This week, a delegation of the Republic of Kazakhstan visited JINR. On 14 February, as part of the visit, the JINR Director Grigory Trubnikov met with the Plenipotentiary Representative of the Government of Kazakhstan in JINR Sayabek Sakhiyev, General Director of the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan (INP Almaty). The issues of strengthening cooperation, the possibility of holding joint events, and the readiness of JINR to participate in the development of the infrastructure of the INP Almaty and the training of personnel for Kazakhstani scientific centres were discussed.

“We are proud of the national group of Kazakhstan at JINR. The scientific diaspora of Kazakhstan at JINR is almost 90 people. This is a very strong scientific team,” Grigory Trubnikov highlighted.

Currently, Kazakhstani employees are involved in a wide range of JINR scientific research in the field of nuclear physics, from the synthesis of superheavy elements to the production of ultralight isotopes, as well as the production of track membranes. In addition, they work in the field of accelerator physics, theoretical research, and radiation materials science. Employees from the Republic of Kazakhstan make a significant contribution to the NICA Project, both intellectual and by means of equipment supplies. Grigory Trubnikov noted that the Institute is interested in expanding the participation of scientists and engineers from Kazakhstan in the project.

“Dubna is really our common scientific home. As I always say, it is extremely important to use nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes. And in this regard one of the brightest examples is the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research,” Sayabek Sakhiyev stressed.

JINR’s contribution to the design and equipping of the Astana branch of the INP Almaty, where the DC-60 isochronous cyclotron is being jointly upgraded, was noted. About 150 young scientists from Kazakhstan defended their theses, dissertations, and topped up their qualifications at JINR.

The general opinion was expressed that JINR is able to make a significant contribution to the development of nuclear physics in Kazakhstan, both in the Astana branch of the INP and in universities and scientific organizations in general, as well as contribute to the development of international scientific contacts of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The past meeting of the JINR Leadership with the President of Kazakhstan in September last year gave a great momentum to the development of these partnership.

The meeting was attended by heads of departments of the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Director of the Kazakh National Research Technical University, employees of the diplomatic mission of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Russian Federation.

The JINR Vice-Director Sergey Dmitriev, Director of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions and Executive of the contacts with Republic of Kazakhstan Sergey Sidorchuk, as well as Head of the national group of Kazakhstan at JINR Yerzhan Mukhamejanov and his Deputy Head Alisher Mutali, represented JINR.

The delegation of Kazakhstan visited the NICA Accelerator Complex at the Laboratory of High Energy Physics JINR. The delegates also plan to visit the IBR-2 Reactor at the Laboratory of Neutron Physics, where they will be told about the methods of radiography and neutronography. In the Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions, the main subject of interest will be the Superheavy Element Factory. The guests will visit the Baikal-GVD assembly shop in the Laboratory of Nuclear Problems and the Govorun Supercomputer in the Laboratory of Information Technologies. The meetings with the delegation of the national group of Kazakhstan at JINR and the delegation’s participation in the work of the JINR Scientific Council are scheduled on 16 February.