Today, a number of YSU researchers marched from YSU’s central building to the RA government building, demanding the annulment of the 2018 decision to change the form of basic funding provided by the state.

As is known, according to the decision N 1515-N “On measures to ensure the implementation of the 2019 state budget of the Republic of Armenia” adopted by the RA government on December 27, 2018, the basic funding of scientific and scientific and technical activities provided by the state was defined as a grant, and it was decided to allocate it from now on through a tender procedure.

YSU researchers have repeatedly stated their positions about the consequences of the adopted decision, stating that it will have negative consequences and harm science. YSU scientific council, YSU vice-rector for scientific policy and international cooperation expressed its position on this issue. Gegham Gevorgyan also met with journalists and clarified the problem.

Today, researchers are already calling for “For the sake of science”, “Let’s not let science disappear” and “

During the march, 4th-year student of YSU Chemistry Faculty Hovhannes Adonts said that he is participating in the protest because he is a beneficiary of the educational sector and is concerned about its future. “I think that today the appropriate attitude is not shown to this sector and the interests of its representatives are not protected.”

In front of the RA government building, the researchers clarified what their demand was for the representatives of various media. YSU Semiconductor Devices and Nanotechnologies Center junior researcher, physical math. candidate of sciences Hayk Zakaryan said that they demand a final solution to the issue, approved by the RA government’s decision.

Hayk Zakaryan stated that before this innovation, the base funding was not tendered, but monitoring and inspections were always carried out. “In other words, the hypothesis that financing through a tender procedure solves the problem of efficiency is actually a misunderstanding.”

Anna Kotanjyan, deputy director of the YSU Physics Research Institute, said that YSU is not against the competition system, but against such drastic changes. “Making hasty decisions like this disrupts our normal work. We have planned many events, international conferences, which we have to implement, but today we do not know what work status we will have in the near future. That is, will we be able to implement them or not?”

Gevorg Grigoryan, a senior researcher at the base laboratory of the Chair of Inorganic Chemistry of YSU, noted that the protest does not have any political context. “We are not going to demand anyone’s resignation or make other calls. We are just here to point out the loopholes in the decision and the negative consequences that flow from it. We hope everything ends well.”

Hayk Zakaryan, a junior researcher at the YSU Semiconductor Devices and Nanotechnology Center, read the application-proposal of the researchers, which requests to suspend the government’s decision 1515-N, to organize public discussions for the improvement and improvement of science funding mechanisms, in particular base funding, and before making any decision about science, to discuss it publicly with the scientific community.

“Without questioning the need for reforms in the scientific and scientific-educational spheres, we hope that the government will find an opportunity to make changes in the said decision. In the future, it is necessary to develop a new law on science with the broad participation of scientific workers, making a smooth transition to a more effective scientific and scientific education system,” the application states.

The representatives of the scientific community signed the document, which was handed over to the relevant authorities.

By the way, during today’s session of the RA government, a decision was made to provide base and targeted program funding for 2019 to organizations with foundation or CJSC status.

While the researchers were voicing their grievances in the courtyard of the government building, the executive inside the building made a decision that the changes will take effect from next year, and before that the basic principles and standards of base funding will be defined, a new order of base funding will be proposed, etc.

“As a matter of fact, the state does not monitor or evaluate the results of the centers to which it provides basic funding, and this procedure will already define very clearly what purposes are served by all the funds that the state allocates to these centers,” said Minister of Education and Science Arayik Harutyunyan.