana, Kazakhstan, and Aizhan Zaurbek, an instructor at International IT University in Almaty, Kazakhstan, collaborated on their research project and presented their findings on a poster cleverly titled, “The Dark Side of the Universe.”
Their research looked at six modified gravity theories that would answer fundamental questions left unanswered by general relativity.
General relativity is Einstein’s theory of gravity and is the gold standard physicists use when describing the structure of the universe.
Ualikhanova and Zaurbek said that although general relativity is remarkably successful, it doesn't always make sense to use it as an explanation for unexplained cosmic phenomena.
For example, Ualikhanova explained that new observations from gravitational waves test gravity beyond general relativity predications.
In other words, gravitational waves are a valuable way to explain cosmic acceleration and the nature of dark matter and dark energy hence their poster title, “The Dark Side of the Universe.”
After presenting their research, Ualikhanova and Zaurbek reflected on their experience with the Bolashak program and on their time spent at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Ualikhanova arrived in Champaign at the end of May 2025, and Zaurbek arrived at the end of August 2025.
Ualikhanova is a physicist and studies cosmology. Zaurbek specializes in, and teaches, computer science. They first got to know each other while attending data science courses thousands of miles from home.
“During each course everyone introduced themselves and shared what they were researching or working on,” Ualikhanova said. “I’m here to study data science because I want to use all kinds of programs to do my calculations. (Zaurbek) knows how to use the programs, however she needed the data to plug in. We have a bunch of data in cosmology so that’s how we decided to work together because we knew we could collaborate based on our backgrounds.”
Zaurbek said when she was in high school, she was interested in astronomy, so when she found out that Ualikhanova was a physicist, she knew she wanted to collaborate with her.
“My major was actually related to computer science, but I came here to learn something new. That’s why I got involved with data science because you can use this field for different things, not only in IT. Data science can be used in medicine, physics, and even music,” Zaurbek said.
Overall, Zaurbek and Ualikhanova said they met tons of people from Kazakhstan with different educational backgrounds, and they particularly enjoyed learning about the many fields represented in the program.
“When (fellow scholars) introduced their fields, I could feel their (positive) energy, their passion,” Ualikhanova added.
They also learned quite a bit from the program outside of the classroom. For instance, since it was their first time being in America they both gained an understanding of American culture.
On a more personal level, Zaurbek explained that her confidence grew since starting the program last August.
“Since you’re living in a different country, you have to speak a different language that you normally wouldn’t practice in your own country and you have to gain confidence to talk to people in a different language,” Zaurbek said. “On campus, the professors know that we are international students. They can understand us if we make mistakes. When I go to other cities though, like Chicago, they don’t know I’m an international student, so I had low confidence speaking to other people (outside of campus). Now, I’m gaining more confidence.”
Zaurbek and Ualikhanova said when they first started the program, they went in with several goals in mind and in the end, they both agreed that they achieved those goals.
“Before (the program) when I tried to work on programs like Python or any other programs that physicists are not used to working with, I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know anything about programming.’ Now, I feel like I know the basics, so I’m not scared anymore when I open the programs,” Ualikhanova chuckled. “I feel like I can continue to study this field when I go back to my home country. I think I achieved my goals. I can start to use these tools like all the visualization tools and everything else I learned here in physics.”
Zaurbek echoed this goal but added that for her, when she first started the program, she wanted to not only learn new stuff centered around data science but to also practice her English.
“Hopefully I can pass the IELTS test (the international English language testing system certification assessment) now so I can apply for other programs,” Zaurbek said.
As they move on from the program and return to their home country, Zaurbek and Ualikhanova said they will take everything they learned at Illinois and pass it on to their students.