& Call for Participation
ASOF members are currently engaged in two different types of initiatives that we call Programs and Projects. In addition, there are groups of specialists and scholars that function more like think-tanks, producing reports and opinion pieces. All these are organizationally arranged into either task forces or committees.
<aside> ✉️ Please review the list below and connect with the relevant programs, projects, or groups based on your interests and expertise. In addition, members can propose new directions for development by emailing [email protected]
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Programs are in-house initiatives that are meant to have direct impact with the participation of ASOF’s network of scholars on the ground in Armenia, often in partnership with government entities and NGO’s. ASOF is currently engaged in the following programs:
We have initiated the #OutreachForArmenia program with the support of our partner Teach for Armenia, organizing short visits of ASOF members to Armenian schools in and beyond Yerevan to help connect Armenia’s young generation to experts and scholars from around the world. The goal is to:
<aside> ✉️ Contact: To participate in this program, please email Lilit Movsesyan ([email protected]) prior to your trip to Armenia. Website: https://asof.am/outreach-for-armenia/
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Honors Courses in Mathematics consist of a set of undergraduate courses taught by ASOF Fellows in a remote/in-person hybrid format designed to provide students in Armenia with the opportunity to take advanced courses in Mathematics.
The project, funded the Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR)/the Armenian National Science and Education Fund (ANSEF), is in its second year. Teaching Assistants are hired for in-person tutoring while classes take place mostly over Zoom. This year, we are offering 8 courses from the undergraduate curriculum.
Current group members: Sevak Mkrtchyan, Lilit Movsesyan, Mihran Papikian, Grigor Sargsyan, Armen Shirikyan, Anush Tserunyan, Virginia Valian
<aside> ✉️ Contact: If you would like to participate in this program as a teacher, in mathematics or otherwise, or as an educational assessment specialist, please contact Lilit Movsesyan ([email protected]). Website: https://asof.am/math-honors-program/
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This is a proposal we have submitted to UNDP in coordination with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports. The idea is to incentivize and train teachers to move into the ten regions outside Yerevan to fill teacher shortages, raise the profile of the teacher in the community, and institutionalize a program that address demographic disparities. Once approved by UNDP for funding, the program will launch as a pilot in partnership with EduArmenia and Teach for Armenia. For the launch, teachers from Artsakh will be prioritized to also address the humanitarian crisis on the ground. Attached is the submitted proposal:
The project developed within the subcommittee on primary-secondary education within ASOF’s committee on Assessment, following the report the group published in 2023 on the state of primary-secondary education in Armenia.
<aside> ✉️ Contact: If you would like to help this initiative, please contact [email protected].
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This initiative is engaged in assessing the needs of students and faculty from universities in Artsakh and devising programs, in partnership with local stakeholders, to help those in need of help and guidance settling in Armenian institutions of higher learning.
Current group members: Vicken Cheterian, Susanna Karakhanyan, Yeprem Mehranian, Armen Minassian, Anoush Fraser Terjanian
<aside> ✉️ Contact: If you would like to contribute to this effort, please contact Susanna Karakhanyan [email protected]
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Projects are transformative initiatives with long-term vision that often involve the establishment of centers of excellence within Armenia’s higher education landscape, leveraging ASOF’s international network. These are often meant to spin off as projects independent of ASOF after an initial phase of seeding within ASOF. ASOF members are currently involved in multiple projects that are at various stages of implementation and development.
Center for Intelligent Computing (CIC) is the first ASOF-designed research and education center to launch in Armenia, focusing on Artificial Intelligence research applied to language models, robotics, life sciences, and chemistry. It will be located at Yerevan State University, employing a modern governance structure that encourages international collaborations and world-class research. It will be supported by the largest compute infrastructure in the region, secured by the Armenian government at $8.5 million. CIC is meant to be one of many centers of excellence ASOF plans to launch in Armenia over the next years. It is a first initial step in developing Artificial Intelligence research in Armenia at a world-class level, and we hope to expand on its operations over the next years.
Please review the related post on the ASOF Bulletin for more information.
<aside> ✉️ Contact: If you would like to contribute to this project, as a visitor to CIC, a remote scientific collaborator, a co-PI on a joint grant with your institution or research program, or even relocating to Armenia to join CIC, please contact [email protected]
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In January 2024, ASOF will form a new committee names “Council for Cultural Heritage Preservation”. The group will involve about 20 prominent Armenian and non-Armenian scholars in the Arts and Humanities, led by Nina Hovnanian from the ASOF Board. The group will use its international visibility to coordinate projects relating to cultural heritage in a manner to project effective Armenian soft power internationally. For the first year, the Frankfurt international book fair will be used for visibility and focal point of operations in partnership with ARI Literature Foundation led by Arevik Ashkharoyan. The initiative is targeting an annual budget of $500,000 for initiating 3-4 projects every year. For example, projects under consideration for 2024 include: a Master’s program for cultural monument renovation at NUACA through partnership with the renovation of the Ererouyk cathedral, a program for writers and translators to engage in systematic efforts for translating from and to Armenian, a center for scoring international films with the help of the Yerevan philharmonic, a research and book project on cataloguing the cultural monuments of Artsakh, and an effort to preserve local intangible culture from Artsakh through research and interviews with refugees.
<aside> ✉️ Contact: If you are interested in helping out, either as a member of the council or by presenting a particular project to the council for realization, please contact [email protected]
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The Aerospace Engineering task force has finalized its proposal for a new research center, The Center for Aeronautical and Space Research, which will entail three specific components: research, education, and infrastructure. The research component will focus on multi-disciplinary and multi-physics directions, nascent fields in AE which will allow the Center to quickly compete on the world stage. The educational component will involve a ten-course curriculum (already developed) for a minor in Aerospace Engineering at the American University of Armenia. The focus will initially be at the bachelor’s level, since such a program does not currently exist in Armenia (at that level). Finally, the third component will involve coordinating and procuring the infrastructure needed for the research component. Coordination will be for already existing infrastructure such as clean rooms and CNC machines, and procurement will involve computing facilities and experimental facilities (e.g. wind tunnels).
Current group members: Vladimir Airapetian, Armen Derkevorkian, Avetik Grigoryan, Naira Hovakimyan, Arbi Karapetian, Masis Komrokian, Iren Mkhoyan, Tigran Mkhoyan, Armen Mkrtchyan, Sergey Nersesov, Oshin Peroomian, Tigran Shahverdyan
Advisors: David Akopian, Hrachoohi Boghosian, Serge Buchakjian, Ann Karagozian
<aside> ✉️ Contact: If you can contribute to this project, please contact Oshin Peroomian [email protected]
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