First Armenian School Science Festival Took Place in Yerevan
The Armenian School Science Festival organized by the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports took place on April 3 at the National University of Architecture and Construction of Armenia (NUACA). This year, 110 students from 21 educational institutions from 7 regions of Armenia and Yerevan participated in the Festival, presenting 46 individual and group research projects.
The Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia Vahram Dumanyan delivered the opening speech at the Festival and awarded the winning projects. The Festival was attended by Deputy Ministers Zhanna Andreasyan and Karen Trchunyan, Chairman of the RA Science Committee Sargis Hayotsyan and other guests.
In his welcome speech, the ESCS Minister noted he was glad to see how the ideas generated in our schools are presented, implemented under the guidance of our teachers, with the participation of our students. "Science is a world that can only be compared to the universe. When you achieve a certain result or goal, you experience a supreme feeling, which is incomparable with any other activity," said Mr. Dumanyan. He expressed the hope that the further achievements of the students would cover the areas that are most important to the society, such as: maintaining peace and public health. The Minister wished that both the number of participants and the scope of their outputs increase significantly from year to year.
The winning projects received awards by the RA MESCS, Armenia-based scientific associations, as well as various international associations.
The two research groups that received the maximum points will have an opportunity to present their projects at the ISEF Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair from May 3 to 6, 2021 (https://www.societyforscience.org/isef/). The participation of Armenian teams in ISEF will be sponsored by the ARPA Foundation, which has been actively cooperating with the Organizing committee of the Festival since 2020.
The agenda of the Festival was quite busy. Firstly, the participants presented their posters to the jury and answered their questions. Then, the students had a study visit around various Departments of the NUACA, as well as attended the lectures of invited lecturers of the Festival - virologist Hovakim Zakaryan and physicist Hayk Sargsyan. Lectures were followed by a demonstration of scientific experiments by "Yerevan young minds", "ArMicro ASM Student Chapter" groups, and the students of YSU Faculty of Chemistry.
It should be noted that this year the festival was held for the first time (in 2020 it was canceled due to coronavirus disease). However, from this year on, it is envisaged to take place on an annual basis.