Recently, scientists around the world gathered in Spain and considered the work of a Russian investigator as a work of a genius. He has solved the issue facing the world for the past 100 years. When he had been invited to come and receive his 1 million Euro award, he refused, saying that he had simply made an investigation and didn’t care what the international scientific community had to say. In fact, the investigator had said that he didn’t want any more disturbances because he was going to go plant mushroom seeds.
During the past couple of years, Armenian scientists haven’t been praised like this or made an investigation like this.
Many people are of the opinion that the reason for this cease of scientific development is due to the Armenian government’s indifference towards science. There is no funding, youth is not interested in science, there is no specific project for which funding can be provided. The reasons go on and on…However, almost everyone agrees that the “science sector is essential for the development of the country and economic progress.”
Once again, let’s recall the Soviet era when Armenia was one of the centers of science. At the time, according to experts, natural sciences took their toll and the world listened to what Armenian scientists had to say.
“The problem was keeping the capital and circulating it. The sooner we took steps, the higher the effectiveness and we would be able to finance ourselves,” says deputy minister of education and sciences of Armenia Ara Avetisyan. According to him, there is still a lot of money coming in to Armenia for investigations, “but since the state can’t protect that flow of money, not many people provide the necessary funding.”
The reforms in the science sector have begun
Finally, this year Armenian authorities have decided to pay attention to the science sector. With the demand of the RA president, a science reform committee has been formed.
“With the demand of the president, the committee was assigned to provide the list of necessary resources and the time slot needed to reform the time slot within ten days. This will allow Armenia to take advantage of opportunities to develop science in the country,” says Ara Avetisyan.
The time slot and the resources have already been arranged and the committee held a session last week.
“The committee has to work on coming up with a model for scientific development that will work for Armenia,” says Ara Avetisyan.
Afterwards, they will get to work and work groups will get their assignments. However, the work groups don’t have that much time. The thing is that there have been some tries in the past and now they need to proceed where they left off.
“It’s important to have a model and know where we’re going. That’s why we have to prove why the current system is ineffective. In order to do that, we need to understand the significant role that science plays in the development of a country,” says A. Avetisyan.
Today, there are over 120 organizations in Armenia that are financed by the government as scientific structures. According to A. Avetisyan, it’s important to find out just what these organizations are involved in. The deputy minister of education and sciences is certain that there must be a global scientific topic, a cadre base and a laboratorial base with which they can work with.
“The organization involved in making scientific investigations must come up with a result, which will lead to the development of economy,” says Avetisyan and adds that it’s necessary to follow new methods to make the job more productive.
“There is a lot of distrust among people and they think that people just come up with something sitting at home. The scientific product is worth of high value if it’s presented and people approve. If it’s only yours, then it’s not worth anything. We must differentiate between technological advances and science.”
Science must attract the youth
Generally, science develops in one direction: you have the goal, the need and the request. There has to be a request. You must choose the paths to take and then take effective steps.
“Today, the main path is the radio/electronics sector of information technologies, but what are we doing to get there. There have to be experts, technology and high demand abroad,” says A. Avetisyan.
In order to implement this project, it’s necessary to take a couple of important steps. First, you have to provide the funding for the scientist. Secondly, the science sector must attract so that the youth will get involved.
“I’m also asking for the help of all professors and scientists out there. The doors are open for anyone who is ready to help. The elder scientists with ranking play an important role here and they shouldn’t separate themselves and keep saying that “it was better back in the days”. Time progresses,” says A. Avetisyan as he calls out to people worried about the science sector.