On 5 April, a ceremonial awarding of diplomas for scientific degrees was held at the JINR International Conference Centre. Eight scientists were awarded PhD diplomas. According to tradition, the event was held in a solemn atmosphere with the participation of representatives of the JINR Qualification Committee, guests and scientific secretaries of the dissertation councils in which the defenses were held.

Chairman of the Qualification Committee, Scientific Leader of JINR Victor Matveev addressed the participants with congratulatory and parting words, emphasizing the significance of the solemn moment not only for each of the diploma winners, but also for the entire Institute as a whole. The Scientific Secretary of the Qualification Committee Oleg Belov joined in congratulating the diploma winners and presented information on the results of monitoring the work of JINR dissertation councils.

Alina V. Vishneva (Russian Federation) was awarded the academic degree of Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences based on the results of defending her thesis on the topic “Investigation of the fundamental properties of leptons using data from the Borexino experiment” in the specialty 1.3.15: “Physics of atomic nuclei and elementary particles, high energy physics”. The defense was held at the Dissertation Council on Nuclear Physics at DLNP.

Andrey O. Gridin (Russian Federation) was awarded the academic degree of Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences based on the results of defending his thesis on the topic “Investigation of the production of J/psi pairs in the COMPASS experiment” in the specialty 1.3.15: “Physics of atomic nuclei and elementary particles, high energy physics”. The defense was held at the Dissertation Council on Nuclear Physics at DLNP.

Ekaterina A. Izotova (Russian Federation) was awarded the academic degree of Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences based on the results of defending her thesis on the topic “Application of tensor network techniques to describe the dynamics of quantum systems” in the specialty 1.3.3: “Theoretical Physics”. The defense was held at the Dissertation Council on Theoretical Physics at BLTP.

Andrey A. Mazanik (Republic of Belarus) was awarded the academic degree of Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences based on the results of defending his thesis on the topic “Phase and magnetic dynamics in Josephson nanostructures with ferromagnetic layers” in the specialty 1.3.3: “Theoretical Physics”. The defense was held at the Dissertation Council on Theoretical Physics at BLTP.

Fedor A. Martynenko (Russian Federation) was awarded the academic degree of Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences based on the results of defending his thesis on the topic “Precision investigation of energy levels of muonic atoms and ions in quantum electrodynamics” in the specialty 1.3.3: “Theoretical Physics”. The defense was held at the Dissertation Council on Theoretical Physics at BLTP.

Maxim M. Podlesnyy (Russian Federation) was awarded the academic degree of Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences based on the results of defending his thesis on the topic “Development and construction of wide-aperture neutron detectors based on the ⁶LiF/ZnS(Ag) scintillator for time-of-flight spectrometers” in the specialty 1.3.2: “Instruments and methods of experimental physics”. The defense was held at the Dissertation Council on Condensed Matter Physics at FLNP.

Dmitry V. Ponomarev (Russian Federation) was awarded the academic degree of Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences based on the results of defending his thesis on the topic “Investigation of neutron backgrounds in low-background experiments using new techniques” in the specialty 1.3.15: “Physics of atomic nuclei and elementary particles, high energy physics”. The defense was held at the Dissertation Council on Nuclear Physics at DLNP.

Eduard E. Samigullin (Russian Federation) was awarded the academic degree of Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences based on the results of defending his thesis on the topic “Investigation of the impact of changes in meteorological parameters on the flux of cosmic muons using the DANSS detector” in the specialty 1.3.15: “Physics of atomic nuclei and elementary particles, high energy physics”. The defense was held at the Dissertation Council on Nuclear Physics at DLNP.

At the meeting dedicated to the awarding of diplomas, those present noted the increased prestige of JINR diplomas awarding scientific degrees against the backdrop of an increase in the total number of defenses. Scientific Secretary of the Qualification Committee Oleg Belov presented information on the results of monitoring the work of JINR dissertation councils by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. In particular, the monitoring results indicate an increase in the number of defenses in independently developed dissertation councils of the Institute compared to the number of defenses carried out during the functioning of dissertation councils developed by orders of the ministry. On the basis of JINR, applicants that have prepared theses in other organizations are widely defended. It is also important to create conditions at the Institute for openness of procedures at all stages of certification. It is emphasized that local regulations of JINR completely regulate relations in the field of scientific certification. Focus is on the new forms and practices at JINR that can be extended to the entire system of state scientific certification. Thus, the availability of electronic submission of the dissertation and related documents is positively estimated by the applicant.

At the same time, the JINR Qualification Committee constantly works to improve the activities of the Institute’s dissertation councils and to maintain compliance of regulatory documents in the field of awarding scientific degrees with current legislation. This year, a significant number of activities will be carried out to self-examine the JINR scientific certification system and to ensure regular updating of information on the publication activity of members of dissertation councils for inclusion in the federal monitoring system. In accordance with the established procedure, it is expected to introduce the practice of attending meetings of JINR dissertation councils by employees of relevant departments of the Ministry with the invitation of representatives of the Higher Attestation Commission.