I am sure that the spirit STARMUS brought will shape into outstanding achievements in science and art. President Vahagn Khahaturyan’s speech at the closing ceremony of the festival

This evening, President Vahagn Khachaturyan attended the closing ceremony of STARMUS VI Science and Art International Festival at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concert Complex in Yerevan.

President Khachaturyan delivered a speech:

“Honorable attendees, guests,

Dear compatriots,

STARMUS VI Science and Art International Festival, that breathed new life and spirit into Armenia, is coming to an end. For 5 days, we had the opportunity to familiarize with the latest achievements of world cosmology and the scientists who reached them, as well as with the masterpieces of renowned and prominent musicians.

This is one of the brightest examples that proves the close bond between science and art and shows, that their combination not only does not cause contradictions, but also becomes a necessity and brings creativity.

This is exactly what STARMUS was in all its manifestations, because when talented scientists Louis Friedman, Bethany Ehlmann, Scott Hubbard, Michel Mayor, Lisa Kaltenegger, David Grinspoon and others deliver lectures on the unraveling of the Universe's infinite mysteries, in the meantime, they aim to broaden the listeners’ horizons, expand their worldview, and ultimately make them a little more conscious, a little better, more humanistic.

And when Brian May, Graham Gouldman, Serj Tankian and the small talents from Tavush perform, they too, try to make the Universe more human-centered. After all, this is the highest goal of art and science: knowledge and development.

From this point of view, STARMUS will surely become a new motive for our young creators and scientists, our educational and scientific institutions, universities and the scientific and cultural community in general, to engage in their work with new energy and enthusiasm. It will become an incentive for the students of Yerevan State University to strive to see their name next to the name of Nobel laureate Emmanuelle Charpentier, whose lecture we had an opportunity to listen to within the framework of STARMUS. It will become a motive for the researcher of the Academy of Sciences to be sure that only work and self-improvement and continuous education, will be enough to also claim the Nobel Prize, like the outstanding biophysicist Kurt Wüthrich.

Of course, holding such a large-scale festival also excites and motivates our government, which has adopted the strategy of promotion and development of science and education, and continuously increases the funding of this sector. STARMUS is the best proof that science, apart from everything else, is profitable, that science is a field where every investment is guaranteed with results.

Science and education are the way and opportunity given to our state and society to achieve a more prosperous, safe and dignified future. In this regard, our alternatives are not many, if not even scant, and our government realizes this, and this realization should also become a credo to work and create.

Every government and authority has several duties and functions related to science and art. The first is not to hinder with unnecessary conventionalities and bureaucratic complexity, the second is to help with funding, moral support and state sponsorship and the third is to trust. Trust in the power, abilities, irreplaceability and perfection of science. I am full of home that our government is acting according to those principles.

Honorable attendees,

Dear participants and guests,

During the past 5 days, our country became a unique crossroads for the intersection of the most modern and bold achievements of world science and Armenian civilizational values. At the same time, STARMUS was a wide-open window for our scientists and artists to the big world, to space, to the ever-opening new horizons and new opportunities of science and art.

These opportunities are not limited to the 5 or 6 days of the festival, they will continue with a new breath and become more meaningful immediately after the end of our festive event, when we all continue to work with refreshed diligence and energy, each in our place, to prevent the energy and enthusiasm gathered in the past 5 days from being wasted, so that in the future our country, our science and culture attract not only STARMUS, but also many similar international festivals and their representatives.

Summarizing my speech, I would like to cordially thank the Board of Trustees of the festival and the entire organizational team, the government of the Republic of Armenia, the participants of the festival, the guests and all those present.

I wish all of us that the spirit brought by the STARMUS VI International Festival of Science and Art shape into practical work, new achievements and extraordinary attainments in science and art."