On 16 February 2021, the 31st meeting of the Joint Committee for Collaboration of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics and Particle Physics (IN2P3) and JINR took place as a video conference. The parties discussed plans for scientific exchange, results achieved during the year, as well as prospects for cooperation enhancement in the frames of IN2P3 and JINR projects and other international experiments.

JINR Director Grigory Trubnikov headed the party of the Joint Institute at the meeting. Scientific Leader Victor Matveev, Vice-Directors Boris Sharkov, Sergey Dmitriev, and Vladimir Kekelidze, Chief Scientific Secretary Alexander Sorin, and heads of the JINR scientific laboratories and the International Cooperation Department represented the Institute at the event. IN2P3 Director Reynald Pain, Deputy Director Berrie Giebels, Scientific Directors Fanny Farget, Vincent Poireau, Laurent Vacavant, Jean Luc Biarrotte, and Sabine Crepe-Renaudin, as well as Head of IN2P3 International Office Thomas Palychata took part in the event on behalf of IN2P3.

The meeting started with an exchange of information about the current status of major projects and the latest results of institutes’ activities. Commenting on the overview report by the JINR Director, the representatives of the French party noted with appreciation the high level of the JINR cooperation with scientific organizations of France, as well as the impressive progress in the NICA collider compared to 2019 when the IN2P3 delegation visited JINR. Grigory Trubnikov in his turn highlighted that the IN2P3 bright programme presented at the event in the fields of accelerator physics together with the IN2P3 research field on heavy ion physics and, in particular, on radioactive beams, is of scientific interest to JINR.

Photos by Elena Puzynina

Following the tradition, the participants discussed the planned scientific exchange on joint projects for the coming year. This exchange should increase for a number of projects up to the epidemiological limits. The parties approved 20 projects in the fields of nuclear physics, astrophysics, particle physics, accelerator technologies, and computing. This list also included two new projects on the search for dark neutron decay and physics of electron cyclotron resonance (ECR).

The parties congratulated each other on upcoming jubilees of the organizations, namely the 65th anniversary of JINR and 50th anniversary of IN2P3. They also discussed the possibility of cross-participation of delegations in upcoming jubilee events, as well as the idea to hold joint events aimed at cooperation strengthening. Thus, the first online meeting of scientists from the two institutes is scheduled for April, and the results will be summed up in February 2022 in Dubna. Moreover, both parties supported the proposal to hold Days of France in JINR in February 2022.

At the end of the event, Grigory Trubnikov noted that the JINR-IN2P3 cooperation has a wide range of opportunities, in particular, in the fields of data analysis and astrophysics. For example, in joint participation in the BAIKAL-GVD experiment. As a proof of it, Reynald Pain in his turn expressed confidence that the range of joint studies of JINR and IN2P3 would expand in the future. The heads of the delegations also highlighted the constructive and friendly atmosphere of the meeting.