On 19 June, a workshop “Applied research at the NICA Complex: prospects for RNO-Alanya – JINR cooperation” completed. It took place on the platform of the JINR Information Centre (IC) in the South of Russia that celebrates its fifth anniversary this year. During the event, its participants stated the intentions of cooperation between JINR and the K. L. Khetagurov North Ossetian State University, speakers delivered their reports on the status of the NICA Project, the ARIADNA scientific programme, completed and planned research with accelerated ion beams. In addition, a round table with representatives of the research and production enterprises of the Republic of North Ossetia – Alania was held.

A festive ceremony of signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on the admission of the K. L. Khetagurov North Ossetian State University to the ARIADNA Collaboration for carrying out the applied research programme at the NICA Accelerator Complex opened the workshop. The signing of the Memorandum became the starting point for joining teachers and students of this university to applied research with the use of the megascience infrastructure. After the signing of the Memorandum, JINR Director Grigory Trubnikov and NOSU Rector Alan Ogoev delivered their welcoming speech to participants of the meeting and exchanged views on the prospects for further cooperation between the two organizations in a number of areas. Head of the ARIADNA-LS Collaboration, Deputy Head of the VBLHEP JINR Department of Methodological Research and Innovation Oleg Belov and Director of the JINR Information Centre in the South of Russia Nelli Pukhaeva welcomed participants of the event on behalf of its organizers.

Photos by the Press Centre of NOSU

On the first day of the meeting, representatives of VBLHEP JINR introduced the audience to general information about the NICA Project, prospects for conducting experiments at extracted beams of the accelerator complex. Valery Lebedev made a report on the status of the NICA Project, its current and design parameters, and future plans. Oleg Belov made a report on the elements of the ARIADNA applied research programme and the development of relevant scientific collaborations around the NICA Complex. Alexey Slivin provided the information on the development of the SOCHi, ISCRA, and SIMBO irradiation stations for applied research at the NICA Complex and the prospects for their commissioning.

During the first day of the workshop, the round table took place with representatives of the universities and research and production enterprises of the Republic of North Ossetia – Alania. Teachers, students, and postgraduates from NOSU and the North Caucasus Mining and Metallurgical Institute (State University of Technology, NCMMI (STU)), directors of the Vladikavkaz Technology Centre “VTC Baspik” LLC, and the Scientific and Research Institute of Electromechanics (“NIIEM” JSC) were among them. The latter informed the audience about research and production infrastructure of their organizations.

Participants of the meeting were introduced to facilities of the Collective Use Centre of NOSU during the excursion conducted by Head of the Department of Condensed Matter Physics Tamerlan Magkoyev.

JINR Vice-Director Latchesar Kostov summed up the results of the first day of the workshop, taking part in the general discussion, at which its participants considered prospects for cooperation between scientific teams at JINR, NOSU, and other organizations, representatives of which joined the event.

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A section of scientific reports chaired by Latchesar Kostov and Oleg Belov was held on 19 June. Andrey Stemberg (IMBP RAS) opened the section with his report on the neurobiological effects of the combined impact of radiation and gravitational factors of interplanetary flight, in which he highlighted the relevance of organizing experiments at the NICA Complex using, among other things, a multi-ion beam, simulating the spectrum of galactic cosmic rays. Andreyan Osipov (FLNR JINR) spoke about modern methods of analysis of radiation-induced double-strand DNA breaks, emphasising the importance of experiments at the NICA Complex for improving dosimetric approaches in experiments with accelerated ions. In her report, Nelli Popova (ITEB RAS) formulated prospects for using the NICA Complex in the research of biologically active nanomaterials for radiation biology tasks. The report also covered the main elements of the ITEB RAS research programme within the ARIADNA Collaboration. Vyacheslav Saburov (A. Tsyb MRRC – a branch of FGBU “NMIC of Radiology” of the Ministry of Health of Russia) reported on physical dosimetry in a radiobiological experiment at beams of various quality, speaking about multifaceted experience of working with sources of ionising radiation within practical tasks of radiation medicine. Yuri Severyukhin (LRB JINR) presented his report on neuroradiobiological research at accelerated heavy ion beams of the NICA Complex. He once again highlighted the uniqueness of accelerated ion beams of the NICA Complex for conducting experiments in this direction using laboratory animals.

Michaela Paraipan and Sergey Tyutyunnikov chaired a section of scientific reports on radiation materials science and radiation material modification. During the section, Pavel Degtyarenko (JIHT RAS) delivered a report on changes in the current carrying capacity of high-temperature superconductors irradiated with ions of various energies