Editing Central Asia (section)

== Education, science and technology ==
{{See also|Science and technology in Kazakhstan|Science and technology in Kyrgyzstan|Science and technology in Tajikistan|Science and technology in Turkmenistan|Science and technology in Uzbekistan}}

=== Modernisation of research infrastructure ===
Bolstered by strong economic growth in all but [[Science and technology in Kyrgyzstan|Kyrgyzstan]], national development strategies are fostering new high-tech industries, pooling resources and orienting the economy towards export markets. Many national research institutions established during the Soviet era have since become obsolete with the development of new technologies and changing national priorities. This has led countries to reduce the number of national research institutions since 2009 by grouping existing institutions to create research hubs. Several of the [[Turkmen Academy of Sciences]]'s institutes were merged in 2014: the Institute of Botany was merged with the Institute of Medicinal Plants to become the [[Institute of Biology and Medicinal Plants]]; the Sun Institute was merged with the Institute of Physics and Mathematics to become the [[Institute of Solar Energy]]; and the Institute of Seismology merged with the State Service for Seismology to become the [[Institute of Seismology and Atmospheric Physics]]. In [[Science and technology in Uzbekistan|Uzbekistan]], more than 10 institutions of the Academy of Sciences have been reorganised, following the issuance of a decree by the Cabinet of Ministers in February 2012. The aim is to orient academic research towards problem-solving and ensure continuity between basic and applied research. For example, the Mathematics and Information Technology Research Institute has been subsumed under the [[National University of Uzbekistan]] and the Institute for Comprehensive Research on Regional Problems of Samarkand has been transformed into a problem-solving laboratory on environmental issues within [[Samarkand State University]]. Other research institutions have remained attached to the [[Uzbek Academy of Sciences]], such as the [[Centre of Genomics and Bioinformatics]].<ref name=":13" />

[[Science and technology in Kazakhstan|Kazakhstan]] and [[Science and technology in Turkmenistan|Turkmenistan]] are also building technology parks as part of their drive to modernise infrastructure. In 2011, construction began of a technopark in the village of Bikrova near Ashgabat, the Turkmen capital. It will combine research, education, industrial facilities, business incubators and exhibition centres. The technopark will house research on alternative energy sources (sun, wind) and the assimilation of nanotechnologies. Between 2010 and 2012, technological parks were set up in the east, south and north Kazakhstan oblasts (administrative units) and in the capital, Astana. A Centre for Metallurgy was also established in the east Kazakhstan oblast, as well as a Centre for Oil and Gas Technologies which will be part of the planned Caspian Energy Hub. In addition, the Centre for Technology Commercialisation has been set up in Kazakhstan as part of the Parasat National Scientific and Technological Holding, a joint stock company established in 2008 that is 100% state-owned. The centre supports research projects in technology marketing, intellectual property protection, technology licensing contracts and start-ups. The centre plans to conduct a technology audit in Kazakhstan and to review the legal framework regulating the commercialisation of research results and technology.<ref name=":13" />
[[File:Trends in GERD GDP ratio in Central Asia, 2001−2013.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Trends in research expenditure in Central Asia, as a percentage of GDP, 2001–2013. Source: UNESCO Science Report: 2030 (2015), Figure 14.3]]
Countries are seeking to augment the efficiency of traditional extractive sectors but also to make greater use of information and communication technologies and other modern technologies, such as solar energy, to develop the business sector, education and research. In March 2013, two research institutes were created by presidential decree to foster the development of alternative energy sources in Uzbekistan, with funding from the [[Asian Development Bank]] and other institutions: the SPU Physical−Technical Institute ([[Physics Sun Institute]]) and the [[International Solar Energy Institute]]. Three universities have been set up since 2011 to foster competence in strategic economic areas: [[Nazarbayev University]] in Kazakhstan (first intake in 2011), an international research university, [[Inha University in Tashkent|Inha University]] in Uzbekistan (first intake in 2014), specializing in information and communication technologies, and the [[International Oil and Gas University]] in Turkmenistan (founded in 2013). Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are both generalizing the teaching of foreign languages at school, in order to facilitate international ties. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have both adopted the three-tier bachelor's, master's and PhD degree system, in 2007 and 2012 respectively, which is gradually replacing the Soviet system of Candidates and Doctors of Science. In 2010, Kazakhstan became the only Central Asian member of the [[Bologna Process]], which seeks to harmonise higher education systems in order to create a European Higher Education Area.<ref name=":13" />

