On 26 May, a festive joint seminar took place, which was dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions JINR. Representatives of the Directorate of the Joint Institute, colleagues from the JINR laboratories, representatives of other scientific organizations, as well as Head of the Dubna City Administration Sergey Kulikov came to congratulate the laboratory staff.

In his address to the FLNR staff, Grigory Trubnikov quoted the order on the creation of the Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions and ensuring the normal course of the creation of the Laboratory dated 20 May 1957 and signed by the first Director of the Institute Dmitry Blokhintsev. The JINR Director highlighted, “More than normal work of the Laboratory was ensured! For 65 years of the FLNR existence, a huge number of scientific results have been achieved. The Laboratory staff knows how to work, glorifying not only the Institute, but all the Member States as well.”

Being a “graduate” of the Institute, Head of the Dubna City Administration Sergey Kulikov joined in the congratulations. “FLNR is famous all over the world. It glorifies the city with its discovery of element 105 named after the science city,” he said. Sergey Kulikov also read congratulations on behalf of Governor of the Moscow Region Andrey Vorobyov. Among other kind words, Andrey Vorobyov in his congratulation to the Laboratory highlighted that knowledge and enthusiasm of the team would help FLNR to achieve the best results.

On behalf of the Institute’s laboratories, JINR Vice Director, VBLHEP Acting Director Vladimir Kekelidze and DLNP Director Vadim Bednyakov congratulated FLNR on its anniversary. “Things you are doing do not leave anyone indifferent!” Vladimir Kekelidze said. In his turn, Vadim Bednyakov highlighted the unbreakable bond between the Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions and the Laboratory of Nuclear Problems, which had become a kind of a “parent” laboratory for FLNR. “After the separation, FLNR has passed a wonderful way, and its team has achieved a lot,” he said.

Yuri Zolotov arrived in Dubna to congratulate the Laboratory on behalf of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Mendeleev Russian Chemical Society. In his congratulatory speech, he quoted Mikhail Lomonosov’s words about the unbreakable bond between chemistry and physics, which was so vividly embodied in FLNR. Alexey Buryak, Director of A. N. Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences joined in the congratulations of his colleague.

The culmination of the seminar was the report by FLNR Scientific Leader, an outstanding scientist Yuri Oganessian who has been working at FLNR since its foundation. In his report “Boundaries and structure of atomic nuclei” he spoke about the history of the Laboratory creation and formation, FLNR research and discoveries, as well as the contribution of the famous Laboratory to world science, because many FLNR discoveries have grown into whole areas of research in other scientific centres. Concluding his lectures, Yuri Tsolakovich gave a list of two cherished desires of an experimental physicist, which look like this:

1. To have an experiment continuing while you are sleeping, watching a film, playing tennis, having dinner…
2. To have strong rivals. Very strong, perhaps the strongest. But, still, these competitors should be always be a little bit behind you!