On March 14, 2025, a historic scientific defense for the university and the whole country took place at the Kyrgyz State Technical University named after I. Razzakov — the first public defense of a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).
Basic doctoral programs (PhD) were launched at KSTU in 2021 within the framework of the Resolution of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic dated December 11, 2020 No. 601, and they were updated in accordance with the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers dated August 27, 2024 No. 517.
These programs are aimed at training highly qualified specialists who are proficient in the latest methods of scientific research and are able to implement advanced technologies in various industries.
The honorable right to become the first graduate of the PhD program fell to Nurzat Urgaziyevna Konkubaeva. She successfully defended her dissertation on the topic of "Development of technology and recipes for enriched breakfast cereals based on puffed wheat grains", presenting the results of significant scientific research in the field of food technology. Her scientific supervisors were Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor Asylbek Kulmyrzaev (Kyrgyzstan) and Doctor of Engineering Sciences, Professor Ruta Galoburda (Latvia). The work was carried out at the Department of Food Science and Technology of KSTU.
Konkubaeva's research has not only theoretical but also practical significance. Based on the results of the work, 9 scientific articles were published, including 3 publications indexed in Scopus. Patent of the Kyrgyz Republic No. 1469 was received for the invention of "Vanilla Badyrak", and the technology for producing puffed wheat with vanilla and whey was industrially tested at the enterprise OOO "Makiy-Dan". Now the products "Vanilla Badyrak" are mass-produced and available to consumers.
A special role in the implementation of the PhD program was played by the Project "Professional Education for Economic Growth Sectors in Central Asia", implemented by the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) on behalf of the German government. Thanks to this support, the PhD program in "Food Technology" was internationally accredited by the NAAR agency (Kazakhstan) for a period of 5 years.
It is impossible not to note the contribution of Doctor of Engineering, Professor Mukrama Muslimova and Doctor of Engineering, Associate Professor Rimma Elemanova, who played a key role in the development and implementation of the PhD program at KSTU.
The first dissertation defense at KSTU marks a new stage in the development of science and higher education in Kyrgyzstan, opening up prospects for international cooperation and further research for young scientists.