Graduate School of Public Policy
Graduate School of Public Policy
Graduate School of Public Policy
PhD in Public Policy
Starting in 2017, GSPP launched its first doctorate-level degree – PhD in Public Policy (a 4-year program). The GSPP aims to provide a doctoral program of international standing which will attract high calibre candidates who will make a contribution to applied public policy.
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PhD in Public Policy
Starting from 2017 NU GSPP launched its first doctorate level degree – PhD in Public Policy (a 4-year program).
The aims of the PhD in Public Policy program are:
- To provide a doctoral program of international standing which will attract high calibre candidates who will make a contribution to applied public policy.
- To contribute to the economic and social welfare of Kazakhstan through the supply of outstanding doctoral graduates in public policy with functional expertise in these areas.
- To build sustainability into the higher education sector in Kazakhstan through the provision of future faculty trained to international standards of teaching and research.
- To strengthen the research base of decision making in the public sector in Kazakhstan through the supply of highly trained researchers.
- To add to existing scholarship on public policy in Central Asia through peer-reviewed publications emanating from the work of PhD students/graduates.
- To raise the profile of NU GSPP as a School well-known for its research and scholarship.
The learning outcomes of the PhD program are:
- Critically apply theories, methods and knowledge to address fundamental questions in the area of public policy, public administration and public management.
- Conduct relevant applied research by formulating, testing and generating hypotheses in key areas of enquiry.
- Collect, synthesize and analyse public policy data.
- Develop and demonstrate skills in oral and written communication, consistent with presentations and research papers disseminated at the doctoral level.
- Add to the body of academic discourse on public policy in Central Asia.
- Respect the principles of academic ethics and integrity.
- Develop and demonstrate academic research and leadership skills.
Upon completion of an academic program, students will be awarded the PhD in Public Policy degree.
Teaching and learning are interactive, didactic, and constructively challenging, encouraging students to critically engage with and question different perspectives. The program employs a variety of teaching methods, including lectures, seminars, tutorials, flipped and blended learning, case studies, simulations, and individual and team projects. Students apply statistical and qualitative case-study methods to public policy issues and test research hypotheses using quantitative datasets. Independent study and practical learning activities further support the development of analytical and research skills. Across all modules, particular emphasis is placed on developing students’ oral and written communication skills.
Assessment combines presentations, group projects, and course-related assignments such as policy briefs, literature critiques, and simulation exercises, alongside quantitative and qualitative data analysis — including testing research hypotheses on data sets and analysing policy narratives and interviews using qualitative software. Written assignments, case studies, group discussions, and problem-based learning develop and assess communication skills. Academic proposals and papers submitted to conferences, and the pursuit of research funding, extend assessment beyond the classroom. Ethical approval for the PhD proposal, and the consistent application of ethical principles, are assessed throughout the research process.
Successful completion of the PhD program requires the student to progress through a number of distinct stages, each characterized by a key evaluation/assessment point. The necessary stages are:
- Completion of all required coursework and examinations in the program to the level of 'good academic standing';
- Passing the PhD Qualifying Examination;
- Passing the Thesis Design and Written Proposal course, including the successful defense of the thesis proposal;
- Conducting the necessary research and making satisfactory progress on the thesis;
- Writing the thesis in an appropriate format and to the required standard of a PhD;
- Obtaining the Lead Supervisor's endorsement for the defense of the thesis;
- Approval of the thesis by the Supervisory Committee;
- Evidence of submission of at least one research manuscript based on the thesis for publication, under peer review, in a Scopus-indexed journal in the Q1/Q2 category;
- Viva Voce Examination of the thesis by the Thesis Examination Committee.
Starting from the 2027–2028 academic year, the program structure comprises five core courses (44 ECTS), a thesis proposal, and the PhD Qualifying Examination — all completed in Year 1 — followed by thesis preparation, research, and writing in Years 2 through 4. The overall four-year program equates to 240 ECTS.
Grants, covering tuition fees and a monthly stipend for students are available in the PhD program.
Students may be offered up to a 3-month international placement, subject to resources, in an institution identified as having research expertise in the subject of their thesis. During this period, PhD students conduct field research, offer a seminar on their topic at their host institution, and attend and present their work-in-progress at an international conference. Students also use this period to gain access to a breadth of international literature and expertise that might not otherwise be easily available to them at Nazarbayev University.
The PhD program has several distinctive strengths. First, it is designed to be a high-quality award comparable to those offered by leading public policy schools in Asia, North America, and Europe. Second, highly qualified, research-active faculty with a breadth of local and international experience deliver the program and supervise students, ensuring that teaching and supervision are research-led. A further distinctive feature of the program is the opportunity for students to undertake teaching assistant duties under the mentorship of their supervisors. This provides students with an opportunity to ‘learn the craft’ of teaching while building their academic CVs and developing valuable experience for future academic and research careers.
