PRESS OFFICE
Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 889-5150; Fax: (212) 889-4849
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February 22, 2007
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ARMENIAN SCHOLARS AIDED BY GRANT PROGRAM
The Armenian National Science and Education Fund (ANSEF), under the auspices
of the Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR), awarded 20 research grants to
Armenian scholars and scientists in its 2007 round of funding.
For the 2007 round of funding, ANSEF received more than 180 proposals for
funding, which were screened by internationally-recognized experts,
including Nobel Prize winners, in the United States and Europe to narrow the
field down to 20, the number of grants available with ANSEF’s limited
funding. In fact, ANSEF organizers said at least 80 of the grants were of
high-quality and merited support from ANSEF.
"Each of these proposals was a solid request, but we had to narrow the list
to match the available funds," said Dr. Yervant Terzian, an astrophysicist
at Cornell University and one of the original founders of ANSEF who heads
the examination of the proposals. "Armenian scientists and researchers are
clearly top-notch and the fact that so many wish to stay and work in Armenia
is a sign of our prosperous future."
ANSEF aims to keep the brightest minds in the Republic of Armenia by
providing funding for equipment, facilities, and salaries for research
scientists and scholars. The project also encourages Armenian researchers
to adhere to international norms by requiring all projects to be evaluated
by international experts for merit, as opposed to the Soviet system or
awarding grants based on status or personal connections.
Since its founding in 2001, ANSEF has supported more than 160 research
projects in the physical sciences, engineering, natural sciences, and
humanities. With average grants of more $5,000, ANSEF has allowed roughly
500 senior and junior researchers to stay and work in Armenia. More than
235 articles have been published in prestigious international academic
journals, boosting the image of Armenia’s research community, thanks to work
supported by this unique program.
2007 GRANTS
The list of projects funded by the 2007 ANSEF grants includes projects in
fields ranging from history to biology to physics. Recipients are
affiliated with 11 institutions, including the National Academy of Sciences,
the Yerevan State University, the Byurakan Observatory, and the State
Engineering University of Armenia.
"It is great to see so many researchers in so many different fields doing
top-quality work in Armenia," Dr. Terzian said. "By supporting their
efforts, we are making a brighter future for Armenia. We are keeping the
brightest thinkers in the nation, giving the people there new ideas, new
technologies, to build their own future of hope and opportunity."
The selected academics received their grants during a ceremony on January
31, 2007, in FAR’s Yerevan office. The Armenian country director of FAR,
Bagrat Sargsyan warmly congratulated the scientists who were granted ANSEF
support and encouraged them to continue their accomplishments.
One of the accomplished scientists receiving an ANSEF grant this year was
physicist David Sargsyan, who oversees the laboratory of the Ashtarak
Physics Research Institute. This is the fourth time he has received support
from an ANSEF grant for his project involving nanotechnology.
Armenian scientists have developed unique optical cells, by manipulating the
atoms in the cells to create different qualities in the cells. The cells –
called "Sargcells" in honor of Dr. Sargsyan — are being developed and
created only in Armenia by Dr. Sargsyan and his team. Researchers in other
countries have yet to develop them.
Why does he seek out ANSEF support for the development of these "Sargcells"?
The salary from his laboratory position only brings in $80 a month, far too
little for Dr. Sargsyan, who has three young children, to devote the amount
of time or resources needed for such an in-depth research project. His only
hope is international support, such as the ANSEF grant.
But the grant does more than help him, it helps the future of Armenia. Of
the eight scientists involved in his research, six are young, gifted
academics. With the experience they gain working on this ANSEF-supported
project, many of the young scientists have started gaining international
recognition.
"We have to do our best to keep our young scientists in the homeland," Dr.
Sargsyan said, noting that when he started many young students went into
science; but today’s youth do not because of the lack of financial support
given to researchers.
FINDING FUNDING
ANSEF is limited in the number of grants it can award each year by the
amount of funding it has available. Most of the money comes from individual
donors’ annual gifts.
To secure a stable financial platform, ANSEF recently launched a campaign
asking donors to establish named endowment funds which would provide
continual funding for grants in fields specified by the donors.
