On 16 September, JINR Director Academician Grigory Trubnikov had a meeting with Director of the RAS Institute of Biomedical Problems Academician Oleg Orlov on the sidelines of the International Round Table on Applied Research and Innovation at NICA.

The exchange of opinions on long-term and fruitful cooperation between JINR and the IBMP RAS took place during the meeting. New perspectives for research on the subject of the IBMP RAS with the use of NICA complex beams, the application of which may lead to a new chapter in the history of interaction between the two institutes, were in the focus of the event.

Also, VLHEP Deputy Director for Science Alexander Sorin and Deputy Head of Unit for Scientific and Methodological Research and Innovation Oleg Belov took part in the meeting on behalf of JINR. Head of the Radiation Safety of Manned Space Flights Department Vyacheslav Shurshakov and Head of the Space Radiobiology and Pharmacology Department Andrey Shtemberg participated on behalf of the IBMP.

During the meeting, opportunities for using heavy ion beams of the NICA complex in the tasks of the IBMP RAS related to practical safety issues of manned space flight, and as well as fundamental issues of space biology and medicine were indicated. It was noted, that JINR had a number of large facilities with a wide range of physical characteristics and a properly designed user policy. It allows attracting the competencies of specialised scientific organizations in fields of interest. This integrated approach according to the participants could provide the most effective mechanism for achieving striking results on a number of applied tasks in space research. At the same time, one of the JINR tasks throughout the institute is to create technologies and facilities together with partners for future replication and application in relevant scientific and practical tasks.

The issues of integration of the IBMP RAS into the NICA Megascience Project collaboration were raised as well as attracting experienced personnel from specialised scientific institutes with a broad analytical base for obtaining and processing results. An example of such interaction between the two institutes can be a promising model for the integration of JINR’s physical facilities and the strong analytical infrastructure of partner organizations, which will provide the accelerated joint achievements in the practical application field.

The issues of joint participation of the two institutes in various international programmes were discussed based on the experience of the IBMP RAS in cooperation with partner organizations of different countries in the field of space and related research. In the terms of specific requirements for irradiation parameters at the NICA complex, it was suggested to work in the “multi-ion” beam mode, which implies a quick change of the ion type and energy.

At the end of the meeting, the participants expressed their hope for further collaboration development between the two institutes and the expansion of the range of common tasks in the field of applied research and innovation.