On 19 May, the technical opening of the first JINR Information Centre at the international organization, the Arab Atomic Energy Agency (AAEA), took place. The opening was held within the framework of a partnership agreement between AAEA and JINR. The new IC is being created on the basis of the AAEA Headquarters in Tunis. A JINR delegation participated in the technical opening. AAEA employees as well as representatives of the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the leadership of the Institute of Nuclear Sciences and Technologies joined the event.

In Tunis, Director General of AAEA Prof. Salem Hamdi hosted the delegation of JINR led by Director Special Representative for Cooperation with International and Russian Scientific Organizations Boris Sharkov. The technical launch of the Infocentre at the AAEA Headquarters was preceded by a presentation of the Virtual Laboratory (VLab) project. At the presentation, Nikita Sidorov (VBLHEP JINR) demonstrated the capabilities of the project and the performance of the VLab on the example of an experiment. After that, participants of the event had a chance to test the virtual experiments themselves.

The official ceremony at the AAEA Headquarters was widely covered by the local media. AAEA and the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs representatives, as well as the leadership of the Institute of Nuclear Sciences and Technologies as a representative of Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research participated in the opening. An FLNP senior researcher and the liaison officer of JINR to AAEA Wael Badawy opened the event. He congratulated the colleagues on the establishment of the IC at the Agency. Director General of AAEA Prof. Salem Hamdi gave a welcoming speech. “For the first time, the “JINR Information Centre” and the “Virtual Laboratory” projects are created on the basis of an international organization. In addition, the partnership with JINR gives us the opportunity to allocate up to five annual fellowships for MSc and PhD students from the AAEA Member States to make research at JINR. The AAEA competition for JINR scholarships collected more than 70 applicants from different AAEA Member States”.

In his speech, Boris Sharkov emphasised the importance of cooperation between JINR and the Agency to enhance its leading role as an international scientific organization in MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Region. In addition, he mentioned the essential role that the Infocentre and the Virtual Lab will play in attracting young scientists from the AAEA Member States and African countries to gain knowledge and skills. “We expect that the flow of highly qualified scientists from the AAEA Member States working on JINR priority research areas will increase thanks to the scholarship programme and knowledge exchange with JINR scientists,” RAS Academician Sharkov noted.

“It is only a technical inauguration; however, the real inauguration will take place at the end of the year with the participation of JINR Director Grigory Trubnikov,” AAEA Director General Prof. Salem Hamdi said. He also plans to appoint an IC representative who would help in disseminating information about the Centre and opportunities for training of young scientists from the AAEA Member States.

Addressing the audience by videoconference, Director of the UC JINR Dmitry Kamanin wished successful implementation of scientific plans, the impetus to which will be given by the creation of the JINR Infocentre in the AAEA Headquarters in Tunis. “The Information Centre will bring us closer, and our remote participation in the ceremony today is an example of that,” he said. Next, the curator of the work of Infocentres from the International Cooperation Department Elena Badawy gave a speech. She commented on the meanings that JINR puts into the work of Infocentres and, in particular, into the work of the IC being created at AAEA”.

The participants of the ceremony shared their impressions and discussed plans for the future. The leaders of the delegations ceremonially signed the protocol of the Joint Coordination Committee that recently took place by videoconference, which plans the interaction between AAEA and JINR. The Committee consolidated the planned steps for the opening and launch of the JINR Information Centre at AAEA.