On 17 May 2019, Yunkyu Bang, President of the Asia Pacific Centre for Theoretical Physics (APCTP), visited the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. The APCTP is an international non-governmental research organization that unites 17 countries of Asia and the Pacific. The country of its location is South Korea. Yunkyu Bang came to Dubna accompanied by coordinator of the APCTP-JINR cooperation Jihun Kim.

The programme of the visit started with an introductory lecture about JINR. The guests visited the Veksler and Baldin Laboratory of High Energy Physics where they were acquainted with the progress in implementation of the NICA mega-science project. They also visited the Superheavy Element Factory in the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions . At the meeting with leaders of the Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, opportunities for the development of cooperation were discussed, in particular, the extension of participation of young Korean scientists in BLTP scientific schools.

Results of the visit were summed up at the meeting of the delegation with the JINR Directorate. The guests were welcomed by JINR Director Academician V. A. Matveev. Moreover, JINR Chief Scientific Secretary A. S. Sorin, Head of the JINR International Cooperation Department D. V. Kamanin, Advisor to the JINR Directorate M. Yu. Tumanova, STC JINR Chairman R. V. Jolos, and BLTP Deputy Director N. V. Antonenko took part in the meeting. The parties noted the high level of the existing JINR-APCTP cooperation since 2007 as well as active development of contacts of the Institute with the Republic of Korea. One of the latest examples of this was an agreement signed in April 2019 with the University of Korea in the fields of accelerating facilities and nuclear physics that was aimed at the support of the cooperation between the Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions and the RAON project. The parties discussed possible fields of the cooperation broadening in the fields of theoretical physics as well as in a wider range of fields due to great opportunities for cooperation in the frames of JINR projects.

At the conclusion of the meeting, a collaboration plan in the fields of joint research, academic exchange, and training of the young staff was signed. This agreement is targeted at building the foundation for scientific and technical cooperation between JINR and the Republic of Korea that will be a “bridge” for the development of scientific contacts of Asia and the Pacific with the JINR Member states and partner countries.

In his short comment to the Institute’s media, Yunkyu Bang noted: “This day is significant for us, for the Asia Pacific Centre for Theoretical Physics, as far as the agreement on cooperation with the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, an advanced research centre, was signed. In addition to issues noted in the agreement, we are going to work on further broadening of our interaction with your high-level Institute in the future.”

Photos by Elena Puzynina