KazNU named after Al-Farabi is considered to the recognized leader among universities in the Republic of Kazakhstan to train highly- qualified scientific personnel  - doctors of Philosophy (PhD). The university was one of the first institutions in the Central Asia to join Magna Charta  Universitatum and fully switch to three-tier system of higher education «bachelor-master-doctorate PhD».
First experimental PhD courses were developed at the university in 2005 together with scientists from the world leading universities. To date, in doing PhD program KazNU  successfully collaborates with more than 450 world major universities, is a member of the International, European and Eurasian University Associations and employs foreign scientists from more  than 100 universities in Europe, North America and Asia.

PhD program in KazNU operates according to  scientific and pedagogical way of training, and provides in-depth specialized training that enables graduates to be successfully engaged in scientific, educational, managerial and peer activities in the future.
The training of scientific personnel in  PhD program in KazNU  is defined by :
focus on training for the future active research, teaching, and peer activities; PhD doctoral dissertation research is an indication of formation of professional competence of the researcher;
emphasis on training for branches of science, manufacture and socio-economic areas, which are considered to be in top priority in the Republic development;
emphasis on providing  informational, material and technical resources for successful educational process which are necessary for conducting high-quality scientific research including organizing  those of PhD students as a part of larger scientific projects on the programs of basic and applied research, cooperative scientific research projects made with the help of grants from international organizations (IAEA, NATO, ISTC), etc;

unique educational doctoral programs, such as bioinformatics, chemical engineering, plasma chemistry, and others, targeted to prepare professionals who currently cannot be trained in any other university in Kazakhstan.
A PhD course in KazNU involves doing active research, participation in research University projects under the supervision of leading experts in the major areas of science and practice.
The implementation of educational PhD programs is done in close cooperation with leading international organizations, education and science, including:
A significant part of elective subjects in PhD education programs are conducted by highly-qualified professors, invited from the leading world universities, who have an immense experience in pedagogical and research activities and approved with their scientific publications in leading western journals with high a impact — factor.

The presence of two scientific supervisors (local and foreign) provides doctoral fundamental training in the chosen field, as well as the opportunity to use the latest scientific  achievements in their research.
The research component of the individual trajectory of doctoral study offers the opportunity of two internships abroad at the foreign supervisor's university, which allows to work with the original sources, makes it possible to conduct scientific experiments on the basis of the host university or research center, speaking at international scientific symposia, conferences, seminars, etc.
As a part of the doctoral  program PhD students are given funding for participating in prestigious international scientific conferences and symposia, article publication  in international scientific journals. The results of research projects made by KazNU PhD students have already been published in such prestigious international scientific journals as  «Physical Review», «Gravitation and Cosmology», «Journal of Phys. A: Mathematical and Theoretical »,« Nanotechnology »,« International Journal of Psychology »,« International Journal of Agricultural Research », etc.

The course is conducted in Kazakh, Russian and English.

The University conducts the doctoral education process to make sure that every student has the most favorable conditions for mastering  all the disciplines, and is awarded (upon completion of training) with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in full compliance with the requirements of the Education Law, SES and other regulations.