Cosmic Ray Division Young Scientists Carving Their Future in Armenia

YEREVAN — Several students from Yerevan State University who have been conducting their thesis work at the Cosmic Ray Division of the Yerevan Physics Institute have entered a new milestone in their career preparation.

Hripsime Mkrtchyan and Hasmik Rostomyan successfully finished their Master in Physics courses at the Yerevan State University. Hripsime’s Master’s thesis was titled “The Electrical structure of Thunderclouds and Initiation of the Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements (TGEs)”, and Hasmig’s was “The Maximal Energy of Solar Accelerators: Evidence from Space and Earth’s Surface Measurements”. Now they have applied for a job at the Cosmic Ray Division (CRD) of Yerevan Physics Institute (YerPhI) and will prepare for the Thunderstorms and Elementary Particle Acceleration (TEPA 2013) international conference to be held at the Nor-Amberd research station, Armenia, September 9-13. They will also prepare for the YerPhI PhD program entrance examinations in November. Hripsime and Hasmig were the recipients of the Kirakos Vaporciyan Scholarship for CRD students at Yerevan State University this year. Congratulations to Hripsime and Hasmig for their recent accomplishments and we wish them well during the coming years.

Hayk Avagyan graduated from the Computer Science Department of the Yerevan State University and started his work at the CRD. His main topics of interest at the CRD will be the development of new algorithms for data analysis and the analysis and correlation of the Aragats Space Environmental Center data, and data from other astroparticle physics experiments.

Patrick Fasano, an undergraduate student at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, USA, started his internship at the CRD with the support of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Patrick will work 10-weeks at the Cosmic Ray Division, assisting with upgrades and improvements to CRD’s data storage and processing software, as well as learning about data analysis of Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements, a newly discovered high energy phenomena in the terrestrial atmosphere. He will also work with CRD graduate students to make improvements to Advanced Data Analysis System (ADAS) file servers for conserving computer storage space.

Thirteen of the CRD’s young scientists and staff received a performance based bonus from the Harutyun and Nadya Vaporciyan Family for their outstanding work and their resolve to pursue scientific excellence in Armenia. “I have their picture on my mirror, and I look at them every day and I am so proud”, says Harutyun Vaporciyan when he speaks of these talented young people.

“All in all, we are satisfied with the progress of our students and our young and seasoned scientists who mentor our students”, says Prof. Ashot Chilingarian, the director of Yerevan Physics Institute and the head of its Cosmic Ray Division. “We are also very grateful to the Vaporciyan family for supporting our young scientists and students with scholarships and prizes.”

Cosmic Ray Division Young Scientists Carving Their Future in Armenia