Meridians of cooperation

JINR-Azerbaijan:
expanding the area of mutual interests

On 18 November, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Russian Federation Rahman Mustafayev visited the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. The Embassy delegation included Counselor Samir Ahmedov and First Secretary Anar Kazymly. During the visit, the issues of wide cooperation between Azerbaijani scientific institutions and JINR were discussed and focus was on the training of highly qualified personnel for the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Rahman Mustafayev held a meeting with the representatives of the national group of Azerbaijan at JINR, the delegation visited FLNP and VBLHEP, including the MPD Hall of the NICA acceleration complex. An excursion to the interactive exhibition "JINR basic facilities" was organized for the representatives of the Embassy in the JINR Cultural Centre "Mir".

JINR Director Grigory Trubnikov, JINR Vice-Director Sergey Dmitriev, DLNP Director Evgeny Yakushev, Head of the Department of International Cooperation Otilia-Ana Culicov, Acting Head of the Azerbaijan National Group at JINR, the senior researcher at FLNR Nazim Huseynov took part in the meeting with JINR Directorate.

"For Azerbaijan, cooperation with the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research and participation in it is essential through the prism of both fundamental science and applied disciplines that may have practical significance for the life of our country," Rahman Mustafayev emphasized. JINR applied projects in Azerbaijan can find application in such spheres as "green" energy, proton therapy of tumors, forecasting of seismic activity and meeting the environmental issue of Caspian Sea shoaling. Rahman Mustafayev thanked JINR Directorate for comfortable working conditions for the scientists from Azerbaijan. "We will move and work further," the Ambassador remarked.

Referring to the tasks of training the young generation of scientists, Rahman Mustafayev proposed to organize a meeting-presentation of JINR scientific activity for Azerbaijani students that study at technical universities of Russia. Today, about 8000 such students study in 42 leading Russian universities. In addition, a Russian-Azerbaijani University is currently established in Baku by cooperating with St. Petersburg State University.

Grigory Trubnikov highlighted the readiness of the Joint Institute to be widely involved in personnel training in the interests of the Member State. JINR Director emphasized that JINR staff from Azerbaijan participate both in the projects of the Institute and in the largest international collaborations of CERN, as well as in other European experiments. "Working in an international collective, scientists thereby gain involvement in big science. Returning to Azerbaijan, these specialists actually develop vectors for education in universities in fundamental sciences: mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology," Grigory Trubnikov summarized.

JINR Director reminded that another significant area of JINR-Azerbaijan cooperation includes digital technologies and work with big data. In this sphere it is also necessary to develop academic exchange. In recent years, he emphasized, the horizons of cooperation with the universities of the republic have been significantly expanding. Grigory Trubnikov said that the JINR delegation is going to visit Baku next week. JINR staff will give lectures at universities and visit a number of scientific organizations of the country.

Relations with the national scientific centres of Azerbaijan have existed throughout the history of JINR. Scientists of the Joint Institute cooperate with Azerbaijani colleagues in many research areas and projects of the Institute, including the NICA acceleration complex and the IBR-2 research reactor, theoretical investigations and research in neutrino and astrophysics, the information-computing infrastructure of JINR. Specialists from Azerbaijan undergo training and internships in Dubna and scientific visits are regularly exchanged. Citizens of this republic regularly participate in internships for young scientists and specialists of the CIS, as well as JEMS JINR internships for administrative and technical staff.

Prepared with reporting by the JINR Press Office