Education

The MSU Branch in Dubna is a great value for JINR

On 16 April, the Dubna Branch of the Lomonosov Moscow State University in Dubna hosted a solemn event dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Department of Fundamental Nuclear Interactions (FNI).

The representatives of Directorate of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, teachers, students and graduates of the Branch, as well as employees of MSU took part in the event. There was a scientific quiz for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as a meeting with Heads of the department and guests.

Acting Director of the MSU Dubna Branch, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Eduard Boos was the moderator of the solemn meeting.

In the first report, Head of the Department for many years, since its establishment in April 2000 and until 2021, a chief researcher of the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Viktor Aksenov told about the D. I. Blokhintsev model of training students for JINR. The speaker highlighted in detail the history of the JINR Branch of SINP MSU that had been functioning in Dubna since 1961 and was initiated by the first JINR Director Academician Dmitry Blokhintsev. At the departments of this Branch, starting from the day of their establishment, new generations of scientists were trained by world-renowned physicists, the founding fathers of JINR Dmitry Blokhintsev, Nikolay Bogolyubov, Vladimir Veksler, Ilya Frank, Georgy Flerov, Mikhail Mescheryakov, Bruno Pontecorvo and others.

The history of establishment of the Department of FNI dates back to 5 April, 2000, when its predecessor, the Department of Neutronography of the Nuclear Physics Division of the Faculty of Physics of Moscow State University was organized. The goal of the Department was to integrate scientific and educational activities of Moscow State University and the Joint Institute in the field of research on the structure of matter using an interdisciplinary approach.

Later on, the ambitious JINR projects on the construction of new experimental facilities: NICA, DRIBs-III, Baikal-GVD and others, as well as a great number of JINR scientific tasks required the training and involvement of a large number of young personnel. In this regard, a new specialization programme was developed at the Department. In 2022, the Department significantly expanded the range of its research areas and was transformed into the Department of Fundamental Nuclear Interactions that was headed by JINR Director Academician Grigory Trubnikov.

"The MSU Branch in Dubna, established in 2022 on the basis of the current Branch of SINP MSU is a great value both for the Institute and for Moscow State University. The Branch stands on the shoulders of titans and those that teach today are also world-class scientists," Grigory Trubnikov emphasized.

According to Head of the Department of FNI, in the foreseeable future, the Branch will welcome students not only from the Russian Federation, but also from other JINR Member States: Armenia, Vietnam, Egypt, Kazakhstan and others. In addition to the Dubna departments of the Physics Faculty, two current programmes at the Branch enroll from 10 to 15 Master's students annually but the MSU Branch Directorate is going to expand educational programmes and to increase the number of areas of study.

Head of the Department of Elementary Particle Physics of the Faculty of Physics of MSU, JINR Scientific Leader, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Victor Matveev and his Deputy, Head of the Department of Elementary Particle Physics of FLNR, Professor Alexander Olshevsky congratulated the teachers and students of the Department of FNI.

Head of the Department of Nuclear Research at SINP MSU Tatyana Tetereva thanked the previous and current Heads of the Department for their creative approach to the development of the Department and the Branch. Heads of the Department focus not only on the educational programme but also on the reconstruction of the Branch building and commemoration of its founders.

Head of the Department of Accelerators and Radiation Medicine of the Physics Faculty of MSU Professor Alexander Chernyaev thanked JINR Directorate for support in practical training of MSU students. "We have always endeavored to make sure that our students involved in medical physics, first of all, necessarily get to the Joint Institute. Some of the best traditions of Russian science are born here," Alexander Chernyaev emphasized.

Concluding the meeting, the students of the Branch sang the MSU Physics Department anthem "Dubinushka", wished all the students of the Department great success, scientific discoveries and achievements in the knowledge of the world and stated that it is very interesting and prestigious to study here.

Afterwards, the third-year students made an excursion to the DLNP site. The tour participants visited the ACCULINNA facility at FLNR, the Green Laboratory of DLNP and the IREN resonance neutron source at FLNP.

As reported by JINR Press Office