On 3 July, the second meeting of the JINR-China Joint Coordination Committee on Cooperation was held in Shanghai, co-chaired by Director of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) Grigory Trubnikov and Vice Minister of Science and Technology of China Long Teng. The cooperation is carried out under the quadripartite protocol between the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on strengthening cooperation in the field of basic scientific research, signed in March 2023.

Grigory Trubnikov gave an introductory speech, noting that over several decades of cooperation, JINR has established partnerships with more than 40 Chinese institutes and universities. “We are pleased that the Protocol on Strengthening Cooperation in the Field of Basic Scientific Research is moving towards practical applications. We hope that today’s meeting of the JINR-China Joint Coordination Committee will further facilitate this progress,” the JINR Director stressed. Grigory Trubnikov commented on the visit to the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP) in Hefei the day before: “Our delegation is impressed by the highest level of scientific infrastructure of research carried out in your country. In Hefei, we saw fantastic progress in the development of China’s science and technology sector.”

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The meeting participants heard a report on the activities of the Expert Working Group under the Committee and its recommendations on research projects that are of interest for both sides. According to the decision of the Commitee, eight projects that received the most support from experts will be launched in 2024. The projects cover a wide variety of physics branches: theoretical physics, the development of technologies for the Deep Underwater Cubic-Kilometre Neutrino Telescope, the use of neutron beams to solve fundamental and applied problems, the synthesis and study of the properties of superheavy elements, the development of accelerator technologies, the creation of monolithic silicon detectors, and cooperation as part of the JUNO Neutrino Experiment under construction in China. The following leading scientific institutions and universities of the country are among the main organizations responsible for the implementation of the projects on the part of China: Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP, Beijing) of CAS, CAS Institute of Modern Physics (Lanzhou), Central China Normal University (Wuhan), CAS Institute of Theoretical Physics (Beijing), and a number of other research centres.

In addition, the Expert Working Group proposed supporting a joint academic exchange programme and scientific events programme.

During the meeting, both sides expressed interest in expanding the list of cooperation areas, particularly in information technology. Both JINR and IHEP are using the DIRAC Interware Platform to build distributed multi-level heterogeneous computing systems. Paired with cloud resources, it allows processing data from megascience projects, such as NICA at JINR and JUNO and BESIII at IHEP. The system for modelling the workflow of data storage and processing developed at JINR was adapted for the computing centre of the Institute of High Energy Physics in Beijing. Cooperation in developing methods for creating such systems will increase their efficiency and reduce their operational complexity. In 2022, a Memorandum was signed to establish a first-level centre at JINR for the JUNO Experiment data processing. Issues of organizing a high-speed computer network are being addressed. In September, a China-JINR workshop on software and computing for future experiments in high energy physics will be held on the shore of Lake Baikal.

In addition, there could be significant potential for cooperation in the field of radiobiology and medicine between JINR and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The most promising tasks include research on the mechanisms radiation effects on the brain, the development of methods to improve radiation therapy effectiveness, new mathematical models and computational approaches for radiobiology, bioinformatics, and radiation medicine, including biovisualisation and automated processing of biological data based on machine learning. Considering China’s significant achievements in life sciences, particularly in radiation biology, and the advanced use of the latest nuclear medicine and proton therapy technologies, JINR aims to establish closer cooperation with PRC scientific centres in this field. In turn, JINR invites Chinese colleagues to participate in the ARIADNA Applied Research Collaboration as part of the NICA Project.

The delegation of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research and the Chinese side discussed the development status of fundamental research in natural sciences. The Committee highly appreciated the considerable progress of both sides in promoting cooperation in basic research. In particular, the parties are working on the MPD and SPD Experiments at the NICA Collider and strengthening cooperation in the BESIII and JUNO Projects, in the fields of heavy ion physics, neutron physics, the development of medical accelerators, theoretical research, etc.

In his closing speech, Grigory Trubnikov thanked the Government of the People’s Republic of China for the constant support of JINR-PRC partnership. He expressed his gratitude towards representatives of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, and Mr. Long Teng personally for the meeting organization and an open productive discussion of cooperation prospects and projects to implement together. Grigory Trubnikov also thanked Co-head of the Expert Working Group, Academician Chen Hesheng for a deep, thorough examination of projects.

JINR Director highlighted the positive response from the parties regarding the increased speed of implementation of the quadrilateral Protocol on Strengthening Cooperation in the Field of Basic Scientific Research. “We agreed that the list of areas for joint projects could expand in the future, and the number of projects can increase as we develop cooperation and evaluate the implementation of already approved projects,” JINR Director stated. In addition, both sides supported further cooperation development between Dubna and scientific organizations of the PRC in particle physics, nuclear physics, condensed matter physics, and JINR’s participation in the PRC megascience projects.

Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned the cooperation with China as part of the NICA Megascience Project during his State Visit to China and meetings with President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping. During President Putin’s recent visit to JINR, the quality and level of cooperation between JINR and China were acknowledged. Grigory Trubnikov noted that the leaders of both countries signed a plan for the development of cooperation in science and technology until 2030, outlining priority areas for joint research. “This plan should set the course for our collaboration,” he stressed.

“Our cooperation is already yielding world-class scientific results in nuclear physics, theoretical physics, radiobiology, particle physics, materials science, and reactor topics,” Grigory Trubnikov concluded.

According to the Protocol, meetings of the Coordination Committee are held annually. The next meeting is planned to take place in Dubna. The first meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee was organized at JINR on 11 September 2023.