As a research center attached to the College of Social Sciences (CSS) at KIMEP University, CCASC offers support to KIMEP PhD Candidates who are interested in studying the growing presence of China in Central Asia and the greater Central Asian region, the Belt and Road Initiative, and the economic, socio-cultural, security, geopolitical and political implications of these transformations. CSS currently runs PhD programs in Economics and Public Administration, in which conducting research in the aforementioned areas is encouraged, and there is an opportunity to receive funding for these programs. A third PhD program in International Relations is expected.