On 13 February, the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research hosted a working meeting between Director of the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences (Serbia) Slavko Dimović and representatives of the JINR leadership. The parties discussed cooperation prospects and potential new projects. During the visit to Dubna, representatives of the Serbian delegation toured the JINR laboratories and learned about the Institute’s modern scientific infrastructure.

At the start of the meeting, Director of the Joint Institute, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Grigory Trubnikov highlighted the long history of fruitful collaboration with Serbian organizations and expressed hope for the intensification of scientific cooperation. “Unfortunately, in recent years, we have lacked opportunities to jointly develop Serbian research infrastructure, but I am confident that we will be able to give a new impetus to joint efforts in this area,” JINR Director emphasised. Grigory Trubnikov used the positive experience of countries such as Kazakhstan, South Africa, and Vietnam as illustrative examples of productive cooperation with JINR in advancing infrastructure and national nuclear technologies.

“The rich experience of our Dubna colleagues is truly valuable to us,” Director of the Vinča Institute for Nuclear Research Slavko Dimović noted. “As we are nearing a new era of nuclear energy development in Serbia, we expect to bring our relations with JINR to a qualitatively new level for the benefit of world science”.

The Institute’s Director confirmed JINR’s willingness to cooperate with the Vinča Institute and other Serbian scientific and educational centres, prioritising the development of applied research and assistance in creating and modernising scientific infrastructure in the republic. In the coming months, the Vinča Institute in Belgrade is set to host a working meeting with the participation of expert groups from JINR and Serbia to prepare a future joint scientific programme.

JINR University Centre Director Dmitry Kamanin noted that the signing of a roadmap for cooperation between the Joint Institute and the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia in 2019 played a significant role in the partnership’s development. In his opinion, it is necessary to create a new similar document in order to involve more Serbian scientists and young specialists in new joint projects.

JINR Chief Engineer Boris Gikal confirmed the Institute’s intentions to provide comprehensive technical support to Serbian colleagues in modernising the infrastructure and developing new accelerator complexes. In particular, JINR can send an expert group to conduct an engineering and technical audit of the Vinča Institute’s equipment and develop potential different plans for its modernisation in order for the parties to make a final decision. In addition, as part of the highly qualified personnel training programme, Serbian specialists will be able to participate not only in physical experiments, but also in the development of new JINR accelerators.

During their visit to Dubna, Vinča Institute Director Slavko Dimović and Director of the Plan and Analysis Sector Milan Ljušić got introduced to the scientific infrastructure of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research by touring six laboratories: VBLHEP, DLNP, FLNP, FLNR, MLIT, and LRB. The Serbian delegation participated in the 137th JINR Scientific Council session and attended the ceremony of the launch of the LINAC-200 Linear Electron Accelerator at the Dzhelepov Laboratory of Nuclear Problems.