On 29 May, the 29th International Seminar on Interaction of Neutrons with Nuclei (ISINN-29) started. The meeting has been bringing together specialists from leading research centres from around the world for 30 years. This year, Lanzhou University co-organized the event for the first time.

Vice-Director of the Joint Institute Latchesar Kostov opened the International Seminar. “A distinctive feature of ISINN seminars is their informal nature. Scientists of the younger and older generations have the opportunity to exchange experiences and ideas, report and discuss research results, as well as initiate new forms of cooperation,” he said. The President of Lanzhou University, Academician Yan Chunhua greeted participants of the meeting. He noted that ISINN-29 will provide a good opportunity and a convenient platform for scientists from around the world to share the results and experiences in their fields of research. “This joint symposium will further promote the rapid development of international research in the field of neutron physics and neutron applications”, Academician Yan Chunhua added.

The current meeting has united in a mixed format more than 200 leading scientists from China, Egypt, France, India, Kazakhstan, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Turkey, the USA, Vietnam, and other countries involved in the development of neutron and nuclear physics and their practical applications. During the five-day seminar, specialists in these fields will exchange ideas, experiences, and the latest research results.

“We are glad to meet our old friends and colleagues from Gatchina and Troitsk at ISINN-29, and hope to find new partners here. We also expect this meeting to strengthen our ties with Chinese and Egyptian colleagues,” Director of the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics JINR Egor Lychagin commented on the start of the seminar. He also noted that the next, 30th ISINN meeting is planned to be held in Egypt. A large group of scientists from China gathered at Lanzhou University to participate in ISINN-29. On the first day of the meeting, Chinese specialists made a number of reports on the development of neutron sources in China, scientific programmes of these sources, and applied research.

“This conference serves as a platform for fruitful discussion of the interaction of neutrons with nuclei. I am convinced that many different institutes of China will be involved in this conference in the future”, Prof. Yigang Yang from Tsinghua University highlighted.

The central topics of the ISINN-29 Seminar are devoted to nuclear and related analytical techniques in environmental and material sciences. In addition, a number of reports on the topic of modern neutron sources will be made at the event. A large session will be devoted to the study of nuclear fission, with a parallel session on applied research in life sciences, including ecology, biology, and other areas of applied tasks using neutrons.

Organizers of ISINN-29 are the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics JINR, the National Key Laboratory of Intense Pulsed Radiation Simulation and Effect (NKLIPRSE) of the Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology (NINT, China), and the School of Nuclear Science and Technology of Lanzhou University (China). The latter co-organized the event for the first time. The seminar will last until 2 June.

JINR Weekly Newspaper about ISINN-29 (in Russian)