The delegation of the US Office of Naval Research Global is in Armenia on a one-week visit initiated by FAST.

During the press conference jointly organised by RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport (RA MoESCS) and the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST) Patrick Rose, Program Manager at US Office of Naval Research Global also introduced the goals of their liaison visit and, presented the research funding opportunities that Armenian researchers can receive for cutting-edge research.

Patrick Rose also introduced the funding opportunities for the blue sky ideas, disruptive to conventional science and technology thinking.

The RA Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Karen Trchunyan mentioned that the implementation of these programs of the US Global Naval Research Office will give an opportunity to carry out fundamental research, to generate ideas that will have a research result, and will be turned into certain specific products.

"It is no secret that developed science and an educated society are among the guarantees of a strong, secure state. Similar initiatives stem from that strategy; it is commendable that there are people and organizations that support the implementation of these programs. I am sure that we have very good scientists and professors in Armenia who can apply to this program with their interesting and innovative ideas. As the MoESCS, we will do our best to make this cooperation possible, so that as many scientists and startups as possible are informed about this initiative."

The US Office of Naval Research Global (ONRG) and the Army International Technology Center (ITC) are the international grant funding programs for the US Navy and US Army. ONRG and ITC are internationally focused organizations and the team conducts over 200 liaison visits across more than 47 countries in any given year.

The aim of the visits is to seek out promising, emerging scientific research and advanced technologies, and invest in high-payoff technologies. With this, it targets to foster collaborations and support cutting-edge research through various funding mechanisms.

"We are looking for ideas that no one may believe in, that at first glance seem impossible and too unrealistic," said Patrick Rose, Program Manager at US Office of Naval Research Global and added.

"One of the attraction for cooperation in Armenia is the rich history of science and education in Armenia, the prospects for the development of science, the potential is the existence of ecosystems such as the FAST Foundation. We invite the most strange ideas and technically sound scientific research ideas that Armenian scientists will offer. We will work directly with scientists to better understand what resources are needed to bring those ideas to life. This is the first cooperation with Armenia, but I hope it will be just the beginning of our collaborations."

During the visit to Armenia, organized by the FAST Foundation, representatives of the ONRG and the ITC along with the FAST team will visit key scientific, educational, and technological centers in Armenia to get acquainted with innovative ideas and projects, and explore the opportunity for funding those in the future.

FAST Foundation’s Vice President for Strategic Programming Suzanna Shamakhyan outlined the objectives of organizing this exploratory visit, as well as the need to provide such funding opportunities to Armenian scientists for the development of competitive science and innovation in Armenia.

“FAST continuously works toward creating bridges and platforms that can help Armenian scientists and innovators connect and collaborate with leading international institutions and donors. Challenges that our country and world faced starting from early 2020 have impacted all people and organizations. We are confident that one of the key pathways to overcoming those challenges is creating disruptive innovations in Armenia for the global market. And we build and implement programs with that vision buckled with determination and patience in our daily work.

The representatives of ONRG and ITC will visit National Academy of Sciences of The Republic of Armenia, Yerevan State University, National Polytechnic University of Armenia, American University of Armenia, AS RA Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory after V.A Hambardzumian, TUMO Center for Creative Technologies.

Two of the above mentioned visits are open for the media:

• Meeting with young scientists at FAST (November 10, 15:30 - 17:00). The registration link.
• Meeting with si-tech companies at FAST (November 11, 15:00 - 16:30)

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The Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST) was established in 2017. The main mission of the Foundation is to foster and accelerate the advancement of science and innovation in Armenia and beyond.

Over these 4 years, the Foundation has engaged more than 6,000 beneficiaries through its programs, including students, researchers, entrepreneurs, startups, and policymakers.