Meridians of cooperation

Minister of Science and Technology
of Vietnam visits JINR

At the end of September, a delegation from Vietnam headed by Minister of Science and Technology of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Huynh Thanh Dat visited JINR. The key topics of discussion were the training of personnel for the scheduled research reactor in Vietnam, the involvement of Vietnamese employees in basic JINR projects and the Institute's support for the project to develop an accelerator complex in Hanoi.

A meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee for JINR-Vietnam scientific projects was held at the International Conference Centre. The Vietnamese delegation visited FLNR and VBLHEP, where they learnt about the Superheavy Element Factory and the NICA accelerator complex, as well as about the FLNR Nanocentre. The results of the visit were summed up at a meeting with Directorate of the Joint Institute.
 

JINR Director Grigory Trubnikov thanked Minister Huynh Thanh Dat for his willingness to dedicate a full working day to learning about the Joint Institute better, as well as to the Plenipotentiary Representative of Vietnam at JINR Tran Tuan Anh for his active support for expanding Vietnam's participation in the Institute's activities. As Director of the Institute noted, JINR-Vietnam cooperation develops vigorously and extensively. High-level meetings are held several times a year: this year, CP Chairman visited Hanoi and meetings with the Plenipotentiary Representative of Vietnam and the President of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) were held at the Institute. "Vietnam focuses on cooperation with Dubna. We see the active engagement of Vietnamese science in the work of our Institute," Grigory Trubnikov emphasized. JINR Director recalled that the most important indicator of the partnership dynamics is the increase in the number of scientists from Vietnam working at the Institute. Currently, there are about 40 employees at JINR and there is an increase in the number of joint publications by the scientists from Vietnam and other Member States of the Institute.

Huynh Thanh Dat thanked JINR Directorate on behalf of the Ministry for the warm welcome of the delegation. "Over the years of cooperation, we have achieved great results in the research of peaceful nuclear energy and other areas of mutual interest. JINR is the cradle of scientific research that proudly demonstrates outstanding achievements and trains many generations of leading specialists and scientists in the field of nuclear physics. For Vietnam, the Dubna Institute has played a key role since our country joined it. Many Vietnamese nuclear scientists have studied here, including such outstanding figures as Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc and Academician Nguyen Van Hieu," Minister of Science and Technology of Vietnam said. He stated the satisfaction of young scientists from Vietnam with the internship conditions at JINR, from the training process to living conditions. "During my visit to the Laboratories of the Institute, I was deeply impressed by the advanced equipment and highly professional research environment. With such an infrastructure and a staff of highly qualified specialists that are passionate about research, the Institute's invariable achievements seem quite reasonable to me," Huynh Thanh Dat concluded.

The Co-Chairs of the Joint Coordination Committee for Scientific Projects informed the participants about the results of the Committee's work. JINR Co-Chairman of the Joint Coordination Committee Boris Sharkov spoke about the progress of work on the implementation of six joint projects and five grants of the Plenipotentiary Representative of Vietnam. The projects involve BLTP, FLNP, FLNR and the Ufa Scientific Centre. Special focus is on the implementation of the project to establish a joint Vinatom-JINR laboratory based on a research reactor that will be constructed in the south of Vietnam within the framework of the Vietnam-Rosatom programme. At the JCC meeting, the results of the Conference on accelerator technologies were announced. The organization and holding of the JEMS course for representatives of Southeast Asian countries and Vietnam's participation in other JINR educational programmes were discussed. At the JCC meeting, diplomas for completion of the International Student Practice that was held in September, were awarded to six graduates from Vietnam. The scheduling of bilateral visits and holding a number of events were also discussed at the event. A report was delivered by Head of the Vietnamese community at JINR.

