Thirty Years of Research Capacity Development in Kazakhstani Higher Education

This chapter provides an overview of research capacity development in higher education in Kazakhstan during the thirty years of the country’s independence. The overview describes the three stages in the development using information in government policy documents, reports prepared by the government and external advising organisations, scholarly research on the topic, as well as public and expert reactions in traditional and social media to the corresponding reforms. For each of the stages, the analysis includes the description of the main rationales, approaches, and specific initiatives of the government, as well as the way universities implemented the anticipated changes. The chapter concludes with predictions about the future of research capacity development in the country.