Dear colleagues, I congratulate you on the Day of Russian Science that is celebrated in our country on 8 February.

This holiday has special importance. Science is a powerful and significant resource of development of the society and the state that contributes to the implementation of economic changes and formation of the intellectual and industrial potential of the country.

Thanks to the support of leaders of the Russian Federation who pay special attention to science, which is substantiated by the development of the research infrastructure as well as by creation of comfortable conditions for young researchers, JINR scientists successfully solve the tasks specified by the Seven-year plan for the JINR development.

At the meetings of the Programme Advisory Committees held on the eve of our professional holiday, considerable results obtained by the Institute’s staff in all areas of research were noted. Production of the test beam of accelerated ions at the DC-280 cyclotron at the end of 2018, on the basis of which the first in the world Factory of superheavy elements is developed in JINR, brightly indicates the JINR ability to solve successfully the most complicated scientific and technical problems. It is noteworthy that the launch of the accelerator is awaited this year, when the attention of the world scientific community is focused on the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements of D.I. Mendeleev. I sincerely hope that this will not only become a prominent event of the year but also will allow maintaining the JINR priority in one of the most significant fields of nuclear physics – synthesis and study of properties of new superheavy elements.

I wish all JINR staff members and partners from Russian scientific centres good health, prosperity and new creative success.

JINR Director, Academician Victor Matveev