Improving the Local Research Capacity through the Industry-Academia Collaboration in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan has set a lofty goal of becoming one of the world's top 30 developed countries by 2050. This can be accomplished by growing up well-versed, competent, and forward-thinking human capital. We previously discussed curriculum, courses, internships, and student development as part of the World Economic Forum (WEF) pilot project supported by Chevron, Eni, and Shell (Sponsors) to strengthen oil and gas human capital in Kazakhstan (SPE-195903 and SPE-201272). During regular visits, the WEF sponsors and Colorado School of Mines (Mines) could assess the Satbayev University (SU) PE department and underlined the importance of faculty growth. Academic workshops on topics such as course and syllabus design, student assessment, and ABET accreditation standards have been held both offline and online. Meanwhile, to advance the PE program, faculty research capacity must be globally competitive. To begin, the Kazakhstani government distributed visiting scholarship awards on behalf of the supporting World Bank in 2018. Shell Kazakhstan took the initiative and co-funded two PhD candidates so they could perform their research experiments at Pennsylvania State University (PennState). In addition, Mines has gone above and beyond the WEF scope by offering two fully-funded PhD scholarships to exceptional SU faculty. Through the newly constituted Industry-Advisory Board (IAB), the WEF Sponsors emphasized strong contact with the industry, which assisted in identifying a few research topics. These discussions resulted in formulation of four research proposals that were submitted to the Ministry of Education and Science Grants in 2020 and are being co-funded by Sponsors. This collaboration has yielded the approval of two projects by the State. Finally, under the auspices of the IAB meetings, the PE department has been offered opportunity to collaborate with the national KazMunayGas on the company-related project. While academic cooperation is well-known, research and its outcomes are even more critical in today's fast-changing environment. Universities must quickly adapt to industry best practices while remaining committed to their global mission of contributing to national growth and human potential. This paper discusses effective approaches for industry-academia collaboration.