=== Financial investment in research ===
The Central Asian republics' ambition of developing the business sector, education and research is being hampered by chronic low investment in research and development. Over the decade to 2013, the region's investment in research and development hovered around 0.2–0.3% of GDP. Uzbekistan broke with this trend in 2013 by raising its own research intensity to 0.41% of GDP.<ref name=":13" />

Kazakhstan is the only country where the business enterprise and private non-profit sectors make any significant contribution to research and development – but research intensity overall is low in Kazakhstan: just 0.18% of GDP in 2013. Moreover, few industrial enterprises conduct research in Kazakhstan. Only one in eight (12.5%) of the country's manufacturing firms were active in innovation in 2012, according to a survey by the [[UNESCO Institute for Statistics]]. Enterprises prefer to purchase technological solutions that are already embodied in imported machinery and equipment. Just 4% of firms purchase the license and patents that come with this technology. Nevertheless, there appears to be a growing demand for the products of research, since enterprises spent 4.5 times more on scientific and technological services in 2008 than in 1997.<ref name=":13" />
[[File:Central Asian researchers by sector of employment (HC), 2013.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Central Asian researchers by sector of employment (HC), 2013. Source: UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030 (2015), Figure 14.5]]

=== Trends in researchers ===
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan count the highest researcher density in Central Asia. The number of researchers per million population is close to the world average (1,083 in 2013) in Kazakhstan (1,046) and higher than the world average in Uzbekistan (1,097).<ref name=":13" />

Kazakhstan is the only Central Asian country where the business enterprise and private non-profit sectors make any significant contribution to research and development. Uzbekistan is in a particularly vulnerable position, with its heavy reliance on higher education: three-quarters of researchers were employed by the university sector in 2013 and just 6% in the business enterprise sector. With most Uzbek university researchers nearing retirement, this imbalance imperils Uzbekistan's research future. Almost all holders of a Candidate of Science, Doctor of Science or PhD are more than 40 years old and half are aged over 60; more than one in three researchers (38.4%) holds a PhD degree, or its equivalent, the remainder holding a bachelor's or master's degree.<ref name=":13" />

[[File:Central Asian researchers by field of science, 2013.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Central Asian researchers by field of science, 2013. Source: UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030 (2015), Figure 14.4]]Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have all maintained a share of women researchers above 40% since the fall of the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan has even achieved gender parity, with Kazakh women dominating medical and health research and representing some 45–55% of engineering and technology researchers in 2013. In Tajikistan, however, only one in three scientists (34%) was a woman in 2013, down from 40% in 2002. Although policies are in place to give Tajik women equal rights and opportunities, these are underfunded and poorly understood. Turkmenistan has offered a state guarantee of equality for women since a law adopted in 2007 but the lack of available data makes it impossible to draw any conclusions as to the law's impact on research. As for Turkmenistan, it does not make data available on higher education, research expenditure or researchers.<ref name=":13" />

{| class="wikitable"
|+ PhDs obtained in science and engineering in Central Asia, 2013 or closest year
! rowspan=3 |
! colspan="2" | PhDs
! colspan="4" | PhDs in science
! colspan="4" | PhDs in engineering
|-
! rowspan=2 | Total
! rowspan=2 | Women<br>(%)
! rowspan=2 | Total
! rowspan=2 | Women<br>(%)
! Total
! Women
! rowspan=2 | Total
! rowspan=2 | Women<br>(%)
! Total
! Women
|-
! colspan=2 | Per million pop.
! colspan=2 | Per million pop.
|-
| Kazakhstan (2013)
| 247
| 51
| 73
| 60
| 4.4
| 2.7
| 37
| 38
| 2.3
| 0.9
|-
| Kyrgyzstan (2012)
| 499
| 63
| 91
| 63
| 16.6
| 10.4
| 54
| 63
| –
| –
|-
| Tajikistan (2012)
| 331
| 11
| 31
| –
| 3.9
| –
| 14
| –
| –
| –
|-
| Uzbekistan (2011)
| 838
| 42
| 152
| 30
| 5.4
| 1.6
| 118
| 27.0
| –
| –
|}Source: ''UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030'' (2015), Table 14.1

