The first session of the Working Group under the JINR Directorate and the JINR Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan was held on 11-13 May 2015 in Baku.On the JINR side, the session of the Working Group was attended by JINR Chief Scientific Secretary Nikolai Russakovich, Head of the JINR International Cooperation Department Dmitri Kamanin, Director of the Laboratory of Information Technologies Vladimir Korenkov, Director of the JINR University Centre Stanislav Pakuliak, Head of the national group of JINR employees of Azerbaijan Namik Javadov.

On the side of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Working Group included representatives of the Azerbaijan National Academy Sciences (ANAS): Plenipotentiary of the Government of Azerbaijan to JINR Academician-secretary of the ANAS Department of Physical, Mathematical and Technical Sciences, ANAS Corresponding Member  Nazim Mamedov, Vice-President of the ANAS, Academician Ibrahim Guliyev, Head of the Laboratory “Physics of High Energy” of the Institute of Physics, Correspondent Member Ovsat Abdinov, Director of the Institute of Radiation Problems, Academician Adil Garibov.

Leaders of a number of research institutes participated in the session of the Working Group as experts; an educational unit was represented by Pro-rector of the Baku branch of the Moscow State University Professor Azad Tagi-zadeh. Visits to the Institute of Physics of G.M. Abdullaev, the Institute of Radiation Problems and the Baku branch of the Moscow State University were organized for the JINR delegation.

One of the tasks of the Working Group was a preliminary selection of young specialists who will soon be assigned to joint research and training at JINR. JINR Educational Programmes were in the focus of the Working Group, in particular, the first five young scientists will take part in this year’s summer student practices of the UC JINR. The Working Group discussed the preparation of festive events dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the ANAS and the 60th anniversary of JINR. According to the decision of the Working Group, a competition of joint projects of JINR and scientific institutions of Azerbaijan will be announced from 1 July 2015; their results will be summarized on 1-15 October 2015.

The final meeting of the Working Group chaired by the President of ANAS, Academician Akif Alizadeh was held in the Presidium of ANAS; the final protocol was signed at the end of the meeting. The next session of the Working Group will be held in Dubna.