The program launched in October aims to acquaint students with the importance of information about the country of origin in the asylum procedures, focusing primarily on the features of the ethnoreligious, legal systems of Middle East countries, and information about the level of human rights protection. After the first stage of the program, a student will be selected from those who have attended the lectures, and he/she will be working with the specialists of the "Mission Armenia" charity NGO to obtain information about the country of origin of asylum seekers in Armenia.

During 21 lectures, the representatives of the YSU Faculty of Law and Oriental Studies presented information to the participants about Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Turkey. Before handing over the certificates to the program participants, Armen Ghazaryan, head of the Migration and Citizenship service of the RA Ministry of Internal Affairs, gave a lecture, talking about the modern tendencies of migration movements.

Highlighting the relevance of this program, Knarik Vardanyan, Candidate of Law, Director of YSU Legal Clinic, and Associate Professor of the Chair of European and International Law, emphasized that the countries were chosen taking into account the number of citizens seeking asylum in RA and the lack of necessary information about those countries.

"This program plays an important role in the work of lawyers and government bodies in the field of applying information about the country of origin in asylum decision procedures, so it is important that students of legal clinics, as future practicing lawyers, have a high awareness of the field," emphasized K. Vardanyan.

18 students from the legal clinics of Yerevan State University and Northern University participated and received certificates in the program that launched in October. The program is implemented by the legal clinic of the Faculty of Law of YSU and the charitable NGO "Mission Armenia" with the financial support of the US Embassy in Armenia.

According to Jennifer McKendrew, Public Relations Officer of the US Embassy in Armenia, contributing to the implementation of this program is extremely important for the US Embassy. Emphasizing the importance of supporting asylum seekers and refugees, she noted that this program will contribute to the improvement of the asylum procedures in Armenia.

It should be noted that the event was also attended by the representatives of the YSU Faculty of Law and Oriental Studies, employees of the US Embassy in Armenia, representatives of the charity NGO "Mission Armenia", and students of YSU and Northern University legal clinics.

MISTI Global Teaching Labs aim to allow students of divergent backgrounds to learn by teaching foreign students science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses. YSU students got the chance to learn “Leadership and Negotiation for Social Change”, “Market Design”, and “Persuading with Data” - those subjects are crucial and decisive in the contemporary world, and learning about the foreign experience fosters Armenian students develop their skills and broaden their mindset.

The program’s local coordinator Khachik Abajyan told us when MIT offered to include Yerevan State University as part of their cooperation, YSU certainly expressed its willingness to join the program with great motivation and excitement. 

“The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is one of the leading universities in the world and cooperation with MIT is a great honor for us and marks the beginning of a new partnership; it allows us to expand our collaboration with them in the future. This year, other projects will possibly be implemented with them, but they are still under discussion. This cooperation is especially important for us, as one of YSU’s primary goals is the internationalization of the university, and cooperation with aforesaid universities is a big step toward the realization of that”, - noted Khachik.

Before coming to Armenia GTL participants attended MISTI Prep and Training sessions designed to help them make the most of their experience in Armenia.

Yu Jing, who taught “Leadership and Negotiation for Social Change” subject, is confident that the skills she provided during the workshops are essential for solving the world's biggest problems. Teaching is one of the professions she has been thinking a lot about potentially doing and this opportunity has shown her how difficult yet gratifying it can be.

“Students are able to learn in a workshop style a topic that they may not otherwise be able to. Because it is only over the course of a month, it allows students to fully immerse over a short period and take interesting topics that might be outside of their field. I had students across many different faculties at YSU, and not only were they able to learn from me and me from them, but they were also able to learn from each other”, - noticed Yu Jing.

In addition, Yu Jing mentioned the support she received from YSU that helped her smoothly organize the workshops.

“Yerevan State University has been incredibly welcoming. It has become a second home for me in many ways. The people at YSU have put so much time, care, and energy into making sure we had an amazing experience in Armenia, and that the students in our classes had a meaningful time”,- she said.

Anne Snyder, who instructed “Market Design”, talking about the program's advantages, mentioned that it helped her develop her skills while learning about new cultures and traditions.

“This program allowed me to learn and grow as a student, professional, and just as a person. The students at YSU are hardworking, kind, and hospitable. It has been amazing to work with them and become friends, and I hope to come to visit again”, - said Anne. 

“Persuading with Data” subject tutor Sean Zhang, bringing up his motive and reason for participating in the program, said he wanted to help technical-oriented students communicate their ideas effectively, enhance his understanding of the topic through teaching, and get immersed in the Armenian culture.

“I like the history of Yerevan State University, Armenia, the modern facilities, and the seamless support offered to me. I appreciate my students’ commitment to my workshop and willingness to learn. Most students in my workshop spent a significant amount of time outside of the classroom putting together their final presentations, which they delivered in a professional manner and quality in the last class”, - specified Sean.   

Aside from teaching Yu Jing, Anne, and Sean managed to get acquainted with Armenians, visit the sights of not only Yerevan but Armenia generally and get to know the culture from the locals. They visited Garni, Geghard, Sevan, Dilijan, Ejmiatsin, Sardarapat, Tsakhkadzor, Gyumri, and Khor Virap, where they saw Mount Ararat from a short distance, ate Armenian traditional gata, tried to make lavash, and ride ropeways.

