After a long break due to the unfavourable epidemiological situation in the world, a full-time Student Practice for 24 students from the Arab Republic of Egypt, organized by the JINR University Centre, began on 1 March. The initiator of the current Practice was Egypt that had attained the full membership in the Joint Institute in November 2021. The Egyptian side made a serious preliminary selection among candidates for the participation in the Practice.

“Students of graduate and post-graduate programmes of various fields have come to participate in the JINR Practice: there are nuclear engineers, physicists, chemists, biologists among them,” Head of the national group of the Republic of Egypt Wael Badawy points out. “It is noteworthy that this time young researchers who intend to find new fields for joint work with the JINR scientists also arrived along with students for Practice”.

The International Student Practice in the JINR fields of research is one of the sources of information about opportunities for education and scientific work at the Institute. Participants will listen to introductory lectures on the research fields of the JINR laboratories and go on excursions to the basic facilities within three weeks.

Students have got acquainted with research projects offered by JINR in advance and chose the most interesting for themselves. Traditionally, the principal time of the Practice will be devoted to the implementation of the projects under the supervision of specialists of the JINR laboratories. “We hope that students and their supervisors will effectively spend three weeks at the Joint Institute,” UC JINR Director Stanislav Pakuliak said.

A professor of the National Research Centre in Cairo Medhat Ibrahim arrived with the students. “I lead this stage of the JINR Student Practice from the Egyptian side. We highly appreciate the Practice organization efforts of our JINR colleagues,” he commented. “It is a historic moment because Egyptian students came to the Joint Institute shortly after Egypt became its full member. A new era of cooperation between the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology of Egypt and JINR begins. We expect even more research projects and new opportunities for our students. Assessing the prospects, we hope for an extension of cooperation, new projects and so on”.

It should be reminded that the first students from Egypt came to participate in the Practice in 2009, and 249 people have taken part in the JINR Student Practice for 10 years.

Head of the International Cooperation Department of JINR Dmitry Kamanin commented on the development of the cooperation between JINR and Egypt, and the role of the Student Practice: “The arrival of Egyptian young people is a long-awaited and joyful event. Even the weather outside is truly spring and sunny. The long Covid restrictions are finally ending, and normal long-awaited life begins.

But today’s event has one more dimension. Last year, leaders of the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology of Egypt and the Egyptian Government took a very significant step in the development of our cooperation – Egypt applied for the full membership in our international intergovernmental organization. Plenipotentiary Representatives unanimously supported this intention of Egypt at the November session of our supreme governing body in Bulgaria, and the Arab Republic of Egypt joined our Member States family. Due to last week session of the Scientific Council, the flag of Egypt has just recently been hung out for the first time, along with other flags of the Member States, on the pediment of our main office building where we stand now. And the present arrival of the Egyptian scientific youth is the first major entry on a new page in the history of cooperation between Egypt and JINR.

Thus, today’s event is really symbolic. However, we have much to do: inclusion of a new country to the full-scale work of a Member State is, first of all, a significant expansion of people for whom JINR will become a second home. Therefore, the staff training programmes are getting more important, in which Egypt took an active part as an Associate Member, and this is our common most important investment in the future. There is no doubt that many young energetic Egyptian employees will join JINR, and some of them, quite possibly, are sitting in this hall today.”