Note: PhD graduates in science cover life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics and statistics, and computing; PhDs in engineering also cover manufacturing and construction. For Central Asia, the generic term of PhD also encompasses Candidate of Science and Doctor of Science degrees. Data are unavailable for Turkmenistan.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Central Asian researchers by field of science and gender, 2013 or closest year
! rowspan=3 |
! colspan="4" rowspan="2" | Total researchers (head counts)
! colspan="12" | Researchers by field of science (head counts)
|-
! colspan="2" | Natural Sciences
! colspan="2" | Engineering and<br>technology
! colspan="2" | Medical and<br>health sciences
! colspan="2" | Agricultural<br>sciences
! colspan="2" | Social sciences
! colspan="2" | Humanities
|-
! Total
! Per<br>million<br>pop.
! Number of<br>women
! Women<br>(%)
! Total
! Women<br>(%)
! Total
! Women<br>(%)
! Total
! Women<br>(%)
! Total
! Women<br>(%)
! Total
! Women<br>(%)
! Total
! Women<br>(%)
|-
| Kazakhstan (2013)
| 17,195
| 1,046
| 8,849
| 51.5
| 5,091
| 51.9
| 4,996
| 44.7
| 1,068
| 69.5
| 2,150
| 43.4
| 1,776
| 61.0
| 2 114
| 57.5
|-
| Kyrgyzstan (2011)
| 2,224
| 412
| 961
| 43.2
| 593
| 46.5
| 567
| 30.0
| 393
| 44.0
| 212
| 50.0
| 154
| 42.9
| 259
| 52.1
|-
| Tajikistan (2013)
| 2,152
| 262
| 728
| 33.8
| 509
| 30.3
| 206
| 18.0
| 374
| 67.6
| 472
| 23.5
| 335
| 25.7
| 256
| 34.0
|-
| Uzbekistan (2011)
| 30,890
| 1,097
| 12,639
| 40.9
| 6,910
| 35.3
| 4,982
| 30.1
| 3,659
| 53.6
| 1,872
| 24.8
| 6,817
| 41.2
| 6,650
| 52.0
|}
Source: ''UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030'' (2015), Table 14.1

=== Research output ===
[[File:Growth in scientific output has accelerated in Kazakhstan since 2012.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Scientific publications from Central Asia catalogued by Thomson Reuters' Web of Science, Science Citation Index Expanded, 2005–2014, UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030 (2015), Figure 14.6]]
The number of scientific papers published in Central Asia grew by almost 50% between 2005 and 2014, driven by Kazakhstan, which overtook Uzbekistan over this period to become the region's most prolific scientific publisher, according to Thomson Reuters' Web of Science (Science Citation Index Expanded). Between 2005 and 2014, Kazakhstan's share of scientific papers from the region grew from 35% to 56%. Although two-thirds of papers from the region have a foreign co-author, the main partners tend to come from beyond Central Asia, namely the Russian Federation, USA, German, United Kingdom and Japan.<ref name=":13" />

Five Kazakh patents were registered at the US Patent and Trademark Office between 2008 and 2013, compared to three for Uzbek inventors and none at all for the other three Central Asian republics, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.<ref name=":13" />
[[File:The most prolific countries in Central Asia – Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan – specialize in physics and chemistry.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Cumulative total of articles by Central Asians between 2008 and 2013, by field of science. Source: UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030 (2015), Figure 14.6]]

Kazakhstan is Central Asia's main trader in high-tech products. Kazakh imports nearly doubled between 2008 and 2013, from US$2.7{{nbs}}billion to US$5.1{{nbs}}billion. There has been a surge in imports of computers, electronics and telecommunications; these products represented an investment of US$744{{nbs}}million in 2008 and US$2.6{{nbs}}billion five years later. The growth in exports was more gradual – from US$2.3{{nbs}}billion to US$3.1{{nbs}}billion – and dominated by chemical products (other than pharmaceuticals), which represented two-thirds of exports in 2008 (US$1.5{{nbs}}billion) and 83% (US$2.6{{nbs}}billion) in 2013.<ref name=":13" />

=== International cooperation ===
The five Central Asian republics belong to several international bodies, including the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]], the [[Economic Cooperation Organization]] and the [[Shanghai Cooperation Organisation]]. They are also members of the [[Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program|Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation]] (CAREC) Programme, which also includes Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Mongolia and Pakistan. In November 2011, the 10 member countries adopted the ''CAREC 2020 Strategy'', a blueprint for furthering regional co-operation. Over the decade to 2020, US$50{{nbs}}billion is being invested in priority projects in transport, trade and energy to improve members' competitiveness. The landlocked Central Asian republics are conscious of the need to co-operate in order to maintain and develop their transport networks and energy, communication and irrigation systems. Only Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan border the [[Caspian Sea]] and none of the republics has direct access to an ocean, complicating the transportation of hydrocarbons, in particular, to world markets.<ref name=":13" />

