The STREACS initiative, led by the American University of Armenia, aims to enhance Armenia’s research capacity in the energy transition to align with European standards and foster collaboration with experts in the European Research Area.

Against a backdrop of accelerating climate and energy policy reforms, energy security has gained a prominent position in policymaking globally and in Armenia. Evidence-based guidance on this complex transformation requires a strong research capacity that engages policymakers, business, and society. The EU-funded STREACS, led by the American University of Armenia (AUA) Acopian Center for the Environment, offers this support, with the aim of strengthening Armenia’s energy research ecosystem to both serve national and regional policymaking and enable greater integration of Armenian researchers in the European Research Area and networks.

Armenia is aligning its national energy transition agenda with broader European climate and security objectives. The country’s energy system reflects challenges shared by many net energy-importing countries, making it a relevant case for European-wide discussions on resilience, diversification, and decarbonisation.

Currently, Armenia’s energy supply is heavily dominated by imported fossil fuels. With no proven domestic reserves of coal, natural gas, or oil, the nation is heavily dependent on external actors for the vast majority of its energy needs. This context reinforces the importance of advanced energy system modelling and long-term transition planning capabilities that are essential for dual objectives of pursuing climate neutrality and enhancing energy security. The country’s renewable resources, despite significant potential and rapid growth, remain underutilised.

Building on a strong scientific tradition, Armenia is now investing in the modernisation of its research ecosystem to meet contemporary international standards of of excellence, openness, and impact.

“Without strong research capacity and science-policy dialogue, policymaking may become reactive rather than strategic, bringing about risks associated with misallocating resources and failing to achieve security and sustainability goals,” says Alen Gasparian Amirkhanian, Director of the AUA Acopian Center.

The STREACS Initiative: Accelerating integration into the European Research Area on energy transition

The Strengthening Research in Armenia for Energy Transition toward Climate Solutions (STREACS) project is an EU Horizon Europe initiative designed to accelerate Armenia’s integration into the European Research Area through excellence-driven collaboration. Its overarching goal is to reinvigorate and align Armenia’s research capacity with leading European institutions, strengthening Armenia’s role as an active contributor and actor in the European Research Area (ERA), particularly on topics related to energy transition.

STREACS operates on a collaborative model that pairs Armenian beneficiary institutions — the American University of Armenia (AUA) Acopian Center for the Environment, Armenia’s Scientific Research Institute of Energy (SRIE), and the National Polytechnic University of Armenia (NPUA) with leading EU scientific partners including Maynooth University (Ireland), University of Campania (Italy), University of Genoa (Italy). The consortium’s business partner, Artemat S.r.l. (Italy), offers highly valuable scenario simulation and serious game development capabilities. The project’s strategy is built on three integrated pillars.

Pillar 1: Research cooperation

STREACS expands structured collaboration between Armenian researchers and leading European research centres. It has enabled mobility and exchange of 29 early-stage researchers over a two-week scientific mission to partner EU institutions for sharing of agendas and approaches, identifying common interests, and exploring new research methods. By 2026, there will be 40 early-stage researchers and international experts involved in the project, summer school, winter school, and more upcoming scientific missions.

Pillar 2: Human capital and institutional development

To ensure long-term impact, STREACS invests in training on energy sector advancements and institutional capacity development on research grant management. This pillar employs innovative educational tools:

• Micro-credentials & MOOCs: The project is developing 15 Micro-credentials (MCs). These short, specialised learning units cover hard skills like energy demand modelling and generation and storage technologies, as well as soft skills like grant writing, grant management, and research ethics.
• Gamification: In partnership with technical developer Artemat, STREACS has introduced a ‘Serious Game’. This web-based simulation immerses users in the lifecycle of a research project, training them to coordinate multidisciplinary consortia and navigate the pressures of proposal writing.

Pillar 3: Multi- and transdisciplinary research in action

Pillar 3 translates strong academic expertise into practical knowledge by engaging multiple academic fields (e.g., policy, engineering, law, data analytics, and environmental science)—a multidisciplinary approach—while also integrating government, business, and civil society through a transdisciplinary framework.

34 early-stage researchers from various disciplines work together on research projects by consulting not only peers from other disciplines (recognising that complex problems require expertise from multiple disciplines) but also multiple non-academic actors. They consult government and regulatory bodies, business, and civil society to enhance the relevance of research. In the context of research in Armenia, this is important and far-reaching progress and innovation.

Research under this pillar focuses on:

•  Modelling Armenia’s energy system within the climate–energy nexus
•  Assessing the local impacts of renewable energy generation
•  Analysing electricity market liberalization and its role in the energy transition
•  Exploring regulatory innovation, including testing regulatory sandboxes in the Armenian energy sector

Envisioned impact

STREACS delivers measurable, long-term strengthening of Armenia’s research and innovation ecosystem, with a strong and sustained link to the European energy transition research community. For the research community, the impact is tangible and professional: by increasing participation in international networks and improving success in competitive funding schemes, STREACS supports sustainable career pathways for early-career researchers and deeper integration into European research collaborations.

Designed to outlive the initial grant, this self-sustaining hub will serve as a permanent interface for EU–partner cooperation. Efforts will culminate in a final international scientific conference, “Energy Transition for Climate Solutions: Targeting Sustainability, Resilience, and Security,” in Yerevan in 2027, further establishing Armenia as an active and credible contributor to European energy transition research and dialogue. Before this conference, STREACS will support the creation of the Cluster on Energy Transition for Climate Solutions (CET4CS), a wide network of energy researchers in Armenia and the EU, laying the groundwork for lasting collaboration and deeper integration with the European research community.

As noted by Alen Gasparian Amirkhanian, Director of the Acopian Center for the Environment at the American University of Armenia, “STREACS is not merely an academic exercise, but a structural investment in lasting international research capacity and cooperation.”

Please note, this article will also appear in the 25th edition of our quarterly publication.