On 20 March, JINR Director Grigory Trubnikov and Director of the A. I. Alikhanyan National Science Laboratory (AANL) Gevorg Karyan signed an agreement to expand cooperation in fundamental science, information technology, innovation, and education. The agreement precedes the AANL-JINR workshop that will take place in the JINR Laboratory of Information Technologies on 21 March.

“I’m very glad that our cooperation with the A. I. Alikhanyan National Laboratory is strengthening, and I’m sure that this agreement, the plans that we have discussed and established, will become a reality”, Grigory Trubnikov said. He stressed that over the past two years, JINR has been actively working together with the Armenian Plenipotentiary Representative to expand and strengthen the Republic ‘s participation in JINR scientific projects. The institute is willing to engage in partnerships with both the AANL and other scientific organizations of Armenia, as well as with educational institutions of the Republic that work in the field of personnel training.

“The signing of the agreement to expand cooperation between our organizations is a crucial step towards achieving significant results, particularly in laboratory research utilising modern technologies and tools. We are convinced that scientific ties between our organizations hold great importance and will pave the way for future initiatives,” AANL Director Gevorg Karyan commented on the signing of the agreement.

JINR Director discussed the increased focus on cooperation with the Member Countries, including Armenia. For each country, the person responsible for contacts prepares an analytical report for the year, containing a list of activities and key functions based on the results of cooperation. Each country has its own grant programme. The Deputy Chairman of the Higher Education and Science Committee of the Republic of Armenia Artur Movsisyan noted the importance of the contribution of the responsible cooperation coordinators. He said that the international department of the committee also has responsible persons for contacts with JINR.

The Armenian delegation included the Deputy Director of the A. I. Alikhanyan National Science Laboratory, member of the JINR Scientific Council Armen Nersessian, Head of the JINR Information Centre in Armenia Armen Tumasyan, VBLHEP Senior Researcher and Head of the AANL group in the SPD Project Nikolay Ivanov, and Head of the Armenian National Group at JINR Edik Ayryan.

Among participants from JINR were JINR Vice-Director Vladimir Kekelidze, JINR Chief Scientific Secretary Sergey Nedelko, JINR Deputy Chief Scientific Secretary Alexey Zhemchugov, Director of the Meshcheryakov Laboratory of Information Technologies, and executive of the contacts with the Republic of Armenia Sergei Shmatov, and Head of the International Cooperation Department Otilia-Ana Culicov participated in the workshop. On the same day, Armenian delegates visited the Veksler and Baldin Laboratory of High Energy Physics, where they got acquainted with the NICA Accelerator Complex: synchrophasotron hall, MPD pavilion, collider tunnel, and ARIADNA applied research stations.

On 21 March, delegation members will participate in a JINR–AANL Workshop, where they will take a look at the JINR scientific programme and the Institute’s laboratories, as well as present joint ongoing and planned projects.

AANL employees Arthur Mkrtchyan and Hamlet Mkrtchyan will talk about the project of an aerogel detector for the SPD Experiment at the NICA Collider. Ruben Dallakyan will speak about the isotope production and measurement of cross sections of nuclear reactions. Vachagan Harutyunyan will make a report on the study of the interaction of neutrons and ions with condensed states of matter.

Alexey Zhemchugov, one of the JINR organizers of the workshop, spoke about the tasks of the meeting: “The workshop is, on the one hand, an attempt to compare notes on the projects we are already working together on, and, on the other hand, a way to find the areas of joint interest for further partnership.” He explained that the two large organizations have been cooperating in the field of high energy physics has been conducted almost since the foundation of the YerPhI (Yerevan Physics Institute – the name of the AANL until 2011). AANL mathematicians always worked in close partnership with with MLIT. AANL group is actively partaking in the implementation of the SPD Experiment and is showing interest in the MPD Experiment at the NICA Complex. The group has joined the SPD Project since the formation of the collaboration and participates in data processing, modelling, as well as in the creation of an aerogel Cherenkov detector for SPD – together with JINR and RAS Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics. Other joint projects are also being implemented, including planned cooperation with FLNR in the field of isotopes. In addition, the AANL is interested in using JINR neutron beams to solve applied problems in the fields of condensed matter physics, life sciences, materials science, etc.