University of Helsinki
In the last week of May, the Aleksanteri Institute welcomed two PhD researchers, Ainur Samsayeva and Kenzhekhan Kabdesov from KIMEP University in Almaty, Kazakhstan for a 35-day visit at the research center. The young academics visited the Institute and the University of Helsinki to utilize the database provided by the Helsinki University Library and to get to know the local researchers specialized in the theme of Central Asian politics.
After the pandemic, this visit was the first incoming visit within the EU Horizon 2020 RISE (Research, Innovation and Staff Exchange) program. The project called New Markets: an exploration into the changing nature of business environments, informal barriers and emerging markets in the post-Soviet region aims to provide tools to research new economic policies and related political changes in Central Asia via international researcher mobility. It connects six European and three Central Asian universities.
Ainur Samsayeva and Kenzhekhan Kabdesov have both specialized in political administration and are currently working on their doctoral research projects on society in Kazakhstan: Kenzhekhan is delving into the effects of public transportation commute and Ainur is looking into effectiveness of local COVID policies. As part of the New Market project, they are looking into the local policy reforms to find out how the current practices are reflecting into their research subjects – how do economic policy transformations have affected public transportation, and how did they influence the measures taken during the pandemic.
The visit marked a beginning of more active research travelling between Helsinki and the New Markets Consortium partners. Plans are on the way to to send three scholars for secondments in Georgia and Kazakhstan in the spring 2024.
Read more in the Aleksanteri News: How networking helps researchers to better understand Central Asian economic reforms | Aleksanteri Institute | University of Helsinki
By Olga Kaijalainen and Anna-Liisa Heusala