On 19–20 March 2025, an international radiobiology working meeting took place in Cape Town, South Africa. It was organized by the Republic’s accelerator centre, NRF: iThemba LABS, and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. The participants discussed JINR–South Africa cooperation prospects, joint projects, and the creation of a medical radiobiology research consortium.

The programme consisted of plenary and thematic talks by leading scientists. In addition, during a panel discussion, the participants discussed the development of radiation biology in South Africa and international cooperation. The need to consolidate efforts to solve scientific, educational, and organizational problems was highlighted. Researchers will create a consortium that will use the infrastructure of the national research centres of South Africa and JINR to promote medical radiobiology research. It is planned to continue holding this working meeting, using it as a platform for coordinating the efforts of the consortium members and exchanging experiences.

Scientists of JINR and South Africa talked about the implementation of joint strategic projects, reached agreements on scientific visit exchange, and made plans on sending students and young specialists to the educational programmes of the JINR University Centre. These initiatives are aimed to strengthen collaboration and promote radiation biology research in South Africa.

The working meeting brought together more than 50 specialists in radiobiology, medical physics, and radiation therapy from JINR and South Africa. The event was attended by experts from the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (NECSA), the Nuclear Medicine Research Infrastructure (NuMeRI), and medical centres specialising in radiation medicine. Other participants included representatives of leading universities from four provinces of South Africa: Stellenbosch University (SUN), the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), the University of the Western Cape (UWC), the University of Cape Town (UCT), the University of Limpopo (UL), the University of Pretoria (UP), and Wits University.

On behalf of the Joint Institute, talks were given by Director of the Laboratory of Radiation Biology Aleksander Bugay, Head of the LRB Department of Radiation Biology and Physiology Pavel Lobachevsky, Head of the LRB Research Group for Complex Chromosome Aberrations Elena Nasonova, and a senior researcher at the Sector of the Ion-Implantation Nanotechnology and Radiation Materials Science at the Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions Dmitry Murashko.