YEREVAN, Armenia — The American University of Armenia (AUA) is pleased to announce the inaugural recipients of the JACE Foundation Research Innovation Grant Program, made possible through a transformational $1 million gift from the Foundation. This multi-year initiative strengthens AUA’s research capacity by supporting faculty scholarship aligned with the University’s 2024 Strategic Plan. The gift underscores AUA’s commitment to research excellence and its mission to empower faculty and students to shape knowledge, influence policy, and drive societal progress.
The Research Innovation Grant Program represents the largest investment in faculty research support programs in AUA’s history. By investing in research infrastructure and innovation, the Program aims to foster a culture of scholarly excellence by enabling faculty to pursue ambitious projects, encourage interdisciplinary collaboration across the University’s colleges and programs, and advance Armenia’s role in addressing pressing regional and global challenges.
The Program provides annual funding over four years, across three award categories, namely, the Research Faculty Excellence Award, the Interdisciplinary Research Award, and the Strategic Research Award.
The Research Faculty Excellence Award provides robust research support for highly research-active faculty. The Interdisciplinary Research Award seeds innovative projects across programs and disciplines with clear deliverables and measurable impact. The Strategic Research Award supports initiatives aligned with AUA’s institutional and societal priorities. During the first cycle, the University received a large number of applications, which were evaluated through a rigorous peer-review process, with final selections approved by the Provost’s Office.
“The JACE Foundation Research Innovation Grant Program represents a defining moment for AUA,” said Provost Dr. Alina Gharabegian. “For the first time in the University’s history, we are able to make a sustained and substantial investment in our faculty’s research. These awards provide something scholars need most — time and resources to pursue ambitious ideas, build collaborations, and produce work with meaningful results in Armenia and beyond. Together with the expansion of our full-time faculty, this initiative marks one of the most significant steps we have taken to strengthen AUA’s research capacity and to advance our evolution as a research-active university. We are deeply grateful to the JACE Foundation for its extraordinary generosity and for its confidence in AUA’s future.”
The awards highlight the breadth of research underway across AUA, from environmental science and public health to digital heritage and artificial intelligence. Six faculty members, Dr. Arsen Gasparyan, Dr. Hrachya Kocharyan, Dr. Naira Sahakyan, Dr. Robert Tyler, Dr. Tsovinar Harutyunyan, and Dr. Varduhi Yeghiazaryan received the Research Faculty Excellence Award. Dr. Gasparyan, assistant professor in the Zaven P. and Sonia Akian College of Science and Engineering (ACSE), received the award for his research on “Funga Matters Research and Conservation for Armenia’s Hidden Biodiversity;” Dr. Kocharyan, assistant professor in ACSE, for “Adaptive Metamaterials and Granular Media Penetration for Impact Mitigation;” Dr. Sahakyan, assistant professor in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), for her study, “Imperial Nation-Building and Subjectivity of the Ethno-Religious Groups in the Russian and Ottoman Empires, 1850s-1910s;” Dr. Tyler, associate professor in CHSS, for his conference paper, “Wales in America: Identity and Culture Maintenance in Diasporic Communities,” Dr. Harutyunyan, associate professor in the Turpanjian College of Health Sciences, for “Satisfaction with Healthcare System and Utilization of Preventive Care in Armenia;” and Dr. Yeghiazaryan, associate professor in ACSE, for “Medical Image Segmentation with Limited and/or Conflicting Training Data.”
Harutyunyan noted, “The Award supports a secondary analysis of data from a nationwide telephone survey conducted in Armenia in June-July 2025 by the Gerald and Patricia Turpanjian College of Health Sciences. My study explores public opinion on the healthcare system and the utilization of preventive services, as well as the influence of socio-demographic and health-related beliefs. It will contribute to the scarce regional literature, provide evidence for policymakers, and serve as a baseline for future research.”
Dr. Gasparyan remarked: “The JACE Award provides an important opportunity to further expand my biodiversity research at AUA. My work focuses on the diversity and conservation of lichens and fungi, while also integrating applied components such as monitoring applications, species conservation status assessments, and so on. Through this support, I aim to not only strengthen research capacity, but also engage students in hands-on scientific studies.”
Within the Interdisciplinary Research Award, Dr. Hayk Nersisyan, B.S. in Computer Science program chair and associate professor, and Aram Butavyan, ACSE faculty member, were recognized for their two-year project, “AI-Driven Interdisciplinary Analysis of Digitized Armenian Manuscripts;” and Artur Khalatyan, also from ACSE, for “Turning soft skill development into daily gamified experience with innovative tracking and progression system.”
“Receiving the JACE Interdisciplinary Research Award is truly encouraging for our team,” said Dr. Nersisyan. “Armenian manuscripts are among our most valuable cultural treasures, yet many collections still haven’t benefited from modern AI and data-driven methods. This support will help us develop machine learning approaches to classify and identify visual elements and, where appropriate, convert digitized pages into searchable, analyzable resources. We also hope to strengthen digital heritage research at AUA and share tools and datasets that can be useful to the broader research community.”
Khalatyan remarked: “We are designing serious board games and a mobile application to help people develop their soft skills through daily gamified experiences. These games target the top soft skills listed in the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report — skills in high demand that also unlock creativity and innovation. Our main research question is whether daily short gamified experiences can develop micro-skills similarly to sports and arts training. The award will help us prove this concept and create a start-up kit for our first investment round.”
Three faculty members were awarded the Strategic Research Award. CHSS faculty member Dr. Matthew Reale-Hatem was recognized for his project, “Measuring Air Pollution Impacts in Yerevan;” Dr. Naira Sahakyan, for her study, “Imperial Nation-Building and Subjectivity of the Ethno-Religious Groups in the Russian and Ottoman Empires, 1850s-1910s;” and Dr. Robert Tyler, for his conference paper, “Wales in America: Identity and Culture Maintenance in Diasporic Communities.”
Dr. Reale-Hatem noted, “Air quality is a prominent research topic in both public policy and environmental economics, and it’s one that I have been interested to work on since I accepted the position at AUA. Luckily, this past spring data science alumna Elen Galoyan (BSDS ’25) and student Ina Karapetyan (BSDS ’27), wrote an excellent thesis on air pollution in Yerevan, advised by AUA adjunct lecturer Houry Keoshkerian. Assisted by the students, Houry and I have been collaborating on a study which aims to quantify the local health impacts of air pollution. This grant will enable us to significantly accelerate and expand the scope of that research. I’m glad to be working on a project of such relevance, both for Yerevan residents and hopefully for our understanding of air pollution impacts more broadly.”
“It is a great honor to be among the first cohort to receive the JACE Strategic Research Award,” noted Dr. Sahakyan. “This initiative clearly demonstrates that the University values research and is actively creating an environment that supports it — an important priority outlined in the Strategic Plan. It is especially encouraging to see concrete steps being taken toward the implementation of that vision.”
Reflecting on the significance of the Award for her own work, Dr. Sahakyan added: “While I greatly enjoy teaching, research and publication are difficult to pursue alongside a heavy teaching load. In this sense, the Award provides something invaluable: time. It allows me to focus more fully on my ongoing research projects, including several book projects, and to bring them to completion in a productive and timely manner.”
The inaugural awards mark the beginning of a sustained investment in research at AUA, reinforcing the University’s commitment to advancing scholarship that contributes to Armenia’s development and global knowledge production.
Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, affiliated with the University of California, and accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission in the United States. AUA provides local and international students with Western-style education through top-quality undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs, promotes research and innovation, encourages civic engagement and community service, and fosters democratic values.