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POSITIVE RESULTS WITH LOWEST FUNDING - ARMENIA'S EURASIAN INTEGRATION AND SCIENCE
17:27 * 10.12.14
Despite being the lowest funded sector, science in Armenia proves to
be progressive enough to secure competitiveness, says a deputy head
of the National Academy's Institute of Geology.
"Though the funding for science is the lowest in Armenia, the number
of scientific articles, references and the results are quite good
and high," Khachatur Meliksetyan told Tert.am, commenting on possible
perspectives of developing the sector after the country's membership
in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).
He said Armenian scientists continue their cooperation with colleagues
from both Russia and the EU, as well as the United States. "I find
that science is precisely the sector that should not admit of any
politics. On the contrary, science may help solve many different
political problems," he noted.
Meliksetyan said he knows that Armenian scientists have cooperation
agreements even with colleagues from Azerbaijan and Turkey. "Even
with Azerbaijan, there are common Transcaucasian projects addressing
seismic risks, with all the Transcaucasus countries - Turkey and Iran
- being participants within its frameworks. There aren't, of course,
meetings and joint activities with Azerbaijan, but there is certain
cooperation. I think science has to be a bridge to somehow mitigate and
resolve political problems and to create a more favorable atmosphere,"
he said.
The scientist admitted that the pre- and early post-Soviet years
marked a period of decline in the sector in both Armenia and Russia.
"The member states of the Eurasian Economic Union have very serious
scientific, as well as educational institutions and trends which
are on a very high level. Although in the recent years, we have
cooperated more with Europe and the United States, we also maintain
joint ties with Russia. So the EEU membership should not prevent us
from cooperating with the other countries," he added.
Asked whether he thinks that Eurasian integration would help bring
back the one-time prosperous period, Meliksetyan replied, "Unless
there is an increased state funding, I don't think there can be any
expectations in the science sector."
Meliksetyan further expressed his dissatisfaction with the 2015
budgetary allocations for science. "We see at the same time that the
economic situation in the republic is not good either, but those sums
are not enough for developing science," he added.
"With the salaries being low, very few if any young people want to be
scientists. It is necessary to technically re-equip institutions and
supply them with modern devices," he said, citing the increasingly
large number of ageing scientists as another problem.
Meliksetyan said he doesn't think that the current state programs are
enough to attract young human resources to scientific activity. "I
think that it is good, of course; there are good initiatives, such
as the Science Committee's increased attention to thematic funding
in the recent years for encouraging the youth, but the allocations
are very low and little," he added.
Gevorg Vardanyan, the president of Young scientists Council, said they
now have plans for joint scientific projects with other member states
of the Union. "Our purpose is to make also the scientific cooperation
active within the Eurasian zone," he said, noting that custom-free
export and import of equipment would help raise the cooperation level.
Vardanyan added that a decision to launch a common scientific
cooperation platform was made in Moscow in September at a meeting of
young scientists from the Commonwealth of Independent States. "Belarus
committed itself to organizing a Eurasian scientific forum in 2015 to
invite mainly participants in the from the EEU member states: young
scientists from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia will introduce
their work and attract potential investors to organize joint funding,"
he said, adding that similar meeting were subsequently held in
Kazakhstan where the participants were later invited to visit Armenia.
Vardanyan said he sees Armenia's big scientific potential as he
compares available records of the other post-Soviet republics.
"Armenia is among the leading states in terms of the articles
[published], texts [viewed] and publications in authorial journals.
Low though the salaries, we have advantages over very many and do
not fall behind developing countries either," he said, expressing
hope that more joint programs with the EEU countries would increase
the chances of future success.
Asked about the possibility of extra funded projects, Vardanyan did not
rule out such initiatives. "It is possible to launch a joint agency,
a union or council of young scientists, to enable us to later apply
to the corresponding governments for money allocations to implement
the projects," he noted.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/12/10/armenia_science/1532059
From: Baghdasarian
17:27 * 10.12.14
Despite being the lowest funded sector, science in Armenia proves to
be progressive enough to secure competitiveness, says a deputy head
of the National Academy's Institute of Geology.
"Though the funding for science is the lowest in Armenia, the number
of scientific articles, references and the results are quite good
and high," Khachatur Meliksetyan told Tert.am, commenting on possible
perspectives of developing the sector after the country's membership
in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).
He said Armenian scientists continue their cooperation with colleagues
from both Russia and the EU, as well as the United States. "I find
that science is precisely the sector that should not admit of any
politics. On the contrary, science may help solve many different
political problems," he noted.
Meliksetyan said he knows that Armenian scientists have cooperation
agreements even with colleagues from Azerbaijan and Turkey. "Even
with Azerbaijan, there are common Transcaucasian projects addressing
seismic risks, with all the Transcaucasus countries - Turkey and Iran
- being participants within its frameworks. There aren't, of course,
meetings and joint activities with Azerbaijan, but there is certain
cooperation. I think science has to be a bridge to somehow mitigate and
resolve political problems and to create a more favorable atmosphere,"
he said.
The scientist admitted that the pre- and early post-Soviet years
marked a period of decline in the sector in both Armenia and Russia.
"The member states of the Eurasian Economic Union have very serious
scientific, as well as educational institutions and trends which
are on a very high level. Although in the recent years, we have
cooperated more with Europe and the United States, we also maintain
joint ties with Russia. So the EEU membership should not prevent us
from cooperating with the other countries," he added.
Asked whether he thinks that Eurasian integration would help bring
back the one-time prosperous period, Meliksetyan replied, "Unless
there is an increased state funding, I don't think there can be any
expectations in the science sector."
Meliksetyan further expressed his dissatisfaction with the 2015
budgetary allocations for science. "We see at the same time that the
economic situation in the republic is not good either, but those sums
are not enough for developing science," he added.
"With the salaries being low, very few if any young people want to be
scientists. It is necessary to technically re-equip institutions and
supply them with modern devices," he said, citing the increasingly
large number of ageing scientists as another problem.
Meliksetyan said he doesn't think that the current state programs are
enough to attract young human resources to scientific activity. "I
think that it is good, of course; there are good initiatives, such
as the Science Committee's increased attention to thematic funding
in the recent years for encouraging the youth, but the allocations
are very low and little," he added.
Gevorg Vardanyan, the president of Young scientists Council, said they
now have plans for joint scientific projects with other member states
of the Union. "Our purpose is to make also the scientific cooperation
active within the Eurasian zone," he said, noting that custom-free
export and import of equipment would help raise the cooperation level.
Vardanyan added that a decision to launch a common scientific
cooperation platform was made in Moscow in September at a meeting of
young scientists from the Commonwealth of Independent States. "Belarus
committed itself to organizing a Eurasian scientific forum in 2015 to
invite mainly participants in the from the EEU member states: young
scientists from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia will introduce
their work and attract potential investors to organize joint funding,"
he said, adding that similar meeting were subsequently held in
Kazakhstan where the participants were later invited to visit Armenia.
Vardanyan said he sees Armenia's big scientific potential as he
compares available records of the other post-Soviet republics.
"Armenia is among the leading states in terms of the articles
[published], texts [viewed] and publications in authorial journals.
Low though the salaries, we have advantages over very many and do
not fall behind developing countries either," he said, expressing
hope that more joint programs with the EEU countries would increase
the chances of future success.
Asked about the possibility of extra funded projects, Vardanyan did not
rule out such initiatives. "It is possible to launch a joint agency,
a union or council of young scientists, to enable us to later apply
to the corresponding governments for money allocations to implement
the projects," he noted.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/12/10/armenia_science/1532059
From: Baghdasarian