UK universities have been urged to sever ties with a multimillion-pound plan to relocate most of Armenia¡¯s higher education institutions to the ¡°middle of nowhere¡± ¨C a move designed to crush student protests and exert tighter control over scholars, it is claimed.

The former Soviet state¡¯s plan to build a ?2.3 billion ($3 billion) ¡°¡±?on the outskirts of its capital city Yerevan, announced in 2022, has been billed by its prime minister Nikol Pashinyan as vital for revitalising its higher education system.

The would, he has argued, allow an unprecedented investment in teaching and research facilities by uniting all 26 of Yerevan¡¯s universities ¨C many of which are small disciplinary-specific institutions ¨C on a single site. New housing, sports facilities and green spaces would be created on the purpose-built campus, which would eventually cater for some 50,000 staff and students. A new rail line would link the campus ¨C 8 miles outside Yerevan ¨C to the city centre within 20 minutes.

Several European universities have agreed to advise on the Academic City project, with UCL, the University of the Arts London (UAL) and Technical University of Munich (TUM) on the project¡¯s website.

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While the merger of numerous institutions has already been on governance grounds, a Harvard University professor has now suggested the move is motivated by different reasons. Emptying Yerevan of students should be seen as an attempt to silence political dissent because the out-of-town site will make it almost impossible to protest, said David Grigorian, senior fellow at Harvard¡¯s Kennedy School of Government.

¡°Pashinyan¡¯s plan kills two birds with one stone: he moves political opposition away from the downtown area where universities are now located, and he hands prime real estate to his oligarch friends,¡± explained , an Armenia-born economist who has worked for decades at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, noting the sale of city centre university estates will be used to fund the project.

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Grigorian, who co-founded Policy Forum Armenia, an anti-corruption thinktank focused on the landlocked country surrounded by Turkey, Iran, Georgia and Azerbaijan, insisted the country¡¯s academic sector was the ¡°last remaining pillar of society¡± capable of providing opposition to Pashinyan¡¯s administration, which had already, he said, recently sought confrontations with the military and church.

¡°Armenia¡¯s academic sector is a poor replica of what it was [in Soviet times] but there are still good things happening there ¨C it is where free thinking and activism take place. But this is much less likely to happen if you move students and academics to the middle of nowhere,¡± he explained, noting that Armenia was once known as the ¡°Soviet Silicon Valley¡±, given its vibrant defence-related technology clusters up until the 1980s.

While Pashinyan swept to power in 2018 with a vow to root out corruption, Grigorian said he was unconvinced by the former journalist¡¯s record in office, stating he had declined offers to join the government.

¡°I am surprised that so many European universities have agreed to cooperate with Armenia on a project that will undermine free speech ¨C American universities have refused to go near it, and UK universities shouldn¡¯t be involved either,¡± said Grigorian.

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A UAL spokesperson said it had undertaken ¡°exploratory conversations¡± with representatives from the Armenian education ministry on advising the project, with its role limited to a ¡°consultancy capacity drawing on UAL¡¯s own experience as a university formed through a merger of six art and design colleges¡±.

A UCL spokesperson said its Institute of Education aimed to ¡°embrace collaboration and excellence to create lasting change across the world¡± and it had undertaken ¡°extensive due diligence¡± ahead of starting work on a ¡°proposal ¡­ to enhance the quality of teacher education and education research in the new merged institutions in Armenia¡±.

Armenia¡¯s Academic City project have been approached for comment by 51³Ô¹Ï.

In a statement, TUM said its work, led by TUM International, a wholly-owned subsidiary specialising in higher education and innovation advice, was ¡°supporting the higher education reform of Armenia¡± with a view to ¡°[improve] regional and global competitiveness¡±.

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¡°Its mandate is to rethink the internal structure of modern universities, using the successful transformation process of TUM as a role model,¡± TUM said, adding that areas of focus included ¡°enabling interdisciplinarity, integrating innovative approaches in education and research, and strengthening the competitiveness of public universities.

¡°TUM International is not involved in the political dynamics in Armenia around the larger Academic City project. Its focus is strictly on enabling the kind of changes in academia and science that can bring value to the future generation,¡± it said.

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jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com