Heriot-Watt University, founded in Edinburgh in 1821, is one of the UK's most international research-led universities with over 200 years of educational heritage. The University operates five fully integrated campuses across Scotland (Edinburgh, Galashiels and Orkney), the United Arab Emirates (Dubai), and Malaysia (Putrajaya). Heriot-Watt is recognised globally for its strengths in engineering, science, business and the built environment, ranked QS #287 worldwide. Under its 'One Heriot-Watt' philosophy, learning outcomes are identical across all campuses, with a single Heriot-Watt University degree certificate awarded globally regardless of campus location.

Heriot-Watt University Kazakhstan launched in September 2023 as a strategic partnership with K. Zhubanov Aktobe Regional University, signed initially through a trilateral memorandum with the Kazakhstan Ministry of Science and Higher Education. The campus operates within a dedicated location at the Zhubanov University site in Aktobe, with bespoke classroom and laboratory facilities and dedicated student support. The partnership delivers four-year double-degree undergraduate engineering programmes to an annual intake of 300 students, with graduates awarded both a Heriot-Watt and a Zhubanov degree. Around 35% of students come from rural schools and 42% from socially vulnerable backgrounds, reflecting the partnership's social mobility ambitions. Students can transfer to study at Heriot-Watt's Edinburgh, Dubai or Malaysia campuses. Phase Two will develop collaborative research, doctoral training and the introduction of Heriot-Watt's National Robotarium to Kazakhstan.

Aktobe is a major industrial and oil-and-gas hub in north-western Kazakhstan, with a population of around 500,000 and a strong economic role in the country's petroleum sector. The city sits in the Aktobe Region close to the Russian border, with continental winters and a developing student-friendly infrastructure around Zhubanov University. Heriot-Watt students benefit from being embedded in a working oil and gas heartland, with direct industry sponsorships from CNPC-Aktobemunaigas, Shell and Schlumberger and frequent guest lectures and placements with major energy companies. The shared Zhubanov campus environment also provides access to sports facilities, on-campus catering and student societies.