About the rector

WORK EXPERIENCE

• 1977 – Began his career as a combine harvester operator at the MRSHO Association in Talgar District, Almaty Region.

• 1983–1997 – Worked as a laboratory assistant, junior researcher, trade union chairman, senior researcher, and Deputy Director for Science at the Kazakh Research Institute of Crop Production named after V. Williams.

• 1997–2002 – Director of the A. I. Baraev Research Institute of Grain Farming.

• 2002–2005 – Vice Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

• 2006 – Director of the Science Department at the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

• 2007 – Reappointed as Vice Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

• 2008–2011 – Served as Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

• 2011–2020 – Chairman of the Board of the Joint-Stock Company "S. Seifullin Kazakh Agrotechnical University."

• August 2020 – October 2022 – Member of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

• November 1, 2022 – Appointed Chairman of the Board – Rector of NJSC "Kazakh National Agrarian Research University."

• January 22, 2024 – By order of the Head of State, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kuryshbayev Akhylbek Kazhygulovich, Chairman of the Board – Rector of the Kazakh National Agrarian Research University, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, Academician, and Vice President of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan, was appointed President of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

ACADEMIC DEGREE AND ACTIVITIES

Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, Professor,

Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Member of the International Association of Academies of Sciences (IFAC, Minsk, Belarus)
Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS)
Member of the National Council for Science and Technology under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Member of the National Kurultai under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

ACHIEVEMENTS AND AWARDS

• Over 200 scientific works, including more than 20 high-ranking articles published in international journals.

• Author of 4 monographs.

• Holder of 10 patents, has an author's certificate and breeding achievements.

• Developed unique varieties of agricultural crops: soft spring wheat and barley.

Awards and Honours:

• 2001 – Laureate of the A. I. Baraev Award

• 2005 – Medal "10 Years of the Constitution of Kazakhstan"

• 2006 – Honorary title "Honored Worker of Kazakhstan"

• 2008 – Medal "10 Years of Astana"

• 2011 – Medal "20 Years of the Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan"

• 2012 – Order "Құрмет"

• 2015 – Medal "20 Years of the Constitution of Kazakhstan"

• 2015 – Medal "20 Years of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan"

• 2016 – Anniversary Medal "25 Years of the Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan"

• 2018 – Order "Parasat"

• 2018 – Medal "20 Years of Astana"

• 2019 – Badge "For Active Participation" of the "Amanat" Party

• 2020 – Medal "25 Years of the Constitution of Kazakhstan"

• 2021 – Anniversary Medal "30 Years of the Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan"

• 2021 – Title "Honorary Citizen of Almaty Region"

PUBLICATIONS IN INTERNATIONAL PEER-REVIEWED SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS WITH IMPACT FACTOR, INCLUDED IN Q1 AND Q2 QUARTILES OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS:

1. Effect of Fertilizer, Sowing Date, and Seeding Rate on Biomass and Yield of Pea (Pisum savitum L.) Grown Under Dry Steppe and Steppe Conditions (2024, https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14122367)

2. Early Flowering as a Drought Escape Mechanism in Plants: How Can It Aid Wheat Production? (2017, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2017.01950)

3. Green revolution 'stumbles' in a dry environment: Dwarf wheat with Rht genes fails to produce higher grain yield than taller plants under drought (2020, https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.13819)

4. Advantages of Amplifluor-like SNP markers over KASP in plant genotyping (2017, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-017-1197-x)

5. Genes Encoding Transcription Factors TaDREB5 and TaNFYC-A7 Are Differentially Expressed in Leaves of Bread Wheat in Response to Drought, Dehydration and ABA (2018, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.01441)

6. Salt-induced expression of intracellular vesicle trafficking genes, CaRab-GTP, and their association with Na<SUP>+</SUP> accumulation in leaves of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) (2020, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-020-02331-5)

7. Identification, gene expression and genetic polymorphism of zinc finger A20/AN1 stress-associated genes, HvSAP, in salt stressed barley from Kazakhstan (2020, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-020-02332-4)

8. TaDrAp1 and TaDrAp2, Partner Genes of a Transcription Repressor, Coordinate Plant Development and Drought Tolerance in Spelt and Bread Wheat (2020, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21218296)

9. The General Transcription Repressor TaDr1 Is Co-expressed With TaVrn1 and TaFT1 in Bread Wheat Under Drought (2019, https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2019.00063)

10. Intracellular Vesicle Trafficking Genes, RabC-GTP, Are Highly Expressed Under Salinity and Rapid Dehydration but Down-Regulated by Drought in Leaves of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) (2019, https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2019.00040

"Students are the future of our country. Tomorrow, they will become competitive, qualified specialists who will make a huge contribution to the development of our society, the strengthening of the state's power, and the prosperity of the country. Therefore, one of the main tasks of society and the state is to support the student community," emphasized Akhylbek Kuryshbayev during a meeting with students. Students of KazNARU expressed their gratitude for organizing an open dialogue at the university and their readiness to study well, be exemplary students, actively collaborate with teachers to create a just university, and work honestly for the benefit of the country. (November 8, 2022).

"Our ultimate goal is to create a just university free from corruption. We must not allow any manifestations of corruption between teachers and students. We urge students to express intolerance towards corruption, enhance the level of anti-corruption culture, and ensure the quality of the educational process. And it is through events like today’s, based on mutual trust, that the anti-corruption movement is built," said politician Akhylbek Kurishbayev during a meeting with student youth (November 8, 2022).

"The main mission of our university is to prepare competitive specialists in accordance with modern requirements and to open new scientific developments. We must approach the implementation of scientific projects and the preparation of qualified specialists, the transfer of new technologies, and the integration of scientific achievements into practice and the educational process in a new way. We need to strengthen the work of scientific laboratories at the industrial level, which will contribute to the development of the agricultural complex of KazNARU.

KazNARU has the full potential to accept and implement international programs. Our students have the opportunity to obtain a second diploma by studying at the best universities in the world. By increasing grants, we will make efforts to conduct joint scientific innovative research and implement new programs on the most pressing issues of the agro-industrial complex. I believe that our university truly is a world-class research institution in terms of structure and the content of its activities," said Rector Akhylbek Kuryshbayev in his speech to young scientists (January 12, 2023).

"We will create the 'KazNARU Endowment Fund.' The funds accumulated in the endowment will not be used for festive events, but primarily for the modernization of old dormitories and the improvement of social and living conditions for students of KazNARU, as the university's students are mostly youth from rural areas, many of whom come from low-income families. Therefore, the funds from the 'Endowment' will be directed towards improving the social and living conditions of students," said Rector Akhylbek Kuryshbayev at the university's staff meeting of scientists (November 18, 2022).