This year, the traditional Conference dedicated to particle physics is held within the Year of Science and Technology in Russia.

The Conference is jointly organized by the MSU Faculty of Physics, the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, the RAS Institute for Nuclear Research, Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Research, Moscow State University, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia, Bruno Pontecorvo Neutrino and Astrophysics Laboratory (MSU), and Interregional Center for Advanced Studies. The event takes place under the patronage of Rector of the Moscow State University Victor Sadovnichy.

At the opening ceremony on 19 August, Scientific Leader of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research Victor Matveev greeted participants of the conference on behalf of JINR. Victor Anatolievich wished all participants of the event successful work and noted, “Due to obvious reasons, the conference is held online, but it does not make it less interesting, quite the opposite! Elementary particle physics is developing on a global scale despite all the troubles, and wide international cooperation that we witness today is an ultimate necessity for this progress.”

Victor Matveev also gave a talk “On the 65 anniversary of JINR: present status and development strategy” in which he presented the main research directions of JINR, introduced participants to the scientific infrastructure of the Institute, and outlined the development plans of the international centre.

235 presentations by participants from more than 14 countries have been submitted for the conference with a 29 year-long history. The geography of registered scientists is so wide that it covers several time zones.

The Joint Institute is widely represented in the programme of reports: there will be 11 presentations by JINR researchers.

The programme of the 20th Lomonosov Conference covers the following fields:

• electroweak theory, tests of standard model and beyond,
• neutrino physics, astroparticle physics,
• gravitation and cosmology,
• developments in QCD (perturbative and non-perturbative effects),
• heavy quark physics,
• physics at present and future accelerators.

It is noteworthy that according to the agreement recently reached between JINR and the MSU, the Joint Institute will prepare and publish the proceedings of the current Conference.

The 20th Lomonosov Conference will last a week and will end on 25 August.