Tag: science

Lilit Margaryan, the operations manager of Gituzh, joins us to discuss what the initiative has managed to achieve over the last three years. We also dive into the concept of national research and innovation systems, and discuss the prioritization of strategic scientific directions. Lastly, Lilit shares with us their upcoming initiative called Science Week, a week-long series of events that aims to promote science in Armenia.

Expectations and optimism are often the primary drivers of investment activity. It’s easy to be negative in the current times that Armenia is living, however, hope and optimism are key to inspiring drive, effort and motivation, especially when Armenia needs it most.

Suzanna Shamakhyan, Vice President of Strategic Programming at the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST), joins us to discuss the organization’s initiatives to improve education and science in Armenia. She breaks down how the current poor state of the country’s education system can be viewed as an opportunity to pilot innovative new solutions. We also discussed FAST’s new Generation AI program, which aims to bring artificial intelligence education to high schools in Armenia.

In this episode, we talk to Nerses Ohanyan, co-founder of HyeTech, about the organization’s recent trip to India and their efforts to connect the Armenian tech ecosystem with the rest of the world. We delve into why it's crucial for Armenia to develop its capacities in the space tech ecosystem, and Nerses shares exciting initiatives such as the Bazoomq space research lab, the Kemurdzhian Challenge, and the Armenian Model Rocketry Association.

The Gituzh initiative recently issued a statement expressing its disappointment in the Armenian Government’s inability to support the country’s scientific modernization and to implement plans around science and research and development investments.

In order for tech to truly benefit Armenia, it needs to benefit all of Armenia. For this to become a reality, accessibility to education in the regions as well as the creation of more local job opportunities are essential.

While innovation is increasingly being acknowledged as key to a country’s competitiveness in global markets, contributions of the humanities and social sciences to the body of knowledge are largely left out of debates.

Despite leading the region in many progressive metrics, the past few years have reinforced how peace isn’t something Armenia can take for granted: it must cultivate optimal conditions for innovation because of external threats, and that will take conscious architecting.

Armenia’s Science Committee has launched ambitious grant programs to attract scientists and researchers from around the world to come to Armenia and strengthen scientific excellence in the country.

Two decades ago, the IT sector was declared a priority for Armenia. With natural talent, innovation and state privileges, the sector seems to be growing relatively fast. Yet, its influence on the country’s economy remains relatively low.

Tigran Shahverdyan, the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Robomart, joins us this week on EVN Disrupt to discuss how Robomart is attempting to make fresh produce more accessible through their "store-hailing" platform. We also discussed the future of self-driving vehicles, and Gituzh's initiatives to advance science in Armenia.

Hrant Khachatrian, the founder and director of YerevaNN, a machine learning research lab, joins us this week on EVN Disrupt to tell us the story of how YerevaNN was built at a time when there was very little machine learning activity in Yerevan. We also spoke about the state of scientific research in Armenia and what is needed to significantly develop and boost research activity in the country.

We are at an exciting inflection point for Armenia’s tech sector, as the potential for rapid growth and new activity in the coming years is high, writes Njdeh Satourian.

Examining the dissonance between the importance ascribed to national values like cultural heritage and the less-than enviable conditions surrounding the profession of Armenia’s “heritage doctors”.

Academic programs around the world are not preparing enough bioinformaticians to deal with the exponential data growth we are observing. Armenia needs to catch up quickly.

This article is not about the past, the golden decades when science flourished in Armenia. It’s a guide on what can be accomplished in the present and into the future through the lens of one visionary, Dr. Mushegh Rafayelyan.

After working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Aerospace Corporation, Dr. Mary Boghosian moved to Armenia in 2015. She established the Center for Innovation Promotion and Research and also lectures at the American University of Armenia and Yerevan State University. She is passionate about encouraging and promoting innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.

Following the results of the June parliamentary election, which brought Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract back to power, all the ministerial posts have now been filled.

Prioritizing science will pave the way towards economic and strategic development. Formed by industry representatives, the Gituzh initiative is working to increase public awareness and government funding for science development.

The current state and future direction of science in Armenia has been discussed on various platforms recently. Gagik Tovmasian writes about the need to elevate the status of national institutes and willingness to open up to the world.

With the absence of qualified academic supervisors and challenges with the quality of student research, there was a need to develop a platform where students and supervisors could meet remotely.

Dr. Garik Israelian led the international collaboration that provided the first observational evidence that supernova explosions are responsible for the formation of black holes.

While it is still early to assess the effectiveness of the Armenian government’s COVID-19 response, Lusine Sargsyan reviews some of the key measures authorities introduced over the past five months.

Is it possible to keep promising scientists in academia? With little state funding for academic research, many young people are choosing the higher salaries of the tech industry. However, YerevaNN, a computer science and mathematics research lab, is a beacon of hope.

Hayk Mkrtchyan of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports speaks about a new initiative to bring residents of different regions together to preserve and promote tangible and intangible cultural heritage, positioning museums in Armenia as centers of learning and much more.

There are protests on the streets of Yerevan again. This time it is a student protest against a controversial bill on mandatory military service. One of the most powerful student protest movements in Armenia was in 2004 and ironically, some participants of these earlier protests are today themselves pushing for the abolishment of draft deferment for university students from ARP ranks.