On 14 July, a traditional three-day Summer School for Young Scientists and Specialists started at the JINR Tourist Base “Lipnya”. The participants of the event are researchers and specialists of JINR and the Dubna city organizations under the age of 35. XXVII Lipnya–2023 Summer Scientific School for Young Scientists and Specialists, organized by the JINR Association of Young Scientists and Specialists is taking place at a picturesque location, on the Lipnya island of the Ivankovskoe reservoir until 16 July. The working language of the School is Russian.

“This year, 65 participants will attend the Lipnya-2023 Summer Scientific School for young scientists and specialists. This is a third more than last year, and almost twice as much as in 2021, and the membership of the School renews every time”, one of the School’s organizers, an FLNP JINR researcher Alexander Nezvanov noted.

Not only young JINR employees but also employees of other Dubna organizations join the School. This year, young specialists of PJSC Tensor, SINP MSU, JSC NPK Dedal, JSC Altegra, JSC SEZ TIT Dubna, etc. are taking part in the event. According to the organizers, another distinctive feature of this year’s Lipnya is that the lecture programme is devoted to engineering sciences and interesting examples of successfully solved technical tasks. Such a format have been chosen due to the fact that AYSS is an association of not only scientists, but also specialists and workers.

Lipnya-2023 started on Friday, 14 July, presenting a new format of activity, Science Speed Dating, i.e. fast “scientific dates” for young scientists and specialists of the Institute to get to know each other and share their work experiences. This will give them the opportunity to establish lateral communication and foster new collaborations within JINR.

“The idea was to organize Science Speed Dating as a team building exercise, in the course of which the participants will only have several minutes to introduce themselves personally and professionally. Each person will have a talk with many others. On the one hand, it allows the participants to get acquainted and communicate more naturally during the School. On the other hand, it opens up opportunities for scientific cooperation in the future”, Alexander said.

Two plenary reports were made during the first day of the event. UC JINR Social Communications Group Head Anastasia Suschevich spoke about the instruments for science popularisation among young people. JINR Press Secretary Natalia Zaikina gave a talk about the development of PR in JINR. In the evening, the participants of the School played a scientific quiz game.

The second day of the School will be devoted to the issues of science and technology. FLNP JINR Deputy Director for Scientific Work Sergey Kulikov will present the history of the development of cold neutron moderators at the IBR-2 Reactor to the participants. Chief Design Engineer of PAO Tensor Denis Grubsky will highlight the topical issues of the development of automated control systems, including the question of import substitution as part of the strategy implementation of this city-forming enterprise of Dubna. Leading Design Engineer of VBLHEP JINR Engineering Design Bureau No. 2 Sergey Sukhovarov will talk about the engineering aspect of the creation of the MPD Detector at the NICA Accelerator Complex. FLNP Chief Researcher Evgeny Shabalin will hold an open conversation with young colleagues under the philosophical title “Is it bad to make mistakes?”.

“In recent years, a new tradition has been established at the Lipnya Schools. We invite JINR veterans, “old-timers” to read one of the lectures. As a rule, these speakers try to go beyond the topic of a scientific lecture to share their experience with young people. We realised that the scientific reports of our senior colleagues lead to hearty talks somehow”, Alexander Nezvanov said. “Young JINR employees reach out to senior colleagues and join such conversations enthusiastically. As a result, we decided to leave such a speaker the right to choose a topic. This time Evgeny Pavlovich decided to talk about the idea that being wrong in life and science is not a bad thing. One should be prepared for this and not be afraid of mistakes, but use them as another chance to learn something new”.

As part of the School, the traditional round table with the Institute’s Directorate and representatives of the city administration and enterprises will take place on Saturday, 15 July, at 3 p.m. The participants of the round table will discuss the topical issues of the social infrastructure of organizations and the urban environment. The evening will conclude with a celebratory barbecue dinner.

An elocution tutor, speech therapist, psychologist, coach Oksana Pliskovskaya will be the host of the educational programme on Sunday, 16 July. She will hold a mini-lecture on the public speaker image and self-esteem, as well as a workshop on how to deal with unusual speaking situations.

In their free time, the participants of the event will have discussions over a cup of fragrant tea or coffee, board games, and campfire guitar songs. Several sports events, namely a volleyball match, a standup paddleboarding workshop, outdoor gymnastics, fishing will be organized.

“The main purpose and function of the School is the integration of young employees into the JINR “family”. The Lipnya School is also a unique platform for young people of Dubna to communicate, first of all, with each other, and with lecturers, the Institute’s Directorate, the city administration, and the management of the city-forming enterprises. The friendly atmosphere and the openness of absolutely all the participants, lecturers, and guests of the Lipnya School is what has always made and will make this event special”, Alexander Nezvanov shared his vision.