Nobel Prize Laureate Ardem Patapoutian Spends An Eventful Week in Armenia

Image caption: Nobel Laureate Patapoutian giving a speech at AUA’s 30th commencement ceremony (Image by AUA Newsroom).

On his first visit to Armenia since his prestigious award in the field of medicine and physiology, Beirut-born Dr. Ardem Patapoutian had a week full of congratulations, speeches, and applauses. The main purpose of his visit was to partake in the Science and Business Days to be held from June 13 to 17 in Yerevan, organised by the Ministry of Economy, but it was much more eventful than that.

He was the keynote speaker at the American University of Armenia’s (AUA) graduation ceremony a week ago. The ceremony was all the more special considering it was the university’s 30th-anniversary commencement of AUA.

Furthermore, Dr. Patapoutian was named an Honorary Doctor of the Yerevan State Medical University (YSMU) by university rector Armen Muradyan. He was also elected to be an honorary member of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia.

He was received by PM Pashinyan and awarded the prestigious St. Mesrob Mashtots. He visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex and Museum in Tsitsernakaberd, the TUMO Center for Creative Technologies, Synopsis, and many others.

He is now the face of the newly-issued 350 AMD postal stamp.

“Science and technologies are very important for the next stage of the life of Armenia, not for the economy, the military field only, but for all areas,” said Patapoutian in a statement. We wish him the best of luck!

IT Here, IT There, IT Shortage Everywhere

Image caption: The IT sector in Armenia is booming, and we’re not fast enough.

It’s no surprise at this point that the field of information technology (IT) dominates most, if not all sectors, not only around the globe but also in Armenia. Named the “Silicon Valley of the Caucasus,” Armenia’s been very successful in inventing and adopting tech-based models that reach far beyond domestic use. From Webby Awards to unicorns, Armenia’s tech sector is booming. The only problem is, though, that there’s a large shortage of workers in the labor market.

Even though the educational model of organisations like TUMO, COAF, Yerevan42, and others focuses on offering tech-based knowledge free of charge to prepare the future of the country, it still apparently is not enough.

According to Yervant Zorian, the president of Synopsis Armenia, there is a gap of 4,000 employees in the tech sector. He’s not wrong. A simple search on staff.am, the country’s largest employment website, would show that 90% of the open positions for recruitment are in the fields of programming, coding, development, etc. Even when they’re not, the employer is often a tech company.

This, though, isn’t a bad thing. It inspires a robust labor market and helps with employment opportunities and overall unemployment rates. The CEO of famous Krisp, David Baghdasaryan said seven out of the eight companies they invested in recently were based and operating out of Armenia; “the preconditions for a tech boom have been set,” he said.

Notable News:

• 19-year-old conscript Hratch Pilibosyan was killed by Azerbaijani fire on Saturday.

• Azerbaijan requested the clergy in Dadivank be replaced with Baku’s Russian Diocese. They’d also desecrated an Armenian church in occupied Togh of Artsakhv just last month.

• FIFA and UEFA presidents to visit Armenia; FIFA to construct a new stadium in Armenia.

• NATO military drill to be held in Turkey.

• Tatevik Revazian, Director General of Civil Aviation Committee of Armenia, resigns.

• The 11th Dolma Festival is to take place at Zvartnots on the 19th of June; the world’s longest dolma to be prepared for the occasion.

• Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili visits Armenia and meets with PM Pashinyan in Dilijan.

• Armenia and Bulgaria signed a cooperation program in the world of culture for 2022-2025.

• Inflation in OECD rises to 9.2% in April 2022; the highest rate experienced in Turkey at 70%.

• UCLA Golf Men’s Team appoints Armen Kirakossian as head coach.

• The Yerevan City Hall and the Russian Metrogiprotrans sign an agreement for Yerevan’s metro expansion in St. Petersburg.

• Potential increased bilateral cooperation between Armenia and Qatar, with an Armenian-heritage-themed exhibition, opened at the National Library of Qatar.

• A small mismanagement explosion caused one death and one injured in Yerevan’s Arin Berd Street on Saturday.

• Armenian MOD visits the Northeastern border of Armenia.

• Armenia loses to Scotland after a heated soccer match that attracted many Scots to come to Yerevan.

Multimedia Corner

Image caption: To Say With Passion: Why Am I Here? is out now! (Photo from Armenian Weekly)

• Read: Late UCLA student Tenny Arlen’s poetry book in Western Armenian has been released. It’s titled “To Say With Passion: Why Am I Here?” (Կիրքով Ըսելու՝ Ինչո՞ւ Հոս Եմ). I read it and loved it very much, and I’ve already started recommending it to friends. Read a press release here.

• Listen: An acoustic version of Sareri Hovin Mernem performed at the site of the Old Caves in Goris, Syunik? Yes, a must-listen combo via this link.

• Watch: What are the pronunciation differences between Western and Eastern Armenian? Watch an explanatory video to learn all about it!

• Learn: How much do you know about the Armenian community’s roots in Egypt? Apparently, I didn’t know as much as I thought I did. Learn about them here.