Department of Theoretical and Nuclear Physics was founded in 2011 on the base of Department of Theoretical Physics and International Department of Nuclear Physics, Nuclear Energy and Technologies of Physical Faculty.

Department of Theoretical Physics is one of the oldest departments of the Physics Faculty of KazNU. It was founded in 1938, the founder of the scientific direction of thermodynamics in Kazakhstan is Professor A.A. Gukhmann. Further development of the Department is closely connected with scientific-pedagogical activity of the associate Professor Petrova N.M. - the student of the outstanding Soviet physicist-theorist V.A. Fock. She came from Leningrad in 1939 and supervised the Department from 1945 to 1970. With her scientific activity is connected one of the main scientific directions of the Department which is the problem of the motion of bodies in General Relativity (GR).

G.Zh. Murzagaliev began his working activity at the department in 1955, Т.М. Kuchin came to the department in 1959, in 1962 the new scientific direction - nonlinear acoustics arose at the department under the leadership of Z.А. Goldberg. Another scientific direction associated with nuclear physics was developed at the Department in 1969, with the advent of М.А. Zhusupov and Т.А. Kozhamkulov.

 In 1970, the head of the Department of theoretical physics became the academician V. А. Fock’s graduate student - M.M. Abdildin, under his scientific direction began the further successful development of the scientific work on theory of relativity and gravitation. In December, 1982 by the order of USSR Ministry of higher education, Kirov S.M. Kazakh State University was assigned to be the leading Institution on the problem of the motion of bodies in General Relativity. In 1971 the specialist in the field of elementary particles and field theory J.V. Liventsov began presenting his lectures at the department. From 1981 to 1986 the Department was headed by T.A. Kozhamkulov, his name is connected with the emergence of a new scientific direction of quantum chromodynamics. From 1986 to 2008 the Department was headed by M.M. Abdildin, since 2008 the head of the Department has been M.E. Abishev.

In the 1980’s  Department's scientific potential grew even higher. M.M. Abdil'din (1985) and T.A. Kozhamkulov (1986) defended their doctoral theses on theoretical physics. M.S. Omarov, N.A. Burkova, O.I. Imambekov, T.D. Kaipov, K.A. Zhaksybekova - young candidates of science and graduates of the Department, M.S. Imashev - specialists in the quantum field theory, A. M. Kusainov - specialist in the relativistic cosmology and professor of science T.S. Kozhanov  also started their working activity at the department in the 1980’s. Professor V.I. Rus'kin - the specialist in the quantum field theory taught at the Department from 2002 to 2006. In 2003 M.M. Abdildin was elected as an academician of NAS of RK. From 1988 to 1991 he was a rector of the University. Professor T.A. Kozhamkulov was elected as an academician of NAS RK in 2008.  He was the rector of al-Farabi KazNU from 2001 to 2008. In 2007 N.A. Burkova and K.A. Zhaksybekova, and in 2009 – M.E. Abishev, defended their doctoral dissertations. The specialist in the field theory of the nucleus S. K. Sakhiyev defended his candidate thesis in 1998, and later in 2004 defended his doctoral dissertation. In 2004 F.B. Belisarova, N.A. Beissen, A.A. Komarov and A.G. Murzagaliev became the Candidates of Sciences. In 2008, the Department released its first PhD – T.R. Myrzakul, in 2009 PhD dissertations were defended by K.A. Boshkaev and Z.N. Brisheva, in 2010 by A.M. Zhusupov and 2011 by A.S. Taukenova.

Since 1993 Department of radioactivity has been renamed twice: as the Department of nuclear physics, and then as the Department of space physics. After E.V. Kolomeets the head of the department was the doctor of physics and mathematics sciences, Professor A.A. Sapargaliev from 1991 to 1993, then the associate Professor N.B. Kadyrov from 1993 to 1996, Professor A.H. Abildayev from 1996 to 2008, and associate Professor V.V. Oskomov from 2008 to 2011. In 2010, according the resolution of the Academic Council of the University the Department of nuclear physics was transformed into the International Department of nuclear physics, nuclear energy and technology.  B.G. Akhmetova, a graduator of the postgraduate studies of M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University began working at the department as a teacher in 1967. B.G. Akhmetova and the scientific group headed by the Professor A.F. Tulin were awarded with the USSR State Prize Laureate for the participation in the discovery and study of the shadow effects in nuclear reactions on single crystals in 1972. That was time of professional activities of Professors I.L. Tazhibaeva, A.D. Duisebaev, N. J.Takybaev, M. Dineykhan; associate professors V.I. Cherevko, A.G. Naurzbayeva, G. K. Potrebenikov, Daumenov T.D, Bimurzayev S. B.; senior lecturers E. F. Galutina, M. V. Enker, V. F. Ostapenko, G. A. Korotkova, teachers Turlina, A., Tauasarov K., Orazbayev T. A., Zhantuarova R. B., Zh. I. Uzakova, as well as specialists N. A. V.V. Muhamedenkyzy, Zhdanova V .М., Savostina V.N., Gorelkinskaya S.R, Kolesov E., Khodak A. I., Prishepo B. N., Beloborodov L. M. Gorbachev O. I., Akchulakov M.T., Posylin V. A., Kuksenko V.F., Ivashkov B. N. Popov, A. M., Sadykova L. A., Knyazev B. B., Kaazik Yu. B., Mezin A. N., Pooh N. P., The Razdorskiy A. I., Nedosekov V.V., Mysin S. A., Arsenyev L.V., A. Starikevich L.A., Silagev I. Yu., Lezin A. V., Trofimov O. V., Sadykov M L., Zhaparova J. N., Shevelev C. D., Bychenko A. N., Petrova E. G., Toktamyssov A., Ermekov,, Kozmina N. A., Dracheva T. M., Iskakov E.R., Собачкин I.YU, Antonov O.B., Kashirin A.G., Kolomitsyn S.N., Ushakov B.N., Kakunin V.A., L. Reshetov, Medvedev E.YE., Kostenko V.I. Lights, A.A., Kapoor В.Э., Pavlyuk A.N., I.V. Grebenshchikov, Bogdanov YU.N., Popov О.Д., Zhumataeva O.J., Kulakova N.V.