Graduate School of Public Policy

On March 31, 2022, we hosted an informal Master thesis info session with NU GSPP alumni. It was a long-awaited offline meeting that gathered NU GSPP students and alumni to share the learning experience.

Three amazing ladies – the winners of the Best PAE (for MPP programs) and Master Project award (for MPA programs) – shared their experiences on how they came up with their topics, coping with deadlines and supervisors, and finally survived and did not burn out.

Ms. Kamila Tuyakbayeva (MPA-2020) firmly recommended choosing the team members wisely, noting that working in the dream team where everyone is responsible for the concrete part of the project may provide a significant part of success.

Marta Tolebayeva (MPP-2019) noted the importance of the choosing right topic that should inspire for a long time ahead because it would take several months of working on it. She said, “with the topic that inspired you may succeed even if your supervisor is skeptical with it.”

Gulaiym Tnymbergen (MPP -2021) noted the importance of the narrowing the topic and making it more specific so the research could be focused on concrete research questions. Additionally, she mentioned that planning the meetings with the supervisor on a regular base makes sense and would help to keep yourself in tonus.

NU GSPP was launched ten years ago, in 2012. Since that period, about three hundred alumni graduated from the School. There are 200 students who are currently learning in our School.

To learn more about the Alumni Association’s activities, stay tuned and follow the NUGSPP Alumni Association Facebook page.