URBANA, Ill. — Global Education and Training (GET) Director Matt Rosenstein and Grant Brewer, GET Associate Director for Strategic Initiatives, traveled to Kazakhstan to participate in the “Bolashak: Strategic Partnership and Cooperation” forum on Nov. 30.
The event celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Bolashak program, its impacts on higher education development in Kazakhstan, and contributions to global academic exchanges.
Rosenstein and Brewer also visited Almaty Management University (AlmaU), one of UIUC’s esteemed partners; reconnected with alumni of the Bolashak visiting scholars’ program (2021 and 2022 cohorts) and an alumnus from the 2015 EducationUSA Leadership Institute; and met prospective students and scholars.
Rosenstein said AlmaU was the first university partner they worked with on the Bolashak program.
So far 11 other universities have now sent scholars to UIUC.
“The partnership with the Bolashak Center for International Programs and Kazakh universities like AlmaU is a great opportunity for the University of Illinois to impact higher education development in Central Asia, while diversifying international scholars on campus,” Rosenstein said.
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) has served as a host institution for the Bolashak
International Scholarship Program for three consecutive years. This 9-month program is designed, developed, and managed by GET and the Intensive English Institute (IEI) in Illinois International.
The 2023-2024 cohort includes 15 fellows with research interests in economics, education, law, linguistics, pedagogical sciences, philology, philosophy, public policy, sociological sciences, teaching, tourism, and translation studies.
The cohort represents 12 different institutions in Kazakhstan including AlmaU, Astana IT University, Astana Medical University, ESIL Kazakh University, Karaganda Buketov University, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Pavlodar Pedagogical University, Saken Seifullin Kazakh Agrotechnical Research University, Satbayev Kazakh National Research Technical University, Shakarim University of Semey, Turan University, and the University of International Business.
The Bolashak International Scholarship was established in 1993 by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan to educate talented students at the best universities in the world.
It is facilitated by EducationUSA and offers scholarships for master's and doctoral study as well as internships for engineering, medical and teaching staff.
The Bolashak Scholarship has been granted to more than 12,000 Kazakhstan citizens for study in 200 of the best universities in 33 countries since its inception.
Analicia Haynes is the storyteller and social media specialist for Global Communication. She can be reached at ahayn2@illinois.edu.
