KAZNU expands scientific cooperation with the Chinese Academy of sciences

Professor Vitaliy Salnikov of the Faculty of Geography and Environmental Sciences at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, together with Professor Alexandr Ulman, participated in an international scientific event in Urumqi, China.

The visit took place at the invitation of the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences (XIEG CAS) and was aimed at strengthening cooperation in climate change research, natural hazards, water resources, air quality and sustainable development.

The central event of the visit was the Symposium on High-Quality Development of Academic Journals, held in Urumqi on 17–19 October 2026. The programme included editorial board meetings of the international journals Journal of Arid Land and Regional Sustainability, as well as the launch ceremony of the new international scientific journal Water and Environment. One of the key outcomes of the visit was the appointment of Professor Vitaliy Salnikov as a member of the Editorial Board of the new international journal Water and Environment for the 2026–2031 term. This strengthens KazNU’s presence in the international academic publishing community and creates new opportunities for scientific cooperation.

During the symposium, Vitaliy Salnikov and Alexandr Ulman presented a joint study on the application of artificial intelligence, GIS, remote sensing and modelling to assess climate-driven natural hazards and urban air pollution.

Working meetings with Professor Yang Yu and other XIEG CAS researchers focused on concrete areas for further cooperation, including joint scientific publications, development of international research projects, exchange of data and methodologies, and long-term collaboration between research teams in Kazakhstan and China.

The cooperation has already produced tangible scientific results. In 2026, a joint paper by researchers from China, Kazakhstan and Poland, “Spatiotemporal heterogeneity of runoff in Tajikistan and its driving mechanisms under climate change,” was published in Regional Sustainability. As a further step in strengthening cooperation, Professor Yang Yu also confirmed his willingness to serve as a foreign scientific advisor to a KazNU doctoral student.

“Our cooperation with colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Sciences is evolving from individual scientific contacts into systematic collaboration through joint publications, doctoral training and the development of new international projects. For KazNU, this opens up new opportunities for advancing research on climate and environmental risks in Central Asia,” said Professor Vitaliy Salnikov.