On 15 September 2025, H.E. Mrs. Piyapin Niyomrerks, Ambassador of Thailand to Kazakhstan, led officials and staff of the Royal Thai Embassy in Astana, on a visit to Nazarbayev University (NU) and met with Professor Waqar Ahmad, President of NU, and the University’s leadership team to exchange views and explore pathways to deepen higher-education and academic cooperation between Thailand and Kazakhstan. During the meeting, NU affirmed its readiness to comprehensively collaborate with leading Thai universities as well as the opportunities to welcome a delegation from Chulalongkorn University, NU’s partner within the Asian Universities Alliance (AUA), scheduled to visit Kazakhstan and NU in early October 2025. In the past few years, Thailand’s higher educational establishments have already engaged with NU. An example of this engagement is the meeting of senior representatives of Khon Kaen University with the NU executives in March 2025 to discuss cooperation in education and joint research.

Established in 2010 by H.E. Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev, former President of Kazakhstan, as an autonomous, leading higher-education institution operating independently of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Education, NU is dedicated to developing top talent for national development. NU currently enrolls more than 7,200 students, including approximately 350 international students from over 30 countries, and employs faculty and academic staff from more than 57 countries, underscoring its international profile. The University comprises eight schools, namely the Center for Preparatory Studies, the School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, the School of Sciences and Humanities, the School of Medicine, the School of Mining and Geosciences, the Graduate School of Business, the Graduate School of Education, and the Graduate School of Public Policy, with English as the primary language of instruction across all levels and programmes.