Profile page - SDU University

Kairat Moldashev

PhD

School of Social sciences, Business and Law

kairat.moldashev@sdu.edu.kz

Profile

Kairat Moldashev is Professor at the School of Social Sciences, Business and Law at SDU University, Kazakhstan. He previously served in senior academic leadership positions, including Vice-Rector for Research at SDU University, Vice-Provost for Research at Narxoz University, and Provost and Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and Research at Paragon International University in Cambodia. His research focuses on two broad areas: political economy and regional integration, and higher education policy and research systems. His work in political economy examines Eurasian regionalism, international sanctions, international trade, comparative regionalism, and the Belt and Road Initiative. His research on higher education addresses research culture, internationalisation, academic careers, research commercialisation, university-industry collaboration, teacher labour supply, artificial intelligence adoption, and education-system planning. Kairat has published in international journals including Studies in Higher Education, Higher Education Quarterly, Minerva, Journal of International Relations and Development, Asia Pacific Business Review, Social Sciences & Humanities Open, Journal of Economic Integration, and Frontiers in Education. He has also contributed chapters to volumes published by Palgrave and Routledge. He is the author of a widely used Russian-language research methods book for doctoral students and early-career researchers in Kazakhstan. He regularly delivers research methods, data analysis, and methodology seminars for PhD students, university faculty, analysts, and early-career researchers. Kairat has led and contributed to nationally and internationally funded projects on higher education reform, research integrity, university research systems, regional integration, sanctions, teacher workforce planning, student-enrolment forecasting, and education policy. He is Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Center of Science and Technology Evaluation JSC and Founder and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Galym Project Fund. He previously served as a member of the National Council for Science and Technology under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Google Scholar: Profile

Degree Qualifications

PhD in Political Economy, University of Malaya, Malaysia, 2011-2015 (Bolashak Scholar). Thesis: The Political Economy of Eurasian Regionalism.
MA in Management, SDU University, Kazakhstan, 2008-2010. Thesis focused on non-tariff barriers and state-support policies in the customs union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia.
BSc in Business Administration, KIMEP University, Kazakhstan, 2000-2004.

Certificates

Prompt Engineering for ChatGPT
Vanderbilt University (Coursera)
Completed: 3 December 2024

Learning to Teach Online
UNSW Sydney (Coursera)
Completed: 2 May 2020

Courses

Research Methods
Academic Writing
Data Analysis
Evidence-Based Management
International Political Economy
International Economics
Strategic Management

