On 12 November 2021, at the traditional round table that concluded the 19th International Internship “JINR Experience for Member States and Partner Countries” (JEMS-19), participants noted the rich programme and stressed the importance of spreading information about the Institute.

In the framework of the Year of Bulgaria in JINR, a large delegation from the Republic of Bulgaria took part in the training programme. The participation of a representative delegation from the Republic of Serbia was one of the practical steps towards a significant expansion of cooperation with JINR. The high status of the delegations was supported by the participation of the heads of the Bulgarian and Serbian diplomatic missions on the first day of the training programme. The second day of the JEMS-19 programme was marked by the participation of the Ambassador of the United States of Mexico.

At the round table, the participants were welcomed by Director of the Joint Institute Grigory Trubnikov, JINR Scientific Leader Victor Matveev, JINR Vice-Director Latchesar Kostov, JINR Chief Scientific Secretary Sergey Nedelko, and Head of the International Cooperation Department, JEMS Training Programme Supervisor Dmitry Kamanin. JINR University Centre Director Stanislav Pakuliak and coordinators of the Serbia-JINR cooperation Ljupčo Hadžievski, First Deputy Chairman of the Serb National Council in Physics, and professor Miodrag Krmar, the University of Novi Sad Director, attended the event.

Director of the Institute Grigory Trubnikov noted that JEMS training gives opportunity to plenipotentiaries of scientific and educational institutions around the world to communicate with JINR staff members. “This contributes to new contacts establishment and exchanging experience. The internship sheds light not only on scientific experiments’ organization of the Institute, but also on their administrative content. We hope that our scientists will also gain experience from communication with the participants of the internship,” he said.

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During the discussion participants repeatedly noted a unique atmosphere of the scientific inquiry and international cooperation of the Institute. Stefan Hadjitodorov, Vice-President of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences noted in his comment that JINR perfectly complies with its slogan “Science brings nations together”. “The Joint Institute is obviously a huge success in science. A special creative atmosphere is also important here,” he said. Goran Djordjević, contact person for cooperation with the Institute, Head of the Department of Theoretical Physics at the University of Niš (Serbia), representatives of which participated in JEMS for the first time, also noted creative approach of JINR staff members. His colleague, Dean of the Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics, Perica Vasiljević expressed his hope that university delegation’s participation in this training programme will become the basis for the development of future cooperation.

According to Evelina Slavcheva, Director of the Bulgarian Institute of Electrochemistry and Energy Systems, Chairman of the General Assembly of BAS, not only the diversity of research fields but also the created social infrastructure contributes to the special scientific atmosphere. “Such infrastructure provides wide opportunities for employees’ life after work. This, obviously, contributes to the influx of youth to the Institute,” Evelina Slavcheva noted.

Attraction of young scientists to the Institute’s research and spread of information about JINR were widely discussed at the round table. Deputy Chairman of the Scientific Council of the BAS Institute of Mechanics Nikolay Vitanov and Professor of South-West University “Neofit Rilski” Mitko Stoev spoke about this in their comments. “I’m ready to initiate arrangement of transfer channels for young scientists between our organizations,” Nikolay Vitanov said.

State Expert of the Directorate of Science of the Ministry of Education and Science of Bulgaria Margarita Hristova and Vice-Rector for Science and Art at the University of Novi Sad in Serbia Nikola Jorgovanović proposed to become JINR ambassadors to spread information about the Institute and contribute to inclusion of Bulgarian and Serbian youth in cooperation with JINR. Representative of the University of Novi Sad Slobodan Tabaković, Professor of the Faculty of Technical Sciences, with whom JINR had laid the foundation of cooperation not long ago, expressed his willingness to share information received during the training programme. He emphasised that knowledge gained at JEMS would be very useful for students, “I assume that the number of students from Serbia at JINR will increase.”

The need to spread information about the Joint Institute among high school students was highlighted. Vice-Rector for International Relations of the University of Novi Sad Sabina Halupka-Rešetar discussed that in details.

Scientific Leader of the Joint Institute Victor Matveev stressed, “Our scientific programme, formed up to 2030, is very ambitious. We will be happy to involve young scientists from Bulgaria and Serbia to its implementation. I believe such interaction of these countries and JINR will be beneficial for everyone.”

Participants highly evaluated an interdisciplinary approach of the Institute to scientific research and were glad to have opportunity to establish contacts with representatives of different physical fields. Expert of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Serbia Dimitrije Stepanenko, shared this opinion. Neli Koseva, BAS Scientific Secretary-General, and Lidia Galabova, Vice-Rector of the Technical University of Sofia, supported him. They noted that even before the internship they had known about the Institute, but they still were impressed by the variety of research fields and the range of scientific facilities. Moreover, Neli Koseva emphasised the speed with which the Institute is moving forward. The representative of the Technical University of Sofia noted in her comment the staff’s dedication to work.

The benefit of the training programme for the establishment of new and strengthening of already existing scientific contacts was discussed. Director of the BAS Institute for Climate, Atmosphere and Water Research Ekaterina Batchvarova set cooperation plans with a researcher from the Laboratory of Neutron Physics Marina Frontasyeva in the study of the atmospheric pollution. Director of the Bulgarian National Centre for Radiobiology and Radiation Protection Jana Djounova-Velikova mentioned the established cooperation with the Laboratory of Radiation Biology and prospects of its development. She also noted that this cooperation has already yielded. Sasha Lazović, Assistant Minister for Education, Science and Technological Development in Serbia, stressed that due to the current acquaintance with the directions of the Institute’s work, new development of contacts between JINR and scientific and educational institutions of Serbia are outlined.

Participants expressed their satisfaction with the fullness of the JEMS training programme. Elisaveta Marekova, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Physics and Technology at the University of Plovdiv in Bulgaria, noted the effectiveness of the organizational format of the JEMS internship, which gives an opportunity to get acquainted with the Institute in such a short period of time.

Coordinator of the Serbia-JINR cooperation, a Member of the Governing Council of the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences Ljupčo Hadžievski, who took part himself in JEMS-13 in 2019, addressed the participants of the internship. He thanked organizers for the opportunity to establish working contacts with the representatives of the Bulgarian institutions and emphasised that it was the right moment to develop the JINR-Serbia cooperation. He noted that the platform for the organization of the JINR Information Centre in Serbia had already been created. “Our task is to deepen cooperation and use the opportunities of the Joint Institute to organize collaborative projects. Our researchers are interested in the JINR research directions and we do our best to join them,” Ljupčo Hadžievski said.

Summing up the results of the round table, Director of the Institute Grigory Trubnikov said, “I would like to express my gratitude to our Bulgarian colleagues for the regular support of the JINR research. We also hope that Serbia will soon join our family as a full JINR Member State.

The round table was concluded with the festive presentation of certificates of completion of the JEMS training programme to participants.

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