Laboratory of Spectroscopy and Chromatography opens at YSU

A new Laboratory of Spectroscopy and Chromatography has opened at the Faculty of Chemistry, Yerevan State University. The laboratory will serve as a hub for both academic and scientific research, facilitating studies aligned with contemporary demands.

YSU Rector Hovhannes Hovhannisyan emphasized that all teaching laboratories in the Faculty of Chemistry have already been renovated and equipped with modern instruments. He noted that the continuous improvement of the educational environment fosters student engagement in scientific research and the development of deeper, more specialized knowledge. The rector also highlighted that the current academic year saw a significant number of applicants across various programs, with no vacant spots, including in the "Chemistry" and "Food Safety" bachelor's programs.

Armen Galstyan, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry, presented the new-generation equipment in the Laboratory of Spectroscopy and Chromatography. He noted that the laboratory will conduct studies on a variety of substances, ranging from those found in food products to pure chemical compounds.

"For instance, when analyzing food products, we can verify whether the substances listed on the labels are present, or detect additional substances not indicated. Within the scope of our scientific interests, we also examine the structural properties of substances and their dynamic interactions. Spectral instruments enable us to identify different types of interactions—intermolecular, intramolecular, and others," he said.

The Faculty of Chemistry maintains close collaboration with colleagues from the Institute of Physics and the Faculty of Biology, and as well as with various academic institutions, such as the Scientific-Technological Center of Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia (NAS RA). Armen Galstyan emphasized that these collaborations also involve joint scientific research on various compounds and processes, which has resulted in the publication of numerous scientific articles in internationally indexed journals.

The funding for the Spectroscopy and Chromatography Laboratory amounted to approximately 500 million Armenian drams. In recent years, the Faculty of Chemistry has received a total investment of 1 billion Armenian drams, provided jointly by YSU and the RA MoESCS Higher Education and Science Committee. Some of the laboratory's equipment—including the Mettler Toledo Seven Excellence system for conductivity and acidity measurement, the KERN ADJ 200-4 analytical balance, drying ovens, glassware—and laboratory furniture were purchased with YSU's funds.

The opening ceremony was attended by Artur Movsisyan, Deputy Chairman of the Higher Education and Science Committee; Ashot Saghyan, President of NAS RA; Arkadi Harutyunyan, Deputy Director of the Institute of Chemical Physics of NAS RA; YSU Vice-Rectors Elina Asriyan, Rafayel Barkhudaryan, and Mikayel Hovhannisyan; as well as faculty members of YSU.

Since 2020, the YSU Research Center of Chemistry has been equipped with modern instruments under various grants from the Higher Education and Science Committee. These include the Nicolet iS50 FTIR spectrometer, SPECORD 210 PLUS UV-Vis spectrophotometer, Waters ACQUITY Arc Premier LC System with PDA and Qda MS detectors, Thermo Fisher Scientific Trace 1610 gas chromatograph, and F-DGSi CRYOGEN 10RA liquid nitrogen station.

These modern instruments, acquired through committee grants, have significantly promoted the scientific research conducted at the YSU Research Center of Chemistry over the past three years, resulting in publications in high-impact (Q1 and Q2 quartile) journals. During this period, the center's researchers published 77 scientific articles in internationally indexed journals, including 13 in Q1 journals.