About the center

The Center for Eurasian Studies at the University of Zurich (Switzerland) was opened in 2022. The opening of the center was the result of long-term and fruitful cooperation between Zhetysu University named after I. Zhansugurov and the Department of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies of the University of Zurich on the basis of a bilateral Cooperation Agreement signed in 2010.

The work of the Center is carried out in two main directions: educational and scientific activities. In the first direction, academic mobility of students and teaching staff is being actively implemented. For example, in August-September 2022, a Summer School was organized for 8 students of the University of Zurich, where they took 2-week intensive courses in the Kazakh language, listened to lectures on the history of Kazakhstan, the history of Zhetysu, and the ethnography of the Kazakh people. Also, foreign students underwent ethnographic practice at Zhetysu University. Employees of the Department of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies of the University of Zurich, Professor P. Finke, doctors M. Sansak, V. Herzog conducted classes for students and undergraduates of the OP – History.

Scientific cooperation is also being actively implemented. In particular, scientific projects have been implemented and joint ethnographic expeditions have been conducted in Mongolia and Kazakhstan. Currently, scientists at Zhetysu University named after I. Zhansugurova and the University of Zurich are participating in the implementation of two international projects funded by the European Commission under the Horizon program: “Central Asian Law: Legal Cultures and Business Environments in Central Asia” and “MOCCA: Multilevel Orders of Corruption in Central Asia”. As part of these projects, in 2023, 11 scientists from European partner universities visited Zhetysu University named after I. Zhansugurov, where they conducted a number of seminars and guest lectures for teaching staff, young scientists, doctoral students and undergraduates of the university.

Employees of Zhetysu University named after I. Zhansugurov Ph.D. N.K.Baigabatova and master A.B. Kashaganova from March 1 to April 30, 2023, completed a 2-month scientific internship at the University of Zurich (Switzerland); Doctor of Economics, Professor D.A. Kaldiyarov and PhD, Associate Professor D. Nurmukhankyzy completed an internship at Lund University (Sweden) as part of the project “Central Asian Law: Legal Culture and Business Environment in Central Asia.”

Also, project participants from Zhetysu University took part in seminars held in Lund (July, 2022) and Istanbul (January, 2023; February, 2024), where they made presentations of their research.