Armenian scientists will be able to attract additional grants from the EU-funded Horizon 2020 program, the biggest EU Research and Innovation program ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020), education and science minister Levon Mkrtchyan told journalists on Monday.
He said 98 million euros of that amount will be earmarked for Armenia, Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine, which are embraced in the EU’s Eastern Partnership Program. According to him, these funds will be distributed through a separate competition between six member countries, of which only four – Armenia, Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine – have the right to the status of coordinator and will be able to fully participate in the competition.
“In fact, Armenian scientists get an additional opportunity to attract grant funds, compete on equal terms with other countries,” Mkrtchyan said. He also noted that Armenia expects assistance also The Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST) in the formation of two clusters – scientific and engineering. “The scientific institution, the university and the labor market are to be merged into a single network so that students and then scientists can work in it peacefully. It is important for us to create a scientific and technical ecosystem in Armenia, and for this there are all prerequisites,” Mkrtchyan said. Armenian scientists received so far grants worth 3.5 million euros from Horizon 2020 program
