Second Meeting of Armenia-EU Joint Committee on Research and Innovation Held in Yerevan
On December 5, 2023, the Armenia-EU Joint Committee on Research under the agreement associating Armenia to Horizon Europe and Innovation held its second meeting in Yerevan.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia Artur Martirosyan, Chairman of the Higher Education and Science Committee Sargis Hayotsyan, and other representatives of several ministries of the Republic of Armenia. The EU delegation was headed by Anne Haglund-Morrissey, Deputy Head of the Horizon Europe Association Unit, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission.
Welcoming the members of the Joint Committee, Artur Martirosyan, Co-Chair from Armenia, noted the progress that has been made in terms of Armenia's involvement in the Horizon Europe program since the first meeting held in Brussels and highlighted the need for additional discussion to stimulate Armenia's further participation.
"Armenia has carried out several significant reforms in higher education and science, including a significant increase in public funds allocated to science and the creation of the Higher Education and Science Committee, which will ensure more effective integration of education and science, leading to synergetic results," the Deputy Minister said.
Ms. Anne Haglund-Morrissey emphasized the significant progress and positive changes that came about as a result of Armenia's participation in the Horizon Europe program compared to Horizon 2020 (at the moment, the quantitative indicators of Armenia's involvement already amount to 50% of the indicators of the participation in the Horizon 2020 program for 2016-2020), which is even more noteworthy in the current complex geopolitical circumstances. Still, Armenia's participation in the program needs to be further fostered.
Chairman of the Higher Education and Science Committee Sargis Hayotsyan stressed the importance of the participation of Armenian scientific groups in international research grants and increasing competitiveness. He also touched upon the issue of stimulating the reciprocal involvement of EU organizations in Armenian programs equivalent to Horizon Europe, presenting grants aimed at attracting the potential of foreign scientists to scientific organizations of the Republic of Armenia, including prospects for cooperation within the frames of the ambitious Academic City project to be implemented in Armenia. The steps taken to implement the operational conclusions of the first meeting of the Joint Committee, as well as the recommendations on the Policy Support Facility Report formed as a result of Armenia's participation in the Horizon 2020 program were also presented.
The meeting agenda also included discussions on the results of Armenia's involvement in the Horizon Europe program for the years 2021-2023 and plans for fostering further participation, Armenia's participation in the actions organized by the European Innovation Council, as well as in the actions held under the 2020 European Research Area agenda, the principles of the 2022 European Innovation Agenda and the EU Global Approach to Cooperation in Research and Innovation.
During the meeting, the issues of cooperation between academia, science, and industry sectors in Armenia, stimulating the participation of private enterprises in the Horizon Europe actions, and the EU-Armenia cooperation within the framework of the EaP informal working group on research and innovation were also touched upon.
The Armenia-EU Joint Committee on Research and Innovation was established in accordance with the provisions of Article 8 of the Agreement on the Participation of the Republic of Armenia in the Union Program Horizon Europe – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, signed on November 12, 2021. The first meeting took place on November 15-17, 2022, in Brussels, Belgium.