Viktor Amazaspovich Ambartsumian was a Soviet Armenian astrophysicist and science administrator. One of the 20th century's top astronomers, he is widely regarded as the founder of theoretical astrophysics in the Soviet Union.

Yerevan State University, also simply University of Yerevan, is the oldest continuously operating public university in Armenia. Founded in 1919, it is the largest university in the country. It is thus informally known as Armenia's "mother university". Of its 3,150 employees, 1,190 comprise the teaching staff, which includes 25 academicians, 130 professors, 700 docents, and 360 assistant lecturers. The university has 400 researchers, 1,350 post-graduate students, and 8,500 undergraduates, including 300 students from abroad.