IMPROVING THE RESEARCH COMPETENCE OF POST-GRADUATE STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KAZAKHSTAN

This article explores strategies to enhance the research competence of postgraduate students in Kazakhstan universities, aiming to strengthen national intellectual capacity and facilitate its integration into the global academic community. Focusing on Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University (KazNPU) from 2020 to 2024, the study investigates postgraduate student participation in research activities and identifies key barriers hindering their engagement. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the research combines quantitative and qualitative data gathered through surveys, interviews, and institutional records. The study specifically examined master's and doctoral student participation in research projects, conference attendance, and academic journal publication rates. Key findings revealed that only 41.5% of postgraduate students actively participated in research projects. Participation in international conferences was notably low at 3.6%, while attendance at university-organized conferences reached 37.41% and national conferences 15.23%. Publication rates were also limited, with only 23.57% of students publishing at the national level. Of those publications, 63.96% appeared in domestic journals, and a mere 12.47% were published in international journals indexed in databases such as SCI, IE, and CSCD. These results highlight a significant gap between domestic and international research output. The article proposes actionable recommendations to address these challenges, including establishing internal grant schemes to support student research projects and international conference attendance, providing targeted academic English language training to improve scientific communication skills, and publication in reputable international journals. Implementing these initiatives is expected to align postgraduate research activities more closely with national and international scientific priorities, thereby improving the quality of postgraduate education in Kazakhstan, enhancing its global academic competitiveness, fostering a more dynamic research environment, and strengthening Kazakhstan's position within the global scientific community.