Al-Farabi Kazakh National University held a press tour dedicated to the 90th anniversary and familiarized media representatives with the achievements of the university.
More than 40 journalists took part in the press tour. First, the media representatives got acquainted with the Center for Innovative Products and High-Tech Projects “Farabi Hub”. The area of the Farabi Hub is 5 thousand square meters. The Hub is a platform for creative industry, artificial intelligence, realization of startup projects. The building is decorated in a modern style. The centers of world famous ZTE, BASF, Binlin Technology Corporation and other foreign companies, research institutes of the university are located here.
The attention of journalists was presented innovative projects: Research Center for Medicinal Plants, Brain Institute, Scientific and Educational Center “Robotics and Mechatronics RoboMech”, Research Institute for Biology and Biotechnology, Forensic Center, National Nanotechnology Laboratory of open type and the Center for Sustainable Development in Central Asia. The results of KazNU's work together with ZTE, BASF, Binlin corporations were also demonstrated.
Currently, scientists of the university have implemented about 400 projects worth 32 billion tenge. Al-Farabi KazNU together with the Northwest Polytechnic University of China plans to launch a microsatellite into space in 2025. Joint work, in turn, paves the way for space exploration, training of qualified specialists and development of common nano- and micro-satellites. This makes it possible to conduct remote studies of the Earth.
In addition, the university's scientists won a megagrant from the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The amount of the grant is 4 billion tenge. The project, aimed at solving strategically important problems in the West Kazakhstan region, will be implemented for three years. During this period scientists will have to find ways to solve the issues of sustainable ecological, social and economic development of the region, preservation of water resources, fauna and flora. Within the framework of the project, scientists of KazNU visited the Western region this year and conducted special studies of the flood situation.
The university's researchers also won a megagrant worth over 3 billion tenge. University scientists will create a large LLM language model for the Kazakh language and technological progress. The goal is to develop and implement large language models in Kazakh language in various spheres of society, which will contribute to technological progress and expand access to online services in the state language. As part of the project, KazNU scientists plan to open a research high-performance data center on the basis of the university. The new facility will provide researchers across the country with the necessary resources to develop and implement advanced AI technologies.
Then the journalists visited the hostel № 9 on campus and saw the results of the work done to improve the living conditions of young people. The guests were shown the condition of the dormitory before and after major repairs. As a result of the repair, the facade of the building was renewed, the walls of all rooms were plastered and finished. Doors and windows were replaced. The electrical system was reconstructed and new lighting fixtures were installed. In addition, the piping and sewerage system of the building was installed.
Currently, there are 15 student houses on the KazNU campus. In the current academic year in 3 dormitories were carried out major, and in 12 student houses - current repair works. 4000 mattresses, 4000 blankets, 4000 pillows, 4000 sets of bed linen were purchased. 250 toilets, 150 sinks, 735 cupboards, 1065 cabinets, 450 tables, 1050 bookshelves, 1065 stools were replaced. 120 refrigerators and 120 electric stoves were purchased for dormitory canteens.
Today within the framework of the second stage of construction of KazNU campus 3 new hostels are being built. 3 nine-storey student houses are designed for 2,031 places, each of them - for 677 places.
The press tour continued with the presentation of the scientific center “Sustainable Development and Rational Nature Management”, which consists of 10 innovative laboratories at the Faculty of Geography and Nature Management. In the scientific center, which implements projects within the framework of sustainable development goals, scientists work on the analysis of water resources quality, soil composition, climate change control, and environmental monitoring. Thus, the specialists of the center work on prevention and identification of consequences of floods, as well as monitoring of earthquakes.
Media representatives also visited the Kazakhstan-China Laboratory “Remote Sensing Technology and Applications”, which monitors environmental problems of the Central Asian region, such as water shortage, drought, land degradation caused by climate change. Journalists were provided with information on the results of the work done to ensure environmental security with advance warning of threats through remote monitoring. The laboratory opened jointly by Kazakhstan and China is the only natural resources monitoring center working in Central Asia. Therefore, this laboratory will become not only a place for scientific research, but also the main hub for sustainable environmental development in Central Asia.
Also, media representatives were familiarized with the activities of the Supercomputer Center. In 2019, following the meeting of the President of Kazakhstan Kasym-Jomart Tokayev and the President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping, an agreement was signed to provide a supercomputer to Kazakhstan. And in 2024, during the official visit of the President of China Xi Jinping to Kazakhstan, the heads of two states signed a memorandum on the installation of the most powerful supercomputer in Central Asia in KazNU.
This initiative reflects the importance of increasing scientific and technical cooperation between Kazakhstan and China, as well as the desire of the heads of state to develop science and education. The high-tech device allows scientists to work with large amounts of data using artificial intelligence technologies. The supercomputer installed in KazNU is the most powerful in Central Asia and is among the top 600 best in the world. Its maximum performance is 1.94 PFLOPS. Currently, work is underway to install the device. The supercomputer is used to create digital twins, artificial intelligence technologies, knowledge-intensive computing in the main areas of the university's activities, management and organization of IoT-objects, development of software for the management of Smart-technology objects, etc.
The next facility was the newly opened Farabi Chem Science cluster at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology. This cluster is aimed at the development of advanced research in the field of chemistry and materials science. Journalists familiarized themselves with the 9 laboratories that make up the cluster. Here, scientists are engaged in various projects aimed at solving urgent problems of the chemical industry. For example, at present scientists of the Research and Production Center “Chemical Coating Innovations” produce classical and specific coatings for the needs of mechanical engineering, instrumentation, as well as for the souvenir and jewelry industry. Galvanic coatings, produced in KazNU, prolong the service life of the product. This is beneficial to both the manufacturer and the consumer.
ChemMedLab has also improved the surgical thread used during surgery and developed an antibacterial coating. During surgery, surgeons treat the threads with alcohol or chlorhexidine solution and close the wound. But these threads are not durable and are harmful to human health. And the threads prepared by scientists of KazNU have coatings that have the property to prevent bacterial growth. Antibacterial effect lasts for 1 month. This scientific project is realized for the first time in Kazakhstan. In the future, scientists intend to bring this product to the market.
After the press tour, a press conference was organized with the participation of the management of Al-Farabi KazNU. Deputy Chairman of the Board - First Vice-Rector Erkin Duisenov informed the media representatives about the large-scale work done at the University and reported on further plans. In his speech, the Vice-Rector noted that with the support of the Head of State Kasym-Jomart Tokayev will begin the II stage of construction of the campus of KazNU, which has a 50-year history.
At the press conference journalists asked questions concerning the realization of II stage of construction of KazNU, hostels and other topical issues related to the activities of the university.
Press-service of Al-Farabi Kazakh national University
