In November 2020, FAST designed the SciNova Program aimed at creating a curriculum on "Research Design” and “Science Commercialization''. The curriculum introduces Masters and/or Ph.D. students in Armenia to the basics of conducting quality research and creating commercial value from scientific inventions.
In the first half of 2021, the curriculum was developed by FAST and piloted at the Armenian National Agrarian University (ANAU). In addition, training of trainers (ToTs) for a broader audience of academic staff was organized with the participation of key Armenian higher education institutions (HEIs) that provide STEM education.
The scale-up of the program anticipates integration of the developed curriculum into the academic programs of the main Armenian HEIs starting from the 2022-23 academic year and beyond.
For this purpose, Training of Trainers will be made available to the academic staff from all institutions, as well as a bilingual manual will be developed and provided for free to ensure the smooth integration of the program.
This program is implemented jointly with Aston University within the Creative Spark: Higher Education Enterprise Programme framework funded by the British Council.