Kazakhstan is also one of the three founding members of the [[Eurasian Economic Union]] in 2014, along with Belarus and the Russian Federation. Armenia and Kyrgyzstan have since joined this body. As co-operation among the member states in science and technology is already considerable and well-codified in legal texts, the Eurasian Economic Union is expected to have a limited additional impact on co-operation among public laboratories or academia but it should encourage business ties and scientific mobility, since it includes provision for the free circulation of labour and unified patent regulations.<ref name=":13" /><ref name=":02">{{cite book|url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002354/235406e.pdf|title=Countries in the Black Sea basin. In: UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030|last1=Erocal|first1=Deniz|last2=Yegorov|first2=Igor|publisher=UNESCO|year=2015|isbn=978-92-3-100129-1|location=Paris|pages=324–341|access-date=1 June 2017|archive-date=30 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630025557/http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002354/235406e.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Kazakhstan and Tajikistan participated in the Innovative Biotechnologies Programme (2011–2015) launched by the [[Eurasian Economic Community]], the predecessor of the [[Eurasian Economic Union]], The programme also involved Belarus and the Russian Federation. Within this programme, prizes were awarded at an annual bio-industry exhibition and conference. In 2012, 86 Russian organisations participated, plus three from Belarus, one from Kazakhstan and three from Tajikistan, as well as two scientific research groups from Germany. At the time, Vladimir Debabov, scientific director of the Genetika State Research Institute for Genetics and the Selection of Industrial Micro-organisms in the Russian Federation, stressed the paramount importance of developing bio-industry. "In the world today, there is a strong tendency to switch from petrochemicals to renewable biological sources", he said. "Biotechnology is developing two to three times faster than chemicals."<ref name=":13" />

Kazakhstan also participated in a second project of the Eurasian Economic Community, the establishment of the Centre for Innovative Technologies on 4 April 2013, with the signing of an agreement between the Russian Venture Company (a government fund of funds), the Kazakh JSC National Agency and the Belarusian Innovative Foundation. Each of the selected projects is entitled to funding of US$3–90{{nbs}}million and is implemented within a public–private partnership. The first few approved projects focused on supercomputers, space technologies, medicine, petroleum recycling, nanotechnologies and the ecological use of natural resources. Once these initial projects have spawned viable commercial products, the venture company plans to reinvest the profits in new projects. This venture company is not a purely economic structure; it has also been designed to promote a common economic space among the three participating countries.<ref name=":13" /> Kazakhstan recognises the role civil society initiatives have to address the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis.<ref name="civil-soc">{{cite web|title=EU Central Asia Civil Society Forum: Making Our Partnerships Stronger|url=https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/87703/eu-central-asia-civil-society-forum-making-our-partnerships-stronger_en|website=EU External Action|access-date=22 November 2020|archive-date=29 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129091614/https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-Homepage/87703/eu-central-asia-civil-society-forum-making-our-partnerships-stronger_en|url-status=live}}</ref>

Four of the five Central Asian republics have also been involved in a project launched by the [[European Union]] in September 2013, IncoNet CA. The aim of this project is to encourage [[European Union's scientific cooperation beyond the bloc|Central Asian countries to participate in research projects]] within [[Horizon 2020]], the European Union's eighth research and innovation funding programme. The focus of this research projects is on three societal challenges considered as being of mutual interest to both the European Union and Central Asia, namely: climate change, energy and health. IncoNet CA builds on the experience of earlier projects which involved other regions, such as Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and the Western Balkans. IncoNet CA focuses on twinning research facilities in Central Asia and Europe. It involves a consortium of partner institutions from Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Portugal, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan. In May 2014, the European Union launched a 24-month call for project applications from twinned institutions – universities, companies and research institutes – for funding of up to €10, 000 to enable them to visit one another's facilities to discuss project ideas or prepare joint events like workshops.<ref name=":13" />

The [[International Science and Technology Center]] (ISTC) was established in 1992 by the European Union, Japan, the Russian Federation and the US to engage weapons scientists in civilian research projects and to foster technology transfer. ISTC branches have been set up in the following countries party to the agreement: Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The headquarters of ISTC were moved to Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan in June 2014, three years after the Russian Federation announced its withdrawal from the centre.<ref name=":13" />

Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan have been members of the [[World Trade Organization]] since 1998, 2013 and 2015 respectively.<ref name=":13" />