The role of higher education and science is not only in preparing qualified specialists capable of effectively integrating into the labor market and meeting its needs, as stated in an analytical note by Halyk Finance.

In addition to educating future professionals, universities are a source of research, development, and innovation, transferring knowledge to non-academic environments. This allows for the commercialization of scientific achievements and benefits in various applied fields.

However, questions about the form of interaction between universities and state bodies making important national decisions, as well as funding for joint research based on universities in Kazakhstan, remain unresolved. Today, such systematic cooperation is almost nonexistent, despite the efforts made by the state.

In recent years, there have been constant discussions in our country about the importance and necessity of developing science, implementing its achievements in practice, and commercializing them. The head of state regularly emphasizes the importance of transferring academic achievements through the creation of an open science model. In April of this year, the Mazhilis even adopted a new draft law «On Science and Technological Policy» in the second reading. It is aimed at providing the legal basis for implementing the results of science in the economy and key areas of life, as well as stimulating innovation in industry and raising the status of scientists. A large number of mechanisms are also proposed, including financing, which is expected to increase the efficiency of investments in science, stimulate new research, and increase the share of R&D expenditures to 1% of GDP.

However, considering the low level of investment in Kazakhstan’s science, as we mentioned in our education financing report, as well as the underdevelopment and resource orientation of the economy, which urgently needs to find new sources of growth, this draft law and measures to implement such a policy are necessary for Kazakhstan. Currently, spending on science is much lower than the target mark – in 2023, about KZT 150 billion or only 0.13% of GDP was allocated from the budget for science. However, in addition to increasing spending on research and their effectiveness, it is also necessary to pay attention to the problem of underfunding of R&D in universities and the low level of involvement of the country’s universities in the research of industry ministries and agencies in preparing their decisions. This is mentioned in the National Science Report for 2023. Unfortunately, official statistics in Kazakhstan do not provide separate data on budget funds allocated for R&D in universities. However, due to the overall very low financing of R&D, it is clear that these figures are disproportionately lower than international levels. At the same time, universities in Western countries regularly conduct research commissioned by government agencies, and this system is very well established, as in the United States.

In 2022, federal spending on R&D in universities alone amounted to almost $54 billion, which is more than half of the total R&D expenditures in universities. The main customers on the government side were the ministries of health, defense, energy, agriculture, and so on. Over the years, a form of cooperation has been established in the United States between universities and government agencies as research customers, and issues of funding for such projects by the government have been resolved.

Thus, this cooperation can be concluded through various channels. Firstly, the universities themselves can prepare research proposals or a pool of such proposals and submit them to the government agency at any time. The first stage of selecting suitable applications is carried out by the government agency itself, after which they are sent for analysis to external experts, mainly scientists working in the field, for additional evaluation. It is strictly monitored that there is no conflict of interest, affiliation, or leakage of information from the research in such evaluation. The second channel is a request from the government agency for specific research, which is posted on their resources and awaits a response within a certain deadline.

In general, all such research is funded in the form of grants allocated by the interested government agency. The accountability of universities regarding the use of funds is strictly in accordance with the relevant guidance of the White House Budget Office to ensure proper use of funds. Agreements on cooperation may also be concluded if active involvement of the government agency in the research is envisaged, including the use of its human and physical resources.

It is noteworthy that the new bill of the Republic of Kazakhstan «On Science and Technology Policy» largely contains a legal basis for building a similar system in Kazakhstan. Firstly, universities, on an equal footing with other research institutes, can participate in all R&D initiatives funded by the state. They can do this either independently or in consortia with other institutes.

Secondly, a separate chapter describes the financing mechanisms, which include both grant and program-targeted financing. Grant financing is aimed at conducting scientific research in directions approved by the Higher Scientific and Technical Commission in accordance with the state’s priority directions. The competition for program-targeted financing is announced by the industry authority based on its needs. The process of approving such applications then follows — first, they are collected by the industry authority, then they must be selected and approved by the National Scientific Council, and after that by the Higher Scientific and Technical Commission, and then by the Republican Budget Commission. National scientific councils under this law consist of scientists (Kazakhstani and foreign), a third of whom must be representatives of government agencies, national holdings, national companies, and the private sector. The Higher Scientific and Technical Commission is formed under the government and also consists of scientists, representatives of the government and quasi-governmental sector, and the private sector.

In our opinion, the process of approving program-targeted financing for a project seems too complex, multi-stage, and likely requires a lot of time, which can significantly affect its implementation and deadlines. Moreover, the role of the key responsible persons in the process — the industry authority as the customer of such research and the university — is greatly underestimated. The main role in selecting both topics and the applications themselves for participation is played by external bodies supervised by the government. Both the national councils and the Higher Scientific and Technical Commission are formed by the authorized body (the Ministry of Science and Higher Education) and approved by the government. At the same time, it creates the impression that national scientific councils and the Higher Scientific and Technical Commission largely duplicate the powers of project selection. The process of program-targeted financing is also very one-directional — it directive goes from the industry authority-customer of the research or supervising priority scientific areas to the universities, but not vice versa. However, it would be very useful to adopt the experience of the United States, where universities can submit their research proposals based on their own analysis.

Therefore, it raises questions about how much cooperation between universities and industry bodies will be strengthened as a result of such a law, which is currently considered weak and in a very nascent state. In general, it is necessary to strengthen the role of universities themselves in this process, since they have all the resources for conducting research. We believe that there is a lack of participation of an independent self-regulatory association of universities, which could become a platform uniting the scientific resources of universities. A dynamic and advanced higher education environment, which is becoming increasingly autonomous every year, could generate research directions itself without the command-administrative approaches of the state.

Furthermore, instead of a multi-stage process of selecting topics and applications, it makes sense to focus on the accountability of higher education organizations regarding the use of funds and the results of their work. Perhaps such a focus will contribute to the conduct of truly relevant and useful research that is not aimed at simply using grant funds, but rather at obtaining practical and scientifically valuable results.