Dr Kirill Nourzhanov has been awarded a 2020 CASS Dean's Commendation for Teaching Excellence. Dr Nourzhanov received his award for his work in Supervision of Higher Degree by Research Scholars.

Since taking up his position at CAIS, Kirill has supervised 20 HDR scholars to completion. He is also the HDR convenor at CAIS and guides all the research scholars through their programs.

CAIS is home to one of the most successful programs of Central Asian Studies in the world. As well as its teaching focus in both undergraduate and postgraduate courses, CAIS maintains a consistent enrolment in research degrees in Central Asian Studies. The list of current research projects and recent graduates provides an indication of the areas and themes involved in this research.