EMPOWERING POCKETS OF EXCELLENCE

Armenia has a strong tradition of outstanding achievements in academics, science and innovation. Yet this asset must be leveraged and amplified in order to make Armenian higher education globally competitive. The Convergence Center Project will pull together pockets of academic excellence into a critical mass. It will strengthen their links with science and industry, with each other, and with leading counterparts abroad. And it will provide them with the tools and resources they need to thrive in a sustainable manner.

AN INNOVATIVE MODEL

The Convergence Center is based on the model of research parks in leading universities and is designed as a sustainable investment project in Yerevan. Unlike some traditional research parks however, the center will not be affiliated with one particular university. Rather, it will become the hub of a network of leading Armenian institutions of higher education. As a result, it will have the capacity to leverage and interconnect pockets of excellence across the country and internationally. Rather than competing with local universities, the Center will empower them by providing their leading elements with funds, facilities and access to networks.

A MIXED-USE INVESTMENT VEHICLE

The Convergence Center will take the form of a mixed-use campus combining the kinds of mutually reinforcing activities that typically converge around leading research universities. In addition to science and technology labs, teaching facilities and other academic resources, the Center will include office buildings, hospitality services and retail commerce. As a result, it will create opportunities for private investments and generate commercial revenues, contributing to sustainability.

LEVERAGING FUNDS

Armenia spends over $300 million annually on education and science. Up to five percent of this spending will progressively be managed by the Convergence Center and augmented through matching funds and commercial revenues. These leveraged funds will be directed in a targeted manner to pockets of excellence that the center will discover, promote and link into its network. The mandate of managing state funds will be conditional on the Center's ability to at least double them through other sources, and to guarantee that the Center will not use state funds to finance its own overhead. Funds will be recycled, augmented and redirected into the system.

LEVERAGING FACILITIES

The Convergence Center will provide its partner institutions with shared facilities, equipment and services that they otherwise would not be able to afford individually. An advanced laboratory, modern classrooms for an international summer school, a conference room equipped with telepresence equipment, and grant writing and technical training services are some examples. This will contribute to cost efficiencies across the education system and will create opportunities for interaction and collaboration among otherwise isolated pockets of excellence.

LEVERAGING NETWORKS

Beyond its role of offering innovative solutions to financial and physical resource issues, the Convergence Center will add value to Armenian higher education by leveraging networks. It will actively broker the relationship between pockets of academic excellence in Armenian and leading institution of higher education and science abroad. It will provide access to open education resources and open coursework worldwide. It will finance exchanges of faculty and students and will help link academia with industry.

IMPACTING COMPETITIVENESS

By empowering academic leaders and researchers in the major universities, the Convergence Center will contribute to increased competitiveness across the Armenian education system. A more competitive education system will in turn strengthen the foundations of the Armenian economy and overall national competitiveness.