The Scientific Council congratulates the Directorate and the international staff of JINR on the complete and successful realization of the current seven-year scientific programme and highly appreciates the valuable contributions to the advancement of science and technology in a world view that have been achieved as part of this programme. The major milestones achieved in implementing this programme provide a solid basis for further scientific and technological development of JINR.

  The Scientific Council recognizes the significant scientific accomplishments of JINR scientists in 2009 in the fields of particle physics, nuclear physics, and condensed matter physics, as well as the noticeable progress in the areas of information technology, education of young scientists, and innovative developments. As several examples in these fields, the Scientific Council wishes to note:

  – the two recent successful runs of the Nuclotron for experiments and for complex tests of its vital systems for the future operation of the Nuclotron-M/NICA facility, in particular, the power supply and quench protection systems at cycle with a 1.5 T magnetic field, upgraded cryogenics;

  – the start-up of the 1st phase of the IREN facility and progress towards achieving its design parameters;

– the beginning of the unique experiment on the synthesis of element 117 in the ²⁴⁹Bk+⁴⁸Ca reaction, in partnership with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (USA);

  – the commissioning of the high-speed 20 Gbps telecommunication channel JINR–Moscow with the availability of the implemented technological solutions for the further extension of the channel bandwidth.

  The Scientific Council highly appreciates the new efforts of the JINR Directorate for the further development of partnership programmes with Member States and other countries. It notes, in particular, the recent conclusion of the government-level agreement with the Arab Republic of Egypt, the signature of the Letter of Intent with the Hungarian Republic concerning intensification of joint basic and applied research at JINR, the extension of the Agreement between JINR and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) of Germany until the end of 2011 and the decision of the German side about the increase of the annual contribution of Germany to the JINR budget.

  The Scientific Council thanks the JINR Directorate and its working group for preparing the final draft of the Seven-Year Plan for the Development of JINR for 2010–2016 and for making the written materials on this plan available well in advance of this session.

  The Scientific Council recommends that the JINR Directorate take into account the remarks and suggestions concerning the draft plan given at this session and submit it to the Committee of Plenipotentiaries in November 2009. The Scientific Council asks the CP to approve the Seven-Year Plan for the Development of JINR for 2010–2016 and to work, even during the present difficult financial period in some Member States, to try to ensure the requested financial support for its successful realization.

  The Scientific Council concurs with the recommendations made by the PACs at their June 2009 meetings as reported at this session by Professors T. Hallman, W. Greiner, and V. Kantser.

  The Scientific Council appreciates the significant advances that have been made in upgrading the VBLHEP accelerator complex and in the preparation of the NICA project, as well as the intention of several new external laboratories to sign the MoU concerning the realization of the project.

  The Scientific Council supports the recommendation of the PAC that the JINR Directorate should provide the required funding for the Nuclotron-M project stages in accordance with the programme and time schedule for the successful completion of this project.

  The Scientific Council emphasizes the importance of an in-person meeting of the Machine Advisory Committee (MAC) for the Nuclotron-M/NICA accelerator complex, chaired by Professor B. Sharkov (ITEP, Moscow), at JINR within the next six months so that in addition to in-depth discussion, the members of the MAC can visit the Nuclotron as well as other important engineering sites relevant to the Nuclotron-M and NICA/MPD projects.

  The Scientific Council is pleased to note that the MPD development team presented at the PAC meeting a professional, well-organized first draft of the Conceptual Design Report for the MPD detector. The Scientific Council endorses the proposed concept and supports the strategy of stage-by-stage construction of this detector. It also notes the necessity of a critical assessment of the physics ideas presented in the white paper for simulations of the relevant physics channels.

  The Scientific Council shares the opinion of the PAC concerning the near-term priority of introducing a chapter in the MPD Conceptual Design Report or the forthcoming NICA physics white paper which shows, based on first-order calculations, the feasibility, taking into account essential characteristics such as the expected luminosity and the detector acceptance, of measuring key observables related to the main physics themes of the project. These calculations should be followed up with detailed modeling of the detector capability.

  The Scientific Council welcomes the report presented at the PAC meeting on the proposal to begin consolidation of the VBLHEP physics programme and recommends that the JINR Directorate support the implementation of this programme.

  The Scientific Council takes note of the information about readiness of the JINR groups participating in the ALICE, ATLAS, and CMS experiments for data taking and analysis. Documented projects for JINR’s further participation in these experiments should be received by the PAC at its next meeting.

  The Scientific Council supports the PAC’s recommendations on the new projects NA62, HyperNIS, DSS, ALPOM-2, and “Development of prototype units for a complex of carbon radiotherapy”, as well as on the continuation of the current activities beyond 2009, as outlined in the PAC report.

