International partnership and the development of academic mobility are among the priorities of the collaboration that al-Farabi Kazakh National University (Kazakhstan, www.kaznu.kz) has with many leading European universities. One of such top-ranking European universities is Vienna University of Economics and Business (www.wu.ac.at), Austria. 

Young scholars of al-Farabi Kazakh National University have had the opportunity to conduct research at Vienna University of Economics and Business for many years while implementing external academic mobility. Al-Farabi Kazakh National University provides its doctoral students a unique opportunity to obtain an international fellowship, which allows young scholars to gain invaluable research experience at research laboratories, centers, libraries, directly communicate and consult with foreign scholars, observe their work, and apply the obtained experience while developing science in Kazakhstan.

It is noteworthy that the Republic of Austria allocates numerous research grants to master’s, doctoral, and post-doctoral students in different fields; these are available to young scholars not only in Europe, but worldwide.

This bilateral partnership is reflected in the research fellowship of a PhD student, Nassikhat Utemgaliyeva, 6D021300 Linguistics major, Department of General Linguistics and European Languages, Faculty of Philology and World Languages of al-Farabi KazNU. She won a research grant as part of the Ernst Mach Grant – worldwide program (https://oead.at/). We learned about this program and its research grants in early 2019 and decided to apply. Nassikhat received a letter from the Ernst Mach Grant – worldwide program in July notifying that she was one of the grant holders. Dr. Edgar Hoffmann of Vienna University of Economics and Business facilitated the process of preparing the paperwork by the receiving university. A fair question would be, What is a linguist doing at an Economics and Business university? There is Foreign Language Business Communication Department integrating several linguistic institutes that focus on various issues in language use. Moreover, Vienna is famous for its Vienna School of Terminology founded by E. Wüster; therefore, Nassikhat was in right place, since her doctoral dissertation targets terminology problems.

This university has excellent conditions for scholars, such as study rooms and laboratories with upgraded equipment, and a library stocked with extensive research literature. The main library boasts unusual exterior and interior design. The library collection (books, newspapers, journals, etc) is organized in a way that is very convenient for its readers and scholars. Of particular note is a friendly and experienced faculty of the university’s researchers who can be reached for consultation.

It should be noted that the Ernst Mach Grant – worldwide program provides an opportunity to use all university and research libraries in Vienna and even an access to rare sources at no cost.

The doctoral program at al-Farabi Kazakh National University in collaboration with the Ministry of Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan has given a unique chance to our doctoral students to do research at foreign universities and research centers.

G.B. Madiyeva, Philology PhD, Professor at al-Farabi KazNU,

N.A. Utemgaliyeva, al-Farabi KazNU doctoral student