Today, the XXIII Baikal Summer School on Physics of Elementary Particles and Astrophysics has started. The event is traditionally taking place in Bolshiye Koty village on the shore of Lake Baikal.

This year, the School is devoted to the 110th anniversary of the birth of a prominent Italian and Soviet physicist, the founder of high energy neutrino physics and neutrino astronomy Bruno Pontecorvo.

“Bruno Maximovich made an invaluable contribution to the development of theory and experiments related to neutrino physics. In particular, he predicted neutrino oscillations that proved neutrinos to have a mass different from zero,” a member of the organizing committee, Head of the Department of the Laboratory of Nuclear Problems JINR Alexander Olshevsky said. “At one of the evening meetings, there will be a film about Bruno Pontecorvo screened for the participants to better imagine the life and work of this amazing man.”

The School’s programme includes lectures on neutrino physics, cosmology, the Standard Model, accelerator, reactor and astrophysical neutrinos, statistical methods of data analysis, interaction of particles with matter, and modern astrophysical methods of detecting elementary particles. Participants will have discussions and problem-solving sessions in student groups under the guidance of supervisors, as well as opportunities for students presentations. Evening meetings to discuss literature, art, philosophy and other topics are also an integral part of the School’s programme.

The School is jointly organized by Irkutsk State University and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. The working languages of the School are Russian and English. The event will last until 18 July.