  The Scientific Council strongly agrees with the PAC for Particle Physics that to maximize the possibility of the ILC being sited in the Moscow Region, a continuous vigorous effort by the JINR Directorate is necessary to establish the ILC as a Russian national priority through dialogue with the Russian national authority.

  The Scientific Council notes the significance and high efficiency of the studies of nuclei far from the stability line, which have been performed at the Flerov Laboratory.
A number of experiments carried out with the use of actinide targets and of beams of ⁴⁸Ca ions have resulted in the synthesis and/or discovery of 6 new elements (Z=112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118) and of 34 new heavy nuclides.

  The Scientific Council is in full agreement with the seven-year plan stating the need for construction of a high-intensity accelerator of heavy ions. In particular, it is of great interest to provide acceleration of ions from carbon to uranium up to the energy range
5-10 MeV/n with stepwise and smooth variation.

  The Scientific Council recommends supporting the DLNP proposals for the next seven-year plan aimed at the study of neutrino physics and dark matter (double-beta decay and neutrino magnetic moment: projects NEMO-3, GERDA&MAJORANA, GEMMA-II) and astrophysics (projects LESI, EDELWEISS-II). In recent years, all these projects have made great progress in investigation of neutrino masses, especially in double-beta searches of elements ⁷⁶Ge, ¹⁰⁰Mo, and ⁸²Se; in search for a neutrino magnetic moment and for dark matter signals, as well as in measurements of basic cross sections for pd and dd reactions at the lowest energies that are important for understanding the burning of the Sun and the stars. With the proposed improvements of the new stages, there lies in the future a great discovery potential.

  The Scientific Council is pleased to note that the IBR-2 reactor modernization is proceeding in full accordance with the technical and financial plans.

The Scientific Council takes note of progress in the modernization of the spectrometer complex for the IBR-2M reactor. The concentration of the available resources on the first-priority instruments (DN-6, GRAINS, SKAT/EPSILON) is essential to ensure that the schedule of work on them is observed. With regard to science, the spectrometer complex modernization should incorporate plans for its long-term complementarity with the European Spallation Source (ESS) project and the future development of synchrotron radiation techniques. The Scientific Council notes that adequate funding from the JINR budget should be received to complete these activities on time.

  The Scientific Council appreciates the high level of condensed matter research performed by teams at FLNP, BLTP, DLNP, LIT, and LRB, and is pleased to note the increased number of high-quality scientific reports and poster presentations by young scientists from these laboratories.

  The Scientific Council appreciates the collaboration of the JINR University Centre (UC) with the Plenipotentiaries of the Member States in the development of a special system of scholarships/grants in order to engage students from a larger number of Member States to the postgraduate studies at JINR. Intensification of contacts with the Plenipotentiaries in order to organize regular visits to the UC of natural science teachers and school pupils from Member States is also recommended.

  The Scientific Council deeply regrets the sad loss of Professor J. Nassalski, Chairperson of the PAC for Particle Physics, who has made an outstanding contribution to the development of scientific collaboration between JINR and Polish research centres.

  As proposed by the JINR Directorate, the Scientific Council appoints Professor Z. Vilakazi (iThemba LABS, Cape Town, South Africa) as a new member of the PAC for Nuclear Physics for a term of three years.

  As proposed by the JINR Directorate, the Scientific Council appoints Professor J. Wąsicki (IP, Poznan, Poland) as a new member of the PAC for Condensed Matter Physics for a term of three years. The Scientific Council thanks the outgoing member Professor P. Mikula for his very successful work in this PAC.

V. Scientific reports

  The Scientific Council highly appreciates the reports “Perspectives of the collaboration between the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and JINR in the studies of superheavy elements" co-presented by Professor J. Roberto for ORNL and by Professor Yu. Oganessian for JINR, and thanks the speakers.

  The Scientific Council congratulates the laureates of the JINR prizes for 2008 — winners of the annual scientific research competition in the fields of theoretical physics, experimental physics, physics instruments and methods, and applied physics.

  The Scientific Council elected by ballot Professor V. Kekelidze as Director of the Veksler and Baldin Laboratory of High Energy Physics (VBLHEP) and Professor E. Krasavin as Director of the Laboratory of Radiation Biology (LRB) for a term of five years.

  The Scientific Council announces the vacancies of the positions of Deputy Directors of VBLHEP and LRB. The elections for these positions will take place at the 107th session of the Scientific Council.

  The 107th session of the Scientific Council will be held on 18–19 February 2010.