On 19 July, Plenipotentiary Representative of the Government of the Slovak Republic in JINR Fedor Šimkovic met with the JINR Directorate. Fedor Šimkovic, an outstanding Slovak theoretical physicist, a BLTP JINR employee, and a professor at the Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics at Comenius University, Bratislava, was appointed to this position on 1 July 2021.

JINR Director Academician Grigory Trubnikov welcomed Fedor Šimkovic on behalf of the Institute’s Directorate at a meeting and congratulated him on his high appointment. “I know you as a JINR employee who has been working at the Laboratory of Theoretical Physics for many years, you are also an active participant of the Slovak national group in the Institute, so I am sure that this appointment will give impetus to the development of the Slovak-JINR cooperation thanks to your deep knowledge about the Institute, its opportunities, and achievements,” the JINR Director noted.

Fedor Šimkovic confirmed mutual intention to work on the enhancement of the cooperation between Slovakia and the Joint Institute and highlighted, “I see a wide space for cooperation development and increasing its efficiency. To do this, we should move on gradually, step by step. And I would like to go far beyond the existing cooperation.”

At the meeting, participants discussed strategic aims of the interaction development, in particular, the increase in the presence of young Slovak scientists in JINR, including students and postgraduates, as well as the increase in participation of high-tech enterprises of Slovakia in the JINR projects.

In this regard, the parties discussed the involvement of Slovak representatives in the JINR programmes for students, young researchers, and administrative staff, prospects for opening JINR Information Centres, as well as the accumulated experience in organizing target PR campaigns in the JINR Member States. In particular, holding cross Days of JINR in Slovakia and Days of Slovakia in JINR will contribute to increasing mutual spread of information. The parties found the participation of Slovakia in the creation of the JINR Innovation Centre as one of the promising areas for further cooperation development.

As one of the first practical steps towards extending official contacts of the Institute with the Slovak Republic, the Plenipotentiary Representative proposed to organize a visit of representatives of the Slovak Embassy in the Russian Federation, the Government, and the Academy of Sciences of the Slovak Republic to JINR for attending a meeting of the JINR Scientific Council scheduled for 23-24 September.

Fedor Šimkovic arrived in JINR with a week-long visit the programme of which includes some meetings. It includes, in particular, participation in the first meeting of the working group on the issues of strategic development established by the Committee of Plenipotentiaries, holding an online round table with high-tech companies of Slovakia, working discussions with leaders of the JINR laboratories and management offices of the Institute, and a meeting with the national group of Slovakia in the Institute.

Photos by Elena Puzynina