Director of the University Centre Dmitry Kamanin mentioned that training personnel for the Member States has always been a priority issue for the Institute along with scientific research. "Our programmes for research supervisors and coordinators have already involved 28 representatives from Vietnam that has resulted in the development of strong contacts with a number of universities. The ambitious scientific tasks set by Directorate of Vietnam and JINR require extensive efforts to train personnel," Dmitry Kamanin said. The basic areas of personnel work will be contacts with universities for students to complete their qualification papers at JINR. Vietnamese students studying at Russian universities will be involved in the process. Another format of work could be the organization of the JINR Information Centre in Ho Chi Minh City, on the basis of which many joint events will be held. A working trip of the UC employees to Vietnam will be organized in October to discuss both formats of work.

Co-chairman of the JCC, Vice-President of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Plenipotentiary Representative of Vietnam at JINR Tran Tuan Anh thanked JINR Directorate for the support concerning the elimination of the consequences of the recent hurricane in Vietnam in his speech and noted that over the years of his work at JINR as a plenipotentiary representative, the number of scientists from this country at the Institute and publications of Vietnamese employees has increased. JINR cooperates with VANT and the leading scientific organizations of Vietnam, develops educational programmes with three universities of the country, organizes joint conferences and seminars. Thus, in autumn, a conference on the use of nuclear energy will be held in Vietnam. He called the construction of a nuclear centre and a joint laboratory based on a research reactor in Vietnam one of the significant achievements in the development of bilateral cooperation between JINR and Vietnam and emphasized the high quality of training of nuclear specialists.

This idea was developed by Director of the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute (Vinatom), member of the JINR Scientific Council Tran Chi Thanh. "Dubna is an ideal place to train directorate personnel for the nuclear industry," he stated. Tran Chi Thanh expressed the interest of the Vietnamese party in the active engagement of JINR in training personnel in 2025-2030 for the future reactor, one of the four channels for applied research of which will be allocated purposely for JINR scientists. Tran Chi Thanh put forward a proposal to establish a long-term programme for training personnel in certain areas and also asked to consider the possibility of assisting in the selection and supply of equipment for the new accelerator centre that will be located in the suburbs of Hanoi.

Director of the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Department of the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam Nguyen Tuan Khai stated that Vietnam's key goal in scientific cooperation with JINR is to train personnel and to efficiently use laboratory facilities. He expressed hope that Vietnamese employees will participate in JINR's leading research groups on nuclear research and that they will be given the right to develop their own research areas that are important for the country and that young Vietnamese specialists will be awarded a scholarship during their participation in the Institute's educational programmes. Nguyen Tuan Khai noted that the project to establish a nuclear research centre with a laboratory based on a research reactor is a significant initiative and with the engagement of JINR, the centre can acquire international status. In his opinion, JINR could take part in drawing a roadmap for the efficient operation of the new reactor after its commissioning for Vinatom and the countries of Southeast Asia.

On behalf of JINR, Director of the Institute Grigory Trubnikov, Vice-Director Latchesar Kostov, Chief Scientific Secretary Sergey Nedelko, Directors of the Laboratories: Sergey Sidorchuk (FLNR), Egor Lychagin (FLNP), Alexander Bugay (LRB), Special Representative of Director of the Institute for Cooperation with International and Russian Scientific Organizations Boris Sharkov, Director of the UC Dmitry Kamanin, as well as Vietnamese employees of JINR, that are leading researcher of FLNP Le Hong Khiem and researcher of FLNR Nguyen Van Tiep took part in the meeting.

The Vietnamese party was represented by more than twenty staff members and Heads of the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam, the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute and the Embassy of Vietnam in the Russian Federation, as well as the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia. Key figures among the delegates were Minister of Science and Technology of Vietnam Huynh Thanh Dat, Vice-President of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology Tran Tuan Anh, Director of Vinatom, member of the JINR Scientific Council Tran Chi Thanh, Head of the Representative Office of the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam, First Secretary of the Embassy of Vietnam in the Russian Federation Nguyen Ngoc Anh and Director of the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Department of the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam Nguyen Tuan Khai.

JINR Press Office