“Sometimes it feels like we’re participating in the funeral of science

Anush MKRTCHYAN | September 5, 2006

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...

Hot autumn in science

Anush MKRTCHYAN | August 14, 2006

There was a time when Armenia had the most developed science in the region, but now this field is almost “dead”. The long and hard way that scientists have to pass in order to get a ranking as a scientist now costs 25.000 dram. How long will our science survive in such conditions? How long can it go on when the world is developing at a rapid pace? I talked about these issues with doctor of physical and mathematical sciences Hrant Matevosyan, who has specific ideas on how to get back Armenia’s scientific potential and develop it. - Why did Armenian science get into a crisis? - The most important thing that we failed to do after getting independence was create an independent institution of experts. Scientists should have chosen several fields and directions in that large scientific sector, which could develop in Armenia and which the Armenian government could support. The problem is that our country failed to organize fair, independent and free analysis, which might enable us to choose those...

Who is destroying the Academy?

Narine AVETYAN | February 16, 2006

- Mr. Sargsyan, recently there were some rumors spread in the newspapers that academician Anri Nersisyan was accusing you of taking over the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and destroying it. - Yes, I am familiar with those rumors. Some newspapers are not well-informed and are spreading false rumors. I have nothing to say to them…they are just doing what they are told to do… - But the accusations were from the founder of the NAS library and academician A. Nersisyan. He is bringing up facts. - I know that man very well and I know what he is capable of… - Nersisyan is especially accusing you of stealing the money from the NAS budget, which was foreseen to spend for development projects, and using it for construction purposes. - That man is so naïve that he doesn’t even understand how much money we are talking about. That money was provided by the government’s storage fund taking into consideration the catastrophic situation of the NAS buildings. The government has made...

Hotels/restaurants instead of institutes

Armine AVETYAN | October 16, 2005

As if selling the yards of apartments wasn't enough, the municipality of the city of Yerevan is now planning on selling the yards belonging to the institutes located in the city. Frankly, selling the yards is pretty profitable. Those institutes are located in very good locations and have better yards. This time, the next achievement of the municipality was the sale of the yard belonging to the Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia. In addition, this was done without the permission granted by the administration. Meanwhile, according to the 62nd article of the ''Land code'', selling state lands is only possible after the owner of the lands agrees to sell it. It is obvious that that was not the case here. The municipality sold those yards as an auction at a price equivalent to the one we pay for water. During the first auction, the 5800 square meters was sold and there were already three completed and one incomplete construction. One of the...

Curing Tuberculosis Only With The Help Of Others

Mariam VAROSYAN | December 16, 2004

Every year, nearly 9 million people get diagnosed with tuberculosis and 3 million of them die from the disease. Tuberculosis was almost cured at the end of the 80s of the last century. Now, the disease is still going strong. Some specialists think that in the near future tuberculosis will practically become an incurable disease. The reason for that is because some countries are not serious towards treating the disease. Some other reasons include the disorganized counter-tuberculosis projects and the connection between tuberculosis and AIDS. However, the major issue in the medical world today is that the drugs are not effective. The most influential drugs are forty years old. Since we are talking about the drugs, we must mention that the old drugs can not help cure a disease such as kokh bacillus. The TB MDR can develop in a patient’s organism as a result of an irregular or incomplete treatment. Those kinds of patients are insensitive to first degree antibiotics-rhiphampitsin and isoniazid....