Without Nazarbayevs and Kulibayevs: Who Became First Academicians of Updated Academy of Sciences?

On August 27, a ceremonial presentation of diplomas to new academicians took place in the restored National Academy of Sciences building. Those few minutes while Deputy Minister of Science Darkhan Akhmet-Zaki presented the coveted documents and pins can be called the "nullification" process of the old NAS. Minister Sayasat Nurbek spoke about it back in late July. An Orda.kz journalist attended the presentation.

The "cold war" between Kazakhstan's two national academies of sciences began in 2022 when the National Academy of Sciences under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan was established by a presidential order. It was then created as a joint-stock company with full state involvement. 

At the same time, the old academy, existing as a republican public organization, did not stop operating. This is the NAS, where Nursultan Nazarbayev, his daughter Dinara Kulibayeva, her in-law Talgat Kulibayev, and more than a hundred other people were listed as academicians. The confusion was such that when Qasym-Jomart Toqayev appointed Kunsulu Zakarya as NAS president in 2023, it was not clear - president of which academy? 

At the end of July 2024, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education launched a "general offensive" against the old National Academy of Sciences. After two years of back-and-forth, the Minister of Education Sayasat Nurbek announced that the state would support only the NAS under the President, and the academicians' status of the former would be "nullified."

He later clarified that they would not be included in the new NAS.

Representatives of the old academy tried to respond to the minister. They posted a collective appeal on their website. The nauka-nanrk.kz site hosting, where the site of the LEA NAS RK was, is not accessible. The new National Academy of Sciences has, therefore, won in the "virtual" sense. 

The NAS academicians under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan were selected in June. However, they were awarded the confirming diplomas only on August 27. As the NAS President Akhilbek Kurishbayev said at the award ceremony, they received their titles according to the competitive procedure after the selections. 

The distinctive feature of the state academy is that it will not be an exclusively status organization, in which the title of academician means the crown of a scholar's career and a comfortable retirement. We are not going to include public figures, politicians, civil servants, or successful business people in its composition, Kurishbayev said.

According to him, scientific organizations and universities nominated candidates. They checked the completeness and authenticity of the documents submitted. An expert commission also assessed the candidates' activities. And finally, the academy's presidium listened to the candidates. 

Those who scored the highest points based on the examination results and selection were chosen as academicians.

Who are these new academicians? Each scientist listed below has many scientific publications, participation in legitimate scientific projects, and genuine scientific awards. 

Akhilbek Kurishbayev

63 years old

President of the National Academy of Sciences under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan since January 2024, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, Professor.

The current president of the National Academy of Sciences under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan became the first to receive a diploma and an academician pin from the deputy minister. He has headed the Academy since January 2024, when he replaced Kunsulu Zakarya. Before that, he was the rector of the Kazakh National Agrarian Research University.

Akhilbek Kurishbayev is known not only as a scientist but also a politician. From 2002 to 2008, he was vice minister and director of the department of the Ministry of Agriculture. And in 2008-2011, he headed this ministry in the first government under Karim Massimov. From 2011 to 2020, he was the rector of KazATU. In 2020-2022, Kurishbayev served in the Senate. There, in particular, he actively criticized the state of the Kazakh agro-industrial complex. He also became known for his call not to allow Russian deputies who criticize Kazakhstan into Kazakhstan. He proposed this two years before such criticism became almost widespread. 

Askar Dzhumadildaev

68 years old

Vice-President of the National Academy of Sciences under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor.

Askar Dzhumadildayev is a famous modern Kazakhstani scientist. And not only in our country, but also abroad. He has collaborated with many foreign universities. In 2000, he worked with Oxford for a month.  In 2017, Dzhumadildayev also became known as a critic of the proposed version of the Latin Kazakh alphabet. Later, he conveyed his vision of the Latin alphabet to Qasym-Jomart Toqayev in person.

Darkhan Bilyalov

40 years old

Vice President of Nazarbayev University. PhD.

Most of Bilyalov's career is associated with Nazarbayev University and the Pennsylvania State University.

He worked at the World Bank in the late 2000s. In 2023, he was vice president of the "new" NAS for about six months. And in 2021-2023, he was rector of KazNPU named after Abay. This was the most controversial period in his career. In June 2021, Bilyalov had to give an explanation for a former university employee because of his attacks on LGBT.

Around the same time, Darkhan Bilyalov boasted that KazNPU entered the top 5 pedagogical universities in the world according to the QS World University Ranking. However, only five pedagogical universities were in the ranking, and Almaty University was last. In December 2022, KazNPU conflicted with contractors: they accused the university of not paying for services, whereas Bilyalov claimed they violated the contract. 

Serik Akshulakov

72 years old

Board Chair of the National Center of Neurosurgery, President of the Kazakhstan Association of Neurosurgeons. Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor.

Serik Akshulakov's entire career is neurosurgery. He worked at the Burdenko Research Institute in Moscow and several medical centers in Kazakhstan. And almost everything that is known about him is related to science.  He was also among those who signed a letter in support of former Minister of Health Yerzhan Birdanov. He became a victim of extortion by a police officer who had previously been held up as an example to others. 

Vyacheslav Lokshin

65 years old

Head of the Persona Clinical Reproduction Center, Editor-in-Chief of the Reproductive Medicine journal. Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor.

Just like the previous academician, Lokshin is known primarily as a doctor. He is a drafter of regulatory documents in reproductive medicine and founded the school of practical doctors working in reproductive medicine. He is also a writer, including of popular science. Like Akshulakov, he signed the letter supporting Birdanov. Last year, he became a news hero. With a group of other doctors, Lokshin saved the life of a passenger on board a Lufthansa plane. 

Durvudhan Suragan

34 years old

Associate Professor of Nazarbayev University. PhD, Professor.

Mathematician Durvudkhan Suragan is now known as the youngest academician in Kazakhstan's history. He is also the winner of the international Ferran Sunyer i Balaguer Prize. Suragan relocated from Mongolia in 2005. 

Maxim Zdorovets

40 years old

Director of the Astana branch of the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor.

Maxim Zdorovets is a nuclear physicist and another record holder. In 2020, he was among the top-most published scientists in Kazakhstan in natural sciences. Unlike his peer Darkhan Bilyalov, by the age of 40, Zdorovets has not been involved in any scandals. 

Tlekkabul Ramazanov

63 years old

Professor of the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor.

Ramazanov is one of the outstanding modern Kazakhstani physicists. More than 90% of his career has been at the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. He was the science committee chair in the Ministry of Education for a year. In parallel with his work at the university, from 2009 to 2014, Ramazanov was a member of the board of directors—an independent director of Kazatomprom. He is also a record-breaking scholar. In 2020, Ramazanov was named the most cited Kazakhstani scientist. 

Yerlan Turuspekov

60 years old

Head of the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics at the Institute of Plant Biology and Biotechnology. Candidate of Biological Sciences, Professor.

In 2022, Erlan Turuspekov became a laureate of the "Best Research Fellow" award. In 2015, an article on GMOs, of which he was a co-author, was one of the most cited in the world.

Akhilbek Kurishbaev has already stated that academicians will continue appearing in the new NAS; a new competition will occur in the coming months. But, according to him, they will not "produce" academicians. 

Even in the most developed countries with enormous scientific potential, the number of active members of national academies is limited. After all, if we reach the number one position in the number of academicians, our science will not become the best, he said.

Incidentally, some of the academicians of the "new" NAS, such as Askar Dzhumadildayev, Serik Akshulakov, and Tlekkabul Ramazanov, were also academicians of the "old." For them, this is more of a renewal.

Original Author: Igor Ulitin