CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Mergen Dyussenov stood at the back of Room 182 inside the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s (Illinois) Armory Building on May 9. Next to him was a large poster filled with gray-highlighted text and two pictures.
At first glance the poster seemed like any other, but it was far from ordinary. In fact, this poster contained an abstract, an introduction, three case studies, and other valuable highlights detailing minutes, hours, days, and months of research Dyussenov conducted trying to assess digital transformation strategies at three universities in Kazakhstan.
This poster was a showcase, a window that offered only a glimpse inside the work Dyussenov did while at Illinois, making it one impressive poster.
Dyussenov was one of 15 scholars who showcased their research and achievements with their own impressive, far from ordinary posters during the Bolashak Capstone Event and Program Recognition on May 9.
The Bolashak International Scholarship Program at Illinois is a nine-month program and is designed, developed, and managed by Global Education and Training (GET) in Illinois International.
The primary objectives of the program at Illinois include enhancing academic and research skills, facilitating collaborative research projects, promoting cultural exchange, and most importantly strengthening the pedagogical skills of the scholars.
For example, Dyussenov said throughout his stay in Illinois, he attended some courses on data science and program evaluation and completed several online courses via Coursera.
The goal of the Bolashak Program is an initiative sponsored by the Kazakhstani government to facilitate academic, scientific, and cultural exchange.
Illinois became a host institution in 2021 when GET welcomed two scholars from AlmaU in Kazakhstan and has served as a host for three consecutive years.
The most recent cohort (2023-2024) featured 15 scholars with research interests in economics, education, law, linguistics, pedagogical sciences, philology, philosophy, public policy, sociological sciences, teaching, tourism, and translation studies.
The cohort also represented 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.
Dyussenov is from Astana IT University in Kazakhstan, and although his background is public policy, his research focused on the delivery information technology and was titled, “Assessing Digital Transformation Strategies at Universities: The Comparison of Three Academic Cases in Kazakhstan.”
He said one of the most remarkable highlights from his time at Illinois was the opportunity to continue his research projects including a paper presentation at a conference in Pittsburgh in October 2023, an online presentation on the role of R&D in climate change, and more recently a paper presentation in Guangzhou, China in April 2024 on digital transformation across universities in Kazakhstan.
The next Bolashak program begins on May 28, 2024, when GET will welcome 88 scholars in the areas of data science, environmental ecology, law, and pedagogy (which has been expanded from all previous cohorts just being in pedagogy).
The full breakdown is:
- 28 scholars in data science
- 6 scholars in environmental ecology
- 8 scholars in law
- 47 scholars in pedagogy
This new cohort is the largest one to date at Illinois since the university first started hosting Bolashak Scholars in 2021.
Analicia Haynes is the storyteller and social media specialist for Global Communication. She can be reached at ahayn2@illinois.edu.