Program Tuition: US $23 500 per academic year
Per 1 ECTS: US $267
Financial Aid:
Per 1 ECTS: US $267
Financial Aid:
- 75% off for socially vulnerable groups
- 50% off for employees of state institutions and state enterprises of the Republic of Kazakhstan
- Financial Aid for employees of Nazarbayev University and its subsidiary organizations, including family members (children and spouses): 70% (local hire), 50% (international hire)
PhD CURRICULUM
Starting from the 2027–2028 academic year, the program structure comprises five core courses, a thesis proposal, and the PhD qualifying examination taken in Year 1, followed by thesis preparation, written submission, and oral defense in Years 2 to 4. The overall four-year program equates to 240 ECTS. The taught courses prepare students with substantive public policy expertise through specialist courses alongside research methods modules, at the end of which students are well placed to write the doctoral thesis.
*The order of the modules can be reconsidered by the School
**Students who entered the program before the 2027–2028 academic year follow the structure in place at the time of their admission.
THE LIST OF COURSES:
This doctoral-level course provides students a foundation in research methods. It equips PhD students with the conceptual and practical tools needed to formulate researchable questions, develop theoretically grounded frameworks, and select appropriate qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods strategies. Students will also develop skills in data collection, analysis, and interpretation, as well as in communicating findings to both academic and professional audiences.
Public policy scholarship is produced and vetted through writing in peer reviews, in IRB protocols, and in the manuscripts scholars publish. The student’s ability to read these documents closely is what separates credible research from everything else. Fluency in the field's textual and regulatory conventions enables doctoral students to: 1) write referee-quality reviews of empirical articles; 2) construct the human-subjects protocols required for published studies; and 3) identify ethical risks and design gaps invisible from the article alone. This doctoral seminar introduces students to the craft of reading public policy research critically, as both scholarly argument and regulated human-subjects activity. The student will work all semester with a single empirical article, writing a publication-quality referee report on it and reverse-engineering the IRB application that must support it.
This module introduces doctoral students to the public policy process, various theoretical and analytical frameworks, and an understanding of how context informs policymaking and influences implementation and outcomes. The module helps students appreciate substantive policy issues as well as academic perspectives across policy areas. The main framework used is the policy cycle which tracks how problems are interpreted and inform policymaking, how context and power influence policy design and implementation, and how evaluation can vary based on context and analytical weighting. The course adopts a research seminar format where, in addition to instructor guidance, every week students play central roles in analysis and critique of concepts and readings. Each student is expected, on a particular week, to prepare readings in an insightful and critical fashion and contribute to class discussion.
This core module under the DPP program aims to introduce students to key concepts and practices in public administration and management. Public managers are accountable to various groups of people including those within hierarchical structures of the organization, politicians, citizens and civil society groups as well as international organizations. Aside from having to work with this multitude of stakeholders, public managers are often caught in policy dilemmas and are tasked to effectively carry out policy promises in very challenging contexts. This module will provide the foundation of various ways to think about these administrative and managerial problems. Upon completion of the module, students will be able to understand theoretical concepts and appreciate their applicability to real-world situations. Case studies and class discussions will be used throughout the module to ensure that students are able to link theory to those real-world situations.
This course intends to provide relevant Statistics and Econometrics skills for future research in various academic fields in GSPP. The contents of this course will be theoretical and practical, including hands-on work using stat programs such as Stata, HLM, or Eviews.
This course is aimed to provide a detailed overview of qualitative research methods and techniques used in social sciences, including public policy and public administration. Although the course will focus on different types of research designs, conceptual models, techniques and sampling procedures, much attention will be given to data analysis in qualitative research. In this course, students will learn to critically choose and apply appropriate methods for conducting original research in the sphere of social sciences. Most importantly, students will learn how to use and analyze data with the help of NVivo Pro software applied in qualitative research in the lab tutorials. Students will be exposed to exemplary scholarly publications with qualitative studies and be involved in original research projects to demonstrate acquired research skills. It is expected that students have some knowledge of conducting research.
The thesis design and written proposal component of the PhD program is designed to prepare the students to work on the proposed design of their potential thesis with the objective of being able to defend their work towards the end of the semester. The semester long course will provide the requisite training for the students to build their proposal. At the mid-point of the semester, after fleshing out the initial ideas of a thesis proposal, each PhD student will be directed to a potential faculty member who could be a possible advisor for the purposes of working on the proposal. Students have to defend their PhD thesis proposal towards the end of the semester and pass the same in order to make further progress in the program.
Years 3 & 4 PhD Students
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