Dina Aitzhanovna Kudabayeva

Dina Aitzhanovna is a teacher and science communicator who helps children feel like researchers. In her classes students work with telescopes, build instruments, run experiments and defend their own ideas. Her approach is based on learning through doing and on an environment where a child can ask questions and is not afraid of mistakes.

She has been in education since 2010. She has worked at a general education school, a college, the Military Institute of the National Guard of Kazakhstan and a Nazarbayev Intellectual School. She holds a bachelor's degree from North Kazakhstan State University, a master's degree from the Swedish Institute of Space Physics and a postgraduate degree from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Since 2023 she has taught physics and Space Science at Space School. She is the author of the Space Science programme for grades 1–8 and the founder of the National Astronomy Tournament and of the free "Observation Nights". Under her academic supervision, a student received a state patent for a waste sorting system using a spectral analyser and artificial intelligence.

Inclusive education holds a special place in her work. Dina Aitzhanovna founded a free development centre for children with Down syndrome in Petropavl, which more than 90 children have attended over five years. Her principle "One sky for all" reflects her aim to make science accessible to every child.