The visit of Professor Simon Redfern, the Dean of the College of Science at Nanyang Technological University, to Astana International University as part of the academic mobility program initiated by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, has drawn to a close. Throughout his stay, the professor delivered lectures to students, hosted a master class and training sessions for budding scientists and doctoral candidates, and conducted scientific seminars for the university's teaching staff. Additionally, Professor Redfern held discussions with Arman Ashkin, the Deputy Chairman of the Board of JSC Center for International Programs (Bolashak), as well as met with the British Embassy in Kazakhstan.. These meetings delved into the potential for fostering bilateral connections in the realms of science and education among Singapore, Great Britain, and Kazakhstan.
Professor Redfern has held several competitive UK research grants (total funding of more than £25m). He has also supervised over 30 PhD students in Cambridge and NTU, and acted as postdoctoral mentor and advisor to more than 20 postdoctoral researchers.He has published more than 270 peer-reviewed papers in the scientific literature (H-index 56 [ISI], 58 (Scopus), 65 [Google Scholar]), in internationally leading journals including Nature, Science, Physical Review Letters, Advanced Materials, Earth and Planetary Sciences Letters, JACS, Applied Physics Letters, and GRL. Professor Redfern is the recipient of the European Mineralogical Society’s Medal for Research Excellence and is the only individual to have been awarded both the Max Hey and Schlumberger Medals of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, of which he is a Fellow. Simon Redfern is also Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America and of the Geological Society of London. He was also a member of the UK ministerially-appointed Committee on Radioactive Waste Management charged with providing independent scrutiny of the development of a geological radioactive waste repository in the UK.