ISSAI - Institute of Smart Systems and Artificial Intelligence
Driver of research and innovation in the digital sphere of Kazakhstan
Driver of research and innovation in the digital sphere of Kazakhstan
Institute of Smart Systems and Artificial Intelligence (ISSAI) was founded in September 2019 to serve as the driver of research and innovation in the digital sphere of Kazakhstan with the focus on AI research. Located at the C4 Research Building of Nazarbayev University, ISSAI conducts interdisciplinary research on machine intelligence for solving real-world problems of industry and society. ISSAI aims to develop a national capacity for research in Artificial Intelligence incorporating the experience of exemplars from Asia, Europe and the United States. ISSAI provides an agile framework for research, innovation and collaboration with national and international partners in education, industry and government and contributes to the digital ecosystem of Kazakhstan in the advancement of national development goals.
6th of November 2025
Quantum STEM School Students Visit ISSAI to Explore AI and Robotics
30th of October 2025
ISSAI Director Dr. Huseyin Atakan Varol Speaks at the 1st International Conference of the Turkic World on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Baku, Azerbaijan
30th of October 2025
ISSAI’s Senior Data Scientist Zhanat Makhataeva Speaks at the XIV NIS International Conference “School Education in the Digital Age: Key Trends and Challenges”
29th October 2025
ISSAI presented two papers at the 51st Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society in Madrid, Spain
28th October 2025
ISSAI Showcased Its AI Innovations at the National Forum “Teacher Competence and Ethics in the Age of AI”
25th of October 2025
ISSAI Researcher Showcases Terrain-Adaptive Mobile Robot at IROS 2025
WiFi based localization and indoor navigation
Chest X-ray disease classification system
Speaking Faces
SF-TL54: A Thermal Facial Landmark Dataset with Visual Pairs
TFW: Annotated Thermal Faces in the Wild Dataset
Automatic brain tumor segmentation
Optimal camera placement in smart cities
COVID-19 simulator for Kazakhstan
Kazakh Speech Corpus
Kazakh text-to-speech conversion technology 2
Uzbek Speech Corpus
Multilingual Speech Recognition
Optical Tactile Sensors
Haptic Illusions
ExoMem - Human Memory Enhancement Using Artificial Intelligence
Kazakh Named Entity Recognition
Multilingual Speech Recognition for Turkic Languages
Circular Economy Indexing in Construction Industry Using Big Data and AI
AnyFace: A Data-Centric Approach For Input-Agnostic Face Detection
General Director Huseyin Atakan Varol
Executive Director Yerbol Absalyamov
Deputy Director of Product and External Affairs, Senior Data Scientist Madina Abdrakhmanova
Acting Deputy Director of Product and External Affairs Amina Baikenova
Head of Advanced Robotics and Mechatronics laboratory Azamat Yeshmukhametov
General Manager Gibrat Kurmanov
Legal Counsel Daulet Aliyev
General HR Manager Dana Makhanova
Chief Accountant Rinat Smirnov
Lead Data Scientist Askat Kuzdeuov
Senior Data Scientist Zhanat Makhataeva
Senior Data Scientist Saida Mussakhojayeva
Data Scientist Aspandiyar Nurimanov
Data Scientist Mamyrbek Parakhat
Data Scientist Rakhat Meiramov
Data Scientist Batyr Arystanbekov
Data Scientist Akylbek Maxutov
Data Scientist Nartay Aikyn
Data scientist Tomiris Rakhimzhanova
Junior Data Scientist Auyeskhan Alibekov
Data Scientist Vladimir Albrekht
Junior Data Scientist Aibota Sanatbyek
Junior Data Scientist Adema Sharipova
Research Assistant Galammadin Askar
Data scientist Anuar Aryngazin
Senior Computer Engineer Nurgaliyev Shakhizat
Computer Engineer Makat Tlebaliyev
Computer Engineer Zhaxylyk Tursunbayev
Software Engineer Sanzhar Sapar
Software Engineer Nail Kamilov
Front-End Developer Akjan Yerkin
Grant Coordinator Gauhar Orazbekova
Budget Manager Nurgul Shymyrbaeva
Senior PR manager Aliya Tussupova
IT Product Manager Aikerim Bissarinova
Government Relations Manager Alaidar Amirseiit
Senior External Affairs Manager Aigerim Sarsenova
Administrative Manager Madina Satybaldina
Senior Researcher Darkhan Zholtayev
Senior Researcher Inara Tusseyeva
Research Assistant Almubdi Mutaikhan
Research Assistant Hamad Hassan Awan
Research Assistant S. Olarewaju Olagunju
Post-doctoral Researcher Gourav Moger
Research Assistant Daniil Filimonov
Data Moderator Moldir Orazalinova
Data Moderator Venera Spanbayeva
Data Moderator Gulim Kabidolda
Data Moderator Assel Kospabayeva
Join us
The Institute for Smart Systems and Artificial Intelligence (ISSAI) was founded to provide a framework for collaboration, to develop new ideas and technologies which could have an impact on the society and economy. We believe that academic excellence and interdisciplinary collaboration fosters the professional growth of researchers, engineers and students. Join our team of experts and pave the way to innovation!
We invite undergraduate and graduate students from diverse academic backgrounds to conduct internships at the Institute of Smart Systems and Artificial Intelligence. An intern will work collaboratively with our data scientists and post-doctoral researchers on ISSAI projects, and gain first-hand experience with state-of-the art computational facilities. Internships can be either on a paid or unpaid (potentially credit-bearing) basis, depending on the educational level and skills of the applicants. The average duration of an internship is six to eight weeks; the minimum duration of an internship is one month. Interested candidates should apply by sending their intended period of internship, resume, transcript and one paragraph describing their skills and research interests to issai@nu.edu.kz
We welcome individuals with backgrounds in Computer Science, Data Science, Applied Mathematics, Robotics or related fields to join ISSAI as Visiting Researchers. A Visiting Researcher will have the opportunity to work on cutting-edge projects, co-author impactful publications, gain experience in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, learn how to use advanced AI servers, as well as enjoy the vibrant academic environment of Nazarbayev University. The position is compensated based on the highest academic degree, and the minimum duration of stay is three months. Interested candidates should apply by sending their curriculum vitae, transcripts, and a cover letter highlighting their research interests and intended period of stay to issai@nu.edu.kz