On 25 March 2016, a solemn ceremony dedicated to the start of construction of the NICA complex was held in the Laboratory of High Energy Physics. A memorial plaque was unveiled in honor of this event. The ceremony was attended by Assistant to the RF President A.A.Fursenko, Governor of the Moscow Region A. Yu. Vorobyov, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of RF L.M.Ogorodova, Member of the Council for Physical Culture and Sports under the RF President I.K.Rodnina, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician V.E.Fortov and 2004 Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics David Gross. The ceremony was also attended by JINR representatives: JINR Director V.A.Matveev, JINR Vice-Director G.V.Trubnikov, VBLHEP Director D.V.Kekelidze, Chairman of the Committee of Plenipotentiaries of the Governments of the JINR Member States L.Kostov.

After the ceremonial opening of the construction, the guests were given a tour of the laboratory departments where the NICA mega-science project is being implemented. Later in the VBLHEP Conference Hall, Governor of the Moscow Region A. Yu. Vorobyov and JINR Director Academician V.A.Matveev signed a cooperation Agreement between the between the Government of the Moscow region and JINR. Academician V. E. Fortov was awarded a diploma and the mantle of Honorary Doctor of JINR. David Gross was awarded the medal “For Services to JINR”. The Nobel laureate gave a lecture “Quantum chromodynamics — a perfect and beautiful theory”.