Chair of General Physics and Astrophysics named after Academician Victor Hambardzumyan

The General Physics and Astrophysics Chair of Yerevan State University was founded in 1933 within the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics.

From the day of its foundation to 1956, it was called the Chair of Experimental Physics, then renamed the Chair of General Physics.

In 1940, the Mechanics and Molecular Physics laboratories were opened next to the chair, and in 1944, the optics laboratory was founded as well. The first laboratory experiment manual in Armenian was published in 1953.

In a short period, the teaching and scientific laboratories of the chair developing the necessary material and technical base created favorable conditions for conducting scientific research and scientific experiments.

From 1978-1989, the "Atmospheric Physics" educational program was established and successfully operated at the Chair, including scientific research and applied contractual works with the ASSR anti-hail and Moscow meteorological stations. As a result, about 160 graduates received professional education, who played a major role in the meteorological service and environmental protection works in the republic.

In 1989, the program was replaced by "Cold Temperature Physics", which was operated until the early 2000s. During the implementation of the program, the Chair actively cooperated with the Institute of Physical Problems of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.

In 2009, the Chair of Astrophysics named after V. Hambardzumyan was merged with the Chair of General Physics, and it is still called the Chair of General Physics and Astrophysics named after V. Hambardzumyan. The Chair of Astrophysics was established in 1945 under the leadership of academician Viktor Hambardzumyan, who was the head of the Chair until 1994.

In the framework of the Undergraduate program of the Institute of Physics, the Chair implements a part of the professional subjects of the "Condensed Matter Physics" direction, as well as the majority of the professional subjects of the "Physics and Astrophysics of Elementary Particles" direction.

Through the Master's program, the Chair prepares specialists in the "Astrophysics" specialty. It covers a number of topical areas, including non-stationary processes in the universe, the Sun and the Solar System, extragalactic astronomy, radio astronomy, superconductivity, and superfluidity. It is noteworthy that the teaching of "Physics of Quantum Technologies", which was developed by the Chair, is of essential importance in training modern physicists.

In 2013, the "International Physical Ecology" laboratory was founded and still operates based on the chair, which actively cooperates both with relevant laboratories of many foreign universities (USA, Japan, England, Russia, etc.) and with YSU faculties of biology, chemistry, mathematics, and mechanics.

The Chair of General Physics and Astrophysics involves groups dealing with various scientific topics, which carry out important theoretical and experimental works corresponding to the modern scientific level.