Cooperations like this stimulate students and academic staff to grow as professionals, develop their skills, expand international networks, and learn new cultures. Currently, YSU collaborates with 270 universities and research centers from 50 countries. The wide range of partnerships provides an opportunity to implement several projects and programs, among which the exchange programs of Bachelor, Master, and Ph.D. Students play a vital role.

Ani Sukiasyan

The winter school aims to present comprehensively Armenia and the region to students in the context of historical, cultural, political, social, economic, and security issues. The school is particularly important for those interested in world politics, international relations, and political studies in general.

YSU vice-rector for development and innovation Mikayel Hovhannisyan mentioned that YSU cooperates with "SciencesPo" University for the first time, and the winter school is considered the first step of long-term cooperation. In his speech, M. Hovhannisyan noted that further joint activities might include student and professor exchange programs, research projects, and summer and winter schools. According to the YSU vice-rector, the school can be used as a model in the framework of cooperation with other partner universities interested in regional politics.

Referring to the other opportunities offered by the winter school, the vice-rector stated that cultural and political theories developed at Yerevan State University will be presented within its framework.

"The Center for Civilization and Cultural Research of YSU has developed a theory called "Three Seas System". It represents the Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian Sea regions. "Many processes in the region are analyzed taking into account that they are mainly determined by the coefficient and competitive factors existing there, which affect the whole world," M. Hovhannisyan pointed out.

In a conversation with us, the senior researcher of "SciencesPo" University, Katie Rousselent, stated that YSU's cooperative relationship with its partners contributed to the fact that the winter school was held in Armenia, at YSU. According to her, it is particularly important to acquire comprehensive knowledge about the region in the given region.

It should be noted that within the framework of the school, lecturers from both YSU and partner universities will give lectures, meetings will be organized with executive and legislative authorities, civil society, and mass media representatives, and study visits will be made to Yerevan's Mesrop Mashtots Matenadaran, Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.

Not long after publication, the monograph gained recognition and demand among both Armenian and foreign specialists. This is the third book on this topic by the author who has published more than 100 scientific articles in international high-ranking journals. It is devoted to the theory of hyperidentities and its applications in discrete mathematics.

The book is an important guide for students, post-graduates, and researchers of YSU departments of mathematics and mechanics, as well as informatics and applied mathematics. It paves way for the development of languages of second-order logic, where quantifier generality and existence exponents are also imposed on operation and predicate symbols.

Intended for specialists in algebra, mathematical logic, discrete mathematics, model theory and their applications, the monograph is rich with unsolved problems, the solutions of which can serve as the basis for further stages of development of the theory of hyperidentities.

Let us emphasize that having received comprehensive knowledge about the field, YSU students can also contribute to the development of the theory and the solution of the proposed problems. In this context, it is important to note that the author of the book is also a graduate of the University, and the fundamental knowledge he received at the YSU Department of Mathematics and Mechanics played a significant role in his success. His doctoral dissertation was the first in Armenia on this direction of algebra.

The first two monographs by Movsisyan (published in 1986 and 1990) are considered the first monographs on the theory of hyperidentities, dedicated to the original ideas and results of the theory.

Marine Mkrtchyan

We interviewed Tigran Yeganyan, the head of the scientific grant, about the importance of the topic, the practical significance of the conducted studies, and other issues.

Referring to the goal of the presented project, Tigran Yeganyan said. "We want to obtain new derivatives of azoles containing an amino acid residue on the basis of 1,2,4-triazoles, which can be used in asymmetric synthesis as Brønsted bases and (or) ligands in reactions catalyzed by transition metals, to study the catalytic activity of the synthesized compounds in asymmetric mercapto-induced in domino reactions and evaluate their regio- and stereoselectivity depending on the structure of the reagent, substrate and catalyst".

Speaking of the main problems of modern organic chemistry and the pharmaceutical industry, he singled out the synthesis of optically pure, bioactive compounds.

"Classical chemical synthesis leads to the formation of an inactive racemate, the separation of which by an enzymatic method is impossible due to its unnatural structure. To solve this problem, various methods of asymmetric synthesis have been developed," Yeganyan emphasized and added, "Currently, the field of asymmetric synthesis is the focus of attention of world-renowned scientists."

Pointing out the great pharmaceutical use of organosulfur compounds, T. Yeganyan said that catalytic C-S bond formation is at the center of modern synthetic organic chemistry research and innovation due to its biological value.

It is noteworthy that significant achievements have been made in the process of creating new C-S connections, where mostly joining or substituting tactics are used. The addition of various sulfur-containing nucleophiles to the C=C double bond, as well as the thiolysis of epoxides, aziridines, and anhydrides, are the main methods for the formation of C-S bonds. Because most bioactive organosulfur compounds are chiral and optically active, the development of new methods for the asymmetric formation of C-S bonds is of great interest," said the head of the grant.

Referring to the important problems of modern organic synthesis, Tigran Yeganyan singled out the reduction of the number of stages of multi-stage synthesis, which can lead to the reduction of the reaction development process, the duration of the synthesis, and the economic costs, increasing the efficiency of the synthesis.

"The solution to this problem can be provided by domino reactions, during which successive conversions take place: the previous conversion triggers the next one," said T. Yeganyan.

The research topic is implemented under the leadership of Tigran Yeganyan’s scientific mentor, Deputy Dean of YSU Chemistry Faculty, Ph.D. Armen Galstyan.

Karine Hovhannisyan