Wednesday, February 6 2019 17:17

ArmInfo. The Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia will put into circulation the draft order of the head of the Ministry of Education and Science, which  implies the establishment of a number of criteria for assessing the  results of the activities of the country's research institutes. Based  on this assessment system, a decision will be made on more efficient  financing of science.  This was announced on January 6 by the head of  department Arayik Harutyunyan after the government meeting.

On February 6, the Government of Armenia adopted a resolution  abolishing the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Armenia N1515  of December 27, 2018 regarding transferring basic funding to a  competitive basis, which could lead to a reduction of several  hundred-research institutes.

As the Minister explained, the introduction of new rules was  motivated by the desire to create a competitive field in order to  eliminate monopolies in specific areas, which would lead to a better  outcome. However, employees of research institutes are very critical  of the idea. In addition, it became obvious that there will be  certain difficulties in holding competitions due to the fact that  those responsible for the field may not meet the deadlines. Moreover,  in September 2018, a competition for receiving basic funding was  already held and today there is no need for additional funding. As a  result, it was decided to postpone the entry of a new order into  force for a year.

According to the Minister, it is puzzling that many have stated that  as a result of the introduction of the new rules, 2 thousand  scientists will remain out of work. According to him, the majority of  Armenian research institutes are unique and it is obvious that the  bulk of them had a real chance to become winners of competitions.

From 2020, on the basis of the system of evaluations of the  activities of scientific research institutes, their efficiency and  potential, and also taking into account the published scientific  works, a decision will be made on granting or refusing to receive  funding. There will be no evaluation committee as such. As the  minister explained, on the basis of the points obtained on  approximately 30 criteria, the index will be derived and the research  institute will be rated. The document today-tomorrow will be  presented to the public and expert circles.  In general, Arayik  Harutyunyan rated the state of modern science in Armenia puzzling.  But the planned work, as the Minister pointed out, will have a very  positive effect on the field of science and education