By raising $125,000 today, ANSEF supporters, either individuals or groups,
can establish an endowment fund to provide an annual ANSEF grant in any
chosen research field. The principle will never be touched, with ANSEF
using just the interest earned to provide direct financial support to
Armenian researchers.
"While we continue to need and appreciate one-time gifts of any size,
establishing endowment funds will allow us to know from year-to-year how
many grants we can award," Dr. Terzian said. "It will also allow colleagues
and families to memorialize the work of a loved one, by establishing a named
fund that will recognize someone’s support for Armenia in perpetuity." The
only ANSEF partial endowment at present is the William S. Mesrobian Memorial
Award in astronomy.
* * *
The 2007 ANSEF grants were awarded in the following fields:
History
Hamlet Martirosyan, Alikhanyan Physics Institute, Relationship of the
Sumerian and Egyptian Writing Signs with the Armenain Pictography
Biotechnology
Grigor Gyulkhandanyan, Institute of Biotechnology, New Porphyrins Usage
Against Fungal and Other Diseases of Tomato and Pepper
Karine Grigoryan, Yerevan State University, Tart Cherries as a Possible High
Source of Antioxidants
Armen Aghajanyan, Institute of Biotechnology, Improvement of Citric Acid and
Its Salts Production Technologies
Flora Tkhruni, Institute of Biotechnology, A New Antibacterial Preparation
Against Infectious Diseases in Birds and Its Application
Human Biology
Tigran Davtyan, Buniatian Institute of Biochemistry, NAS, Macrophage
Activation as an Asset for the Resolution of Inflammation During Familial
Mediterranean Fever
Electrical Engineering
Gagik Kirakosyan, Engineering Center of Armenia, NAS, Modeling, Simulation
and Optimization of Pv Pumping Systems
Tamara Knyazyan, State Engineering University of Armenia, Comprehensive
Electrodynamical Simulation of Optical Properties of Metamaterial Slab with
Complex Permittivity and Permeability
Material Science
Armen Poghosyan, Institute for Physical Research, NAS, P-type Transparent
Conducting Zinc Oxide Thin Films and P-n Homojunctions Preparation by Solgel
Method
Khachatur Manukyan, Yerevan State University, New Zirconium-based
Biomaterials
Organic Chemistry
Ashot Martirosyan, Institute of Organic Chemistry, NAS, Molecular Modeling
and Synthesis of Hiv-1 RT inhibitors on the Basis of 2-aryl or 2-heteryl
Prolins
Experimental Condensed Matter
Aram Manukyan, Institute for Physical Research, NAS, High-temperature
Molecular Ferromagnetism and Strongly Correlated Superconductivity in
Alkaline Doped Zinc and Magnesium Phthalocyanines
Natella Aghamalyan, Institute for Physical Research, NAS, Thermal- and
Irradiational-induced Effects in Zon-based Transparent Conductive Films for
Optoelectronic Device Applications
Theoretical Condensed Matter
Nerses Ananikyan, Yerevan Physics Institute, Yang-lee Zeroes and
Magnetization Plateaus on Zigzag Ladder with Multi-site interactions
Optics
Gagik Kryuchkyan, Yerevan State University, Quantum Cryptography Based on
Optical Parametric Devices
Suren Manvelyan, Institute for Physical Research, NAS, Quantum Superposition
States in Controlling Dissipative Dynamics
Nanophysics
David Sargsyan, Institute for Physical Research, NAS, Development and
Implementation of a New "l=lambda Zeeman Technique" for Atomic Laser
Spectroscopy
Mathematics
Vahan Lazarian, Yerevan State University, On Pairs of Disjoint Matchings of
a Graph
Experimental Astrophysics
Areg Mickaelian, Byurakan Observatory, Science with the Armenian Virtual
Observatory
Smbat Balayan, Byurakan Observatory, Reconstruction of the BAO 1m Schmidt
Type Telescope
E-mail photos available upon request to [email protected].
PHOTO CAPTION (1): ANSEF grants are helping physicist David Sargsyan, who
oversees the laboratory of the Ashtarak Physics Research Institute, and
keeping him in Armenia to do his research on nanotechnology.
PHOTO CAPTION (2): The Armenian National Science and Education Fund
(ANSEF), under the auspices of the Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR), awarded
20 research grants to Armenian scholars and scientists in its 2007 round of
funding.
— 1/22/07