ACADEMY OF SCIENCES PRESIDENT LAMENTS LACK OF FUNDS
ARMENPRESS
Nov 02 2007
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 2, ARMENPRESS: President of the National Academy
of Sciences, Radik Martirosian, lamented today that the government’s
funding of science was not sufficient.
The draft budget has earmarked a 1 billion Dram increase for science
for 2008, but Radik Martirosian said this means that one researcher’s
funding for the whole year will be 1 million Drams ($3,000), part of
which must be paid as salary and the rest must be spent on researches.
The Academy presidnet said the entire budget of next year is
$6.8 billion Drams, making only 0.8 percent of the budget. He cited
findings of European Union experts who say that science can not develop
concurrently with economic progress in a country which spends less
than one percent of its budget on science.
Martirosian further complained that Armenia business has no desire
to support scientific researches.
Speaking at a news conference he concluded by saying that despite
these problems, in terms of the number of articles published in
leading international magazines Armenia comes third among former
Soviet republics after Russia and Ukraine.