Publications

Moldashev, K., & Tleuzhanuly, K. (2026). Determinants of entering the teaching profession: A longitudinal study. Frontiers in Education, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2026.1733747
Moldashev, K. B. (2025). Коммерциализация науки: модели, практики и международный опыт. АО «Фонд науки». [Монография]
Moldashev, K., Sahimbekov, B., & Kozhakhmet, S. (2025). The institutional logics of research commercialisation: Reform, misalignment, and hybridisation. Social Sciences & Humanities Open. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.102000
Pelzman, J., Issabayev, M., & Moldashev, K. (2025). Sanction busting, regional integration and institutions. Global Economy Journal. https://doi.org/10.1142/S2194565925500083
Moldashev, K., Nurgabdeshov, A., & Kozhakhmet, S. (2025). University-industry collaboration in post-Soviet states: A bibliometric study with implications for educational policy and practice. Journal of Pedagogical Research, 10(1), 37-57. https://doi.org/10.33902/JPR.202639742
Moldashev, K., & Sakhimbekov, B. (2025). Determinants of teachers’ adoption of artificial intelligence: Evidence from Kazakhstan. Eurasian Journal of Economic and Business Studies, 69(4), 19-31. https://doi.org/10.47703/ejebs.v69i4.565
Kozhakhmet, S., & Moldashev, K. (2024). Managing careers of academics in higher education institutions: A moderated mediation model. Higher Education Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1111/hequ.12549
Kuzhabekova, A., Moldashev, K., Baigazina, A., & Chanchem, V. (2024). Readjustment of returning scholars: Experiences of Cambodian researchers. Minerva. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-024-09522-6
Issabayev, M., & Moldashev, K. (2024). Sanction busting within and outside regional integration. Journal of Economic Integration. https://doi.org/10.11130/jei.2024035
Moldashev, K. B., & Nurgabdeshov, A. R. (2024). Руководство для менеджеров высшего образования по разработке стратегии. SDU University. [Монография]
Moldashev, K., & Sakhimbek, B. (2024). Issues in university and industry collaboration: Results of a stakeholder survey. Высшая школа, 48(4), 96-105. https://doi.org/10.59787/2413-5488-2024-48-4-96-105
Moldashev, K., & Malgeldinov, N. (2024). Организационно-правовые формы и цели сообществ молодых ученых: мировой опыт. Вестник Карагандинского университета. Серия «Экономика», 29(2), 140-147. https://doi.org/10.31489/2024Ec2/140-147
Moldashev, K. (2023). The effects of trade-related sanctions on Russia on Kazakhstan’s international trade in goods. Eurasian Journal of Economic and Business Studies, 67(4), 38-48. https://doi.org/10.47703/ejebs.v67i4.321
Moldashev, K. B., & Makhmedzhanov, G. N. (2023). Переосмысление роли Евразийского экономического союза в условиях санкций. Central Asian Economic Review, (2), 93-105.
Moldashev, K., Seithan, R. M., Ospanova, U. A., & Myrzabekova, A. K. (2023). Функциональная грамотность в высшем образовании и ожидания рынка труда. Вестник Карагандинского университета. Серия «Экономика», (2), 254-264.
De Lombaerde, P., Moldashev, K., Qoraboyev, I., & Taghon, S. (2022). Strategic responses of regional economic organizations to the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative: The cases of ASEAN, EAEU, and EU. Asia Pacific Business Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602381.2022.2093526
Moldashev, K., & Tleuov, A. (2022). Response of local academia to the internationalization of research policies in a non-Anglophone country. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 30, 56. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.30.6788
Kozhakhmet, S., Moldashev, K., Yenikeyeva, A., & Nurgabdeshov, A. (2022). How training and development practices contribute to research productivity: A moderated mediation model. Studies in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1754782
Moldashev, K., Kuchumova, G. Zh., & Malgeldinov, N. S. (2022). Стратегические меры реагирования университетов на вызовы пандемии: Систематический обзор литературы и кейс Казахстана. Central Asian Economic Review, (5), 127-141.
Qoraboyev, I., & Moldashev, K. (2021). EU-China relations in Central Asia in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative: A regional(ist) perspective. In The European Union, China and Central Asia (pp. 257-273). Routledge.
Kozhakhmet, S., Moldashev, K., Nurgabdeshov, A., & Gassanova, A. (2020). Does professional research network enhance career commitment? A moderated mediation model. In Annual Conference of the British Academy of Management 2020.
Moldashev, K., Kozhakhmet, S., Yenikeyeva, A., & Nurgabdeshov, A. (2019). Предикторы исследовательской продуктивности: эффективны ли тренинги для ученых? Central Asian Economic Review, (3), 122-132.
Moldashev, K., Arystanbayeva, S., & Tleuov, A. (2019). Политика интернационализации исследований в Казахстане: реакция ученых. Central Asian Economic Review, (4), 85-95.
Zhussipbek, G., & Moldashev, K. (2018). Rawlsian liberalism and rationalistic Maturidi Islam in Central Asia. In Theorizing Central Asian Politics: The State, Ideology and Power (pp. 95-118). Palgrave.
Moldashev, K., Tleuov, A., & Radko, N. (2018). Экономика публикационного режима и проблемы интеграции казахстанских ученых в глобальное научное сообщество. Central Asian Economic Review, (4), 127-138.
Qoraboyev, I., & Moldashev, K. (2017). The Belt and Road Initiative and comprehensive regionalism in Central Asia. In Rethinking the Silk Road: China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Emerging Eurasian Relations. Palgrave. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5915-5_7
Moldashev, K. B. (2017). От идеи к публикации: Методология исследований в социальных науках. SDU University. [Монография]
Moldashev, K., & Gulam Hassan, M. A. (2017). The Eurasian Union: Actor in the making? Journal of International Relations and Development. https://doi.org/10.1057/jird.2015.6
Deth, S. U., Moldashev, K., & Bulut, S. (2016). The contemporary geopolitics of Cambodia: Alignments in regional and global contexts. In The Handbook of Contemporary Cambodia. Routledge.
Moldashev, K. B. (2016). Религия в процессе национального строительства Малайзии: уроки для Казахстана. Аль-Фараби: Журнал социогуманитарных исследований, (4), 134-155.

Conference

Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia Conference, 2026
Internationalisation amid Geopolitical Disruption: Evidence from the Academic Semi-Periphery.
Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia Conference, 2026
How Researchers Use Generative AI in Practice: A Longitudinal Qualitative Account Based on Diaries and Interviews. (Poster)
XVII European Society for Central Asian Studies Conference, Almaty, Kazakhstan, 21-24 September 2023
Keynote address: Being a Social Science Researcher in Kazakhstan: Ideas, Institutions and Parallel Cultures.

Research interests

Co-Principal Investigator, 2024-2026
BR24993019 - Improving the secondary education system by developing solutions for forecasting student enrolment, the need for teaching staff, and school equipment
National Scientific Council, Social Sciences and Humanities, Republic of Kazakhstan
Co-Principal Investigator, 2024-2026
AP23488831 - Reforms in Kazakhstani higher education through internationalisation and transformational leadership
National Scientific Council, Social Sciences and Humanities, Republic of Kazakhstan
Co-Awardee, 2023-present
Grant 890-2023-0149 - Exploration of research misconduct in a non-Western context: The case of Kazakhstan Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Principal Investigator, 2022-2024
AP13068362 - Responses to COVID-19 and post-pandemic strategies of higher education institutions in Kazakhstan
National Scientific Council, Social Sciences and Humanities, Republic of Kazakhstan
Principal Investigator, 2022-2024 AP14870610 - The impact of sanctions against Russia on Kazakhstan, taking into account regional integration processes
National Scientific Council, Social Sciences and Humanities, Republic of Kazakhstan
Principal Investigator, 2018-2020
AP05133888 - Integration of local researchers into the global scientific community: Challenges and possible solutions in the case of Kazakhstan
National Scientific Council, Social Sciences and Humanities, Republic of Kazakhstan

Membership of professional organisations

Chair of the Board of Directors, National Center of Science and Technology Evaluation JSC, 2023-present
Founder and Chair of the Board of Trustees, Galym Project Fund
Member, National Council for Science and Technology under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 2023-2025
Editor-in-Chief, Buketov Business Review
Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Strategy and Governance in Education

Scholarships & awards

Satbayev Medal for contribution to research and policy, awarded by the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Bolashak Scholarship for PhD study at the University of Malaya