Adnan Alrubaye, assistant professor of poultry microbiology in Bumpers College and associate director of the Cell and Molecular Biology Program in the Graduate School and International Education, spent the month of June in Kazakhstan to help strengthen their poultry graduate programs through a grant from the U.S. Department of State.

Funded by the U.S. Mission to Kazakhstan, the U.S.-Kazakhstan University Partnerships Grants Program builds capacity for substantive international engagement between higher education institutions in the United States and Kazakhstan. The U of A was one of five American universities chosen to provide opportunities for Kazakhstani universities to adapt and modernize their curriculum in English as a foreign language and English in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Administered by American Councils for International Education, these grants are designed to adapt policies, practices and administrative structures for teaching and learning English for special purposes in STEM and modify teaching and curriculum for student outcomes in those areas.

Through the grant, Alrubaye visited three universities in Kazakhstan — Saken Seifullin Kazakh Agrotechnical Research University, Shakarim University and the Kostanay Regional University — where he taught workshops to faculty and students on improving chicken health, explored potential research collaborations and recruited students who may be interested in studying internationally through fellowship or scholarship opportunities.

"The experience was very rewarding," Alrubaye said. "I spent nearly a month visiting three parts of Kazakhstan - Astana, Kostanay and Semey - and I learned about their educational system, research initiatives, culture and geography. Kazakhstan is an outstanding country with lots of opportunities for research and academic collaboration."

As part of the grant, a Kazakhstani faculty member will spend a month at the U of A this fall to tour the university's research facilities and explore opportunities for collaboration.

"An international exchange such as the one occurring through this grant is necessary because it sets the foundation for more robust research and academic collaboration between our university and universities abroad like the universities in Kazakhstan," Alrubaye said.

"We are honored to be chosen as a grantee to partner with Kazakhstani universities to form mutually beneficial partnerships that will enhance educational opportunities in Arkansas and abroad," said Ed Pohl, dean of the Graduate School and International Education. "This partnership embodies not just our international exchange mission, but our commitment to advancing graduate education."

Alrubaye is a faculty member in poultry science and cell and molecular biology and a researcher and scientist with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the U of A System Division of Agriculture.

For more information on the program, visit the American Councils website.