New goals, new priorities: Hovhannes Hovhannisyan re-elected YSU rector

By decision of the YSU Board of Trustees, Doctor of Historical Sciences Hovhannes Hovhannisyan will continue to lead Armenia's alma mater for another five years, with new priorities for advancing the university's educational, research and international development.

In the competition to fill the position of YSU rector, one candidate, incumbent YSU Rector Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, submitted an application and the required documents in accordance with the established procedure.

At its meeting today, the YSU Board of Trustees considered the election of the rector. The meeting included a presentation of the competitive selection procedure, as well as Hovhannisyan's biography and the documents he had submitted.

The YSU Board of Trustees heard an address by Hovhannisyan. Presenting his program, he said the development plan for the coming years is a logical continuation of the work carried out over the previous five years, while also setting priorities and new directions for development in response to new challenges and a changing environment.

According to Hovhannisyan, the proposed development program is aligned with Armenia's 2026–2030 Strategic Program for the Development of the Science Sector, the State Program for the Development of Education until 2030, the Law on Higher Education and Science and the 2025-2030 Development Strategy.  

"The program's key areas are student success, expansion of the range of educational services, research output, effective administration and data-driven management. Data-driven management is widely discussed today. Over this period, we have developed many electronic tools that provide faster access to data, but substantial work remains to be done in this area," Hovhannisyan emphasized.

He also addressed developments in artificial intelligence, which he said has become one of the university's key development areas in recent years.

Hovhannisyan also spoke about expanding international cooperation, noting that the Armenian government's program calls for 15,000 international students to be enrolled in the country's education system. He emphasized that YSU has also set a target of increasing the number of international students at the university to at least 3,000 in the coming years.

Hovhannisyan identified improving YSU's international standing as another key target, specifically the goal of moving the university up in the QS international rankings. According to him, the educational, research and international reforms planned for the coming years should be implemented as one integrated process, with the aim of bringing the university's competitiveness and development to a new level.

The rector also addressed research-based governance, stressing that a significant share of the reforms being carried out in Armenia should be grounded in research and that scientists have a key role in producing that research.

He also highlighted the planned increase in base funding for higher education, noting that it would enable the university to review salaries and its approaches to carrying out a number of functions. 

The program presentation was followed by a question-and-answer session, during which members of the YSU Board of Trustees asked Hovhannisyan about specific areas of the program and development priorities for the coming years. A secret ballot was then held, after which the vote-counting commission summarized the results.

Based on the vote, the Board of Trustees decided to re-elect Hovhannisyan as rector of the Yerevan State University Foundation, with his term of office beginning on December 24, 2026. The decision will be forwarded to the authorized body for submission to the government for approval.

Hovhannisyan has served as rector of Yerevan State University since 2021.