ASPU and RAU opened a joint Scientific and Methodological Laboratory of the Russian Language

ArmInfo.  On the birthday of the Russian-Armenian University (RAU), September 15, the ceremonial opening of the Scientific and Methodological "Russian Language Laboratory" of Armavir State Pedagogical University (ASPU) and RAU took place in Yerevan.

The new interuniversity center is intended to become a space for strengthening partnerships, developing pedagogical science and supporting teachers of Russian. In 2026, the laboratory plans to train at least 200 teachers of Russian in Armenia in four study groups, followed by expert support.

As an ArmInfo correspondent reports, the opening of the laboratory also featured the signing of a Declaration of Professional Cooperation by the heads of the universities—RAU Rector Edward Sandoyan and ASPU Rector Evgeny Nizhnik. The ASPU rector called it symbolic that the opening of the joint laboratory took place on RAU’s birthday. According to him, this confirms the effective interaction and cooperation between the educational institutions. "This is not a copy of any existing laboratory. This is the first step toward deep, systematic and professional work," Nizhnik noted.

One of the important and challenging steps, as the ASPU rector noted, will be the retraining and requalification of Russian language teachers. "Methods are changing, and our task is to provide current teachers with modern methods of conveying information, taking into account that today’s young people are accustomed to digital services. We would like to make them accessible to teachers throughout Armenia. In addition, joint research is planned as part of the laboratory’s opening,"

-  Nizhnik added.

On RAU’s birthday, the opening ceremony of the Laboratory of Intensive Computing and Artificial Intelligence also took place. Speaking about the laboratory’s mission, Sevak Sargsyan, head of RAU’s Department of Systems Programming, recalled that today a large part of life is connected with the digital world. "And many people, when carrying out certain actions within, for example, online banking, do not realize that behind all this are algorithms that can verify the identity of the person carrying out these actions and more, or establish contact through voice commands. All of this is based on certain AI methods and solutions, thanks to which the digital world offers you broader opportunities and a variety of services," said the head of RAU’s Department of Systems Programming.

As Sargsyan explained, this applies, among other things, to the analysis of medical data or, for example, the study of machine-learning algorithms. According to him, complex solutions are now being developed in the laboratory and subsequently find application in industry. "The world is changing, and today, essentially, there are methods that make it possible to simplify the programming process for more complex systems," Sargsyan explained.

Russia’s Ambassador to Armenia Sregey Kopyrkin, in turn, noted that these events had become not only significant symbols of Russian-Armenian relations, but also a symbol of the importance Russia attaches to Armenia, as well as a factor contributing to the further development of the university and the strengthening of relations between the countries. "We will continue moving along the road to the future. I am confident that initiatives of this kind will give new impetus to the development of education, on which our common future largely depends," the ambassador concluded.