Kazakhstan Wants to Join the SKIF Project Near Novosibirsk and Adopt the Experience of Russian Science Cities

The Atomic Energy Agency of Kazakhstan held a meeting with academicians of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the development of science cities and scientific and technological territories. This was reported by the agency's press service. Astana expressed interest in the participation of Kazakh researchers in the "Siberian Ring Photon Source" (SKIF) project — a mega-installation under construction near Novosibirsk, which will become the first in Russia and the world's most powerful fourth-generation synchrotron radiation source. In January 2026, the government of Kazakhstan approved the concept for the development of science cities until 2035.

Science Cities of Kazakhstan: Kurchatov and Alatau According to the Model of the SB RAS

The meeting discussed the prospects of applying Russian experience in the development of two Kazakh territories. The city of Kurchatov — the former center of the Soviet nuclear program in the east of the country — and the village of Alatau near Alma-Ata are being considered as potential growth points for the scientific and technological development of the republic. The Russian model of science cities, formed including on the basis of the Novosibirsk Akademgorodok, is of interest to Kazakhstan as a ready-made institutional framework.

The issues of personnel training and cooperation between scientists of the two countries within the framework of large projects of the SB RAS were also discussed.

SKIF Near Novosibirsk: What Will Participation in the Project Give to Kazakh Scientists

SKIF — Siberian Ring Photon Source — is being built in the science city of Koltsovo near Novosibirsk. The installation is designed to obtain powerful beams of synchrotron radiation and will allow studying the structure of matter at the atomic level — from new materials and drugs to biological objects. After commissioning, SKIF will become the first Russian and the world's most powerful fourth-generation synchrotron radiation source.

The participation of Kazakh researchers in the SKIF project has not been officially confirmed at the negotiation stage — the agency's press service only recorded the fact of discussion and interest in cooperation.

Key Parameters of the SKIF Project

Kazakhstan's interest in SKIF is natural: the republic has a nuclear infrastructure — the National Nuclear Center in Kurchatov conducts research in the field of radiation materials science and nuclear physics. Synchrotron radiation opens up fundamentally new opportunities for these areas — that is why Kazakh scientists from materials science laboratories have already worked at the VEPP-3 and VEPP-4 installations of the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the SB RAS in Novosibirsk.

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