From 24 to 27 February 2025, the second International School on Nuclear Methods and Applied Research in Environmental, Material, and Life Sciences (NUMAR-2025), organized by the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research and the Agency for Nuclear Energy and Advanced Technologies (AENTA, the Republic of Cuba), took place in Havana, Cuba. The programme of the event included lectures for students and young specialists from Latin American countries by leading scientists from JINR and scientific organizations from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, and South Africa.

“It is a great honour for us to host the NUMAR International School for the second time in a row. This is becoming an important tradition that highlights 50 years of cooperation between Cuba and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. Here, young specialists will be able to gain valuable knowledge that will become the basis for their professional development,” AENTA President Gladys Lopez Bejerano said at the school’s opening ceremony. “This event embodies an “oasis of science” that unites nations, and we are sincerely grateful to everyone who made it possible for the school to take place on Cuban soil”. In addition, during the event, she delivered a lecture on scientific achievements and prospects for the development of high technology in the country.

On the first day of the school, JINR Chief Scientific Secretary Sergey Nedelko presented a detailed overview of the activities of the Joint Institute as an international intergovernmental organization, introducing young scientists to the modern scientific infrastructure and the variety of prospective research carried out in JINR’s laboratories.

The lecture programme of NUMAR-2024 covered a wide range of topics:

Life sciences:

• radiopharmaceuticals production and nuclear medicine diagnostics and therapy;
• physics and technology of tumour hadron therapy;
• modern radiation imaging detectors for PET and CT;
• radiation biology and its applications in space research and radiation therapy;
• radiation neuroscience;
• astrobiology;
• biomedical applications of nanostructures ;
• high performance computing and data processing in radiation biology and medicine.

Environmental sciences:

• radioecological monitoring of environment;
• analytical techniques in environmental studies and nanotechnology;
• new wastewater treatment technologies;
• nuclear technologies for dating and imaging in environmental sciences and cultural heritage studies;
• laser technologies’ applications in accelerators and seismology;
• artificial intelligence and machine learning in agriculture and environmental studies.

Materials science:

• application of neutron and x-ray scattering in biological system studies;
• molecular dynamics simulations in research of polymers and biomacromolecules and medicine design;
• structural studies and radiation hardening of functional, complex, and nanocomposite materials.

This year, 36 students and young specialists representing scientific and educational organizations of Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Paraguay participated in the school. Plenipotentiary Representative of the Government of the Republic of Cuba in JINR Gonzalo Walwyn Salas acted as event coordinator.