Dear colleagues and friends,

In a few days, we enter into the year 2016. This will be a special year for the international staff of our Institute. We will celebrate the 60th anniversary of foundation of our Institute, “our home on the banks of the Volga” together with our colleagues from the JINR Member States, scientific partners from leading research centers and universities around the world. We are now trying to do everything in order to make the milestone anniversary of foundation of JINR trigger strengthening of JINR prestige in the international scientific community and further consolidation of all generations of JINR employees to achieve common goals.

Most recently, on December 17, we received a message from JINR Vice-Director G.V.Trubnikov from China that the Agreement was signed between the Governments of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China, the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research and the Chinese Academy of Sciences on joint realization of the international mega-science project NICA, so much expected by JINR. I congratulate all of you, dear colleagues, and together with you I congratulate the whole multinational staff of JINR on this historic occasion which is particularly welcome on the threshold of the forthcoming New Year 2016 and the upcoming 60th anniversary of JINR! I especially want to congratulate the staff of the Laboratory of High Energy Physics, JINR, its leaders and also Grigory Trubnikov, who signed this agreement on behalf of JINR in the presence of high representatives of Russia and China!

The JINR staff has achieved a lot in the expiring 2015. At the session of the Committee of Plenipotentiaries of the JINR Member States which was held in November in Minsk high marks of work of the JINR staff were voiced, significant efforts in achieving brilliant scientific results and enhancement of international scientific cooperation were marked. First of all, it concerns efforts on the NICA project whose work complexity and pace of work are increasing with a tremendous speed and expanding in many directions. The same can be said about development of the factory of super heavy elements, further promotion of the DRIBs-III project which involves companies and organizations of the JINR Member States as well as of other developed countries. Approval of a concept and specification of the Seven-Year Plan for Development of JINR for 2017-2023 and ratification of a new formula of calculation of the JINR Member States contribution became very important milestones of the previous session of the Committee of Plenipotentiaries of JINR Member States. Therefore, we have the guarantee of further successful development.

On the eve of the bright New Year holidays, on behalf of the JINR Directorate, I wish all JINR staff members and their families, all residents of our science city good health, every success, prosperity, optimism and happiness!

Victor Matveev,
Director of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research