Official Opening Ceremony of Starmus VI Festival Held with Speech by Pashinyan

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended the official opening ceremony of the 6th international festival of science and arts, "STARMUS," held at the Karen Demirchyan Sports Complex in Yerevan.

Also present at the event were President of the Republic Vahagn Khachaturyan, National Assembly President Alen Simonyan, Constitutional Court President Arman Dilanyan, Deputy Prime Ministers Mher Grigoryan and Hambartsum Matevosyan, members of legislative and executive bodies, and guests from abroad.

The Prime Minister's speech was published on his official website. He said, "I welcome the holding of the 6th international festival of science and arts, 'STARMUS,' in the Republic of Armenia. Our government supported the idea of hosting the 6th 'STARMUS' in Armenia because the goals of the festival largely align with the strategic vision of the Republic of Armenia. 'STARMUS' aims to inspire and educate a new generation of researchers, strengthen and empower the spirit of discovery. This fully aligns with our vision, as we are continually increasing funding for science. In 2022, funding for science in the state budget increased by about 83 percent, and we are implementing extensive reforms in the education sector.

“'STARMUS' places art and science on a single platform, hoping to inspire new talents through the involvement of gifted individuals, bringing science closer to humanity and making it a tool for happiness. This is also our government’s vision. We want more and more young people in Armenia to engage in science, research, and technology. We want the pursuit of knowledge and creativity to become part of everyone’s mindset in Armenia. 'STARMUS' seeks to frame perhaps complicated and even unexpected questions, and our vision is that by formulating unfathomable questions and directly and honestly answering those questions, we will be able to make Armenia the country of our dreams. In this sense, this is a meeting for all of us at the right time and place.

This year, the festival is themed '50 Years on Mars,' dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the first landing on Mars. I am proud to emphasize that the 'Mars-3' device landed on Mars in 1971, designed by Armenian scientist-engineer Alexander Kemurdzhian, and the 'Mars-3' device sent the first photo of the planet back to Earth. As part of the festival, we also celebrate our great compatriot's 100th anniversary. But I want to emphasize that we are doing this not only as a historical memory or tribute. Today, the world is living in the era of the facilitation and, most likely, colonization of Mars, which is becoming increasingly tangible. And we want Armenian scientists and researchers to contribute to this civilizational mega-project.

Today, the world is experiencing the era of the James Webb, Hubble, and Kepler space telescopes. And we want Armenian researchers to also participate in processing the data received from these telescopes, as well as developing and creating similar new projects. In this respect, I want to emphasize the importance of the 'STARMUS' festival in the fields of science, higher education, and culture regarding the activation of international partnerships.

I hope to see many of the festival's guests teaching in our rejuvenating higher education system, performing on our country's stages, getting involved in our research and scientific programs, and I also hope that as a result of the festival, more and more researchers will be involved in international scientific projects.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the board of trustees of the festival, the entire organizing team, the participants, and the guests for being here and spending these days in our homeland. I want to specifically highlight and express my gratitude to the co-founder of the festival, astrophysicist Garik Israelian, for his exceptional efforts. I wish everyone intellectually fulfilling and culturally rich days, new discoveries, and continually new horizons for collaboration."