The STARMUS VI festival dedicated to science and music kicked off today at the Sports and Concert Complex.

The Prime Minister of Armenia, the President, the National Assembly speaker, and other dignitaries are attending the opening ceremony. Nikol Pashinyan made an opening speech. He said that the goals of STARMUS coincide with the strategic vision of the Armenian government.

"STARMUS has formulated a goal to inspire and train a new generation of researchers, to strengthen and inspire the spirit of discovery. This fully coincides with our vision, as we are constantly increasing funding for science and education. In 2022, science funding from the state budget increased by about 83 percent. Extensive educational reforms are underway. STARMUS puts art and science on the same platform, and wants to inspire new talent by attracting talented people, bringing science closer to people, and making it an instrument of happiness. This is also the vision of our government," said the prime minister.

The government wants more youth in Armenia to engage in science

According to Pashinyan, the government wants more young people in Armenia to engage in science, research, and technology. "We want to know more, create more, become the mood of everyone in Armenia. STARMUS wants to formulate as high and even unexpected questions as possible. And we see that only by formulating unformulated questions and answering them directly and honestly can we make Armenia the country of our dreams. And in that sense this meeting is in the right place at the right time for all of us," he stressed.

Nikol Pashinyan also expressed his hope that he will see many of the festival guests lecturing at Armenia's new university and educational system, performing on stages in our country, and being involved in our research and scientific programs. "I also hope that as a result of the festival, more and more of our researchers will be involved in international projects," Pashinyan concluded.

STARMUS will inspire a new generation of Armenian IT giants and startups

 Armenpress.am reports that Garik Israelyan, the co-founder of STARMUS, also spoke. He noted that the international festival of science, art, and music is held in Armenia to inspire the country's new generation of scientists and artists, as the future of a small country like Armenia lies in science and technology.

Garik Israelyan first emphasized that holding STARMUS in Armenia had been long awaited. "I was inspired by Armenia. Part of STARMUS' success is due to Armenia. I was inspired by the great scholar Viktor Hambardzumyan, Armenian composer Aram Khachatryan, Komitas, and many others," he said.

Speaking about the most important message STARMUS held in Armenia, Israelyan said. "STARMUS is in Armenia because I believe, I believe, that the future of a small country like Armenia is science and technology. Many countries in the world are rich in oil and gas, Armenia is not rich in this sense, Armenia is rich in people. STARMUS is here to inspire a new generation of Armenian tech giants, Armenian startups. It's a key moment in Armenia's history to hold a festival like STARMUS in this small country and inspire a new generation of scientists and artists in this country."

Garik Israelyan stressed that Armenians are very good inspirers; not many people know that the man who inspired Stephen Hawking to do science was himself an Armenian. "Stephen Hawking later inspired me to create the STARMUS festival," Israelyan said, adding that he would like to make sure that in the near future, in five or ten years, when the scientist is invited to Armenia, the hall will be full of people.

Brian May was awarded the Stephen Hawking Medal

Legendary Queen guitarist and STARMUS co-founder Brian May was awarded the Stephen Hawking Medal during the festival for his great contribution to the popularization of science. Musician Rick Wakeman presented the medal.

Wakeman said he's really honored. Brian May, he's the kindest and nicest person the musician has ever met.

Brian May, who took the stage to applause, first thanked Armenia, saying STARMUS is important. He said that It brings people together, and reminds us that we are all human.

May said he has been interested in both music and astronomy since he was young, but was told he would not succeed in either. He proved everybody wrong. That's why he wanted to share the medal with everyone in the room who thought they were not good enough, May said.

He recalled that today is the birthday of Freddie Mercury, lead singer of the band Queen. May wished him a happy birthday and said it was nice that he got the medal on his birthday.

The Stephen Hawking Medal is awarded to those who popularize science in three categories: science, art, and film. On one side of the medal is an image of the famous theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, and the author of the drawing is Alexei Leonov, the first astronaut to go into space. On the other side of the medal is a picture of Leonov walking in space and a guitar, symbolizing music. The medal was awarded for the first time at the third Starmus Festival in 2016. Over the years, the medal has been awarded to such notables as Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and Tesla, Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, physicist Jim Al-Khalili and Jean-Michel Jarre, considered one of the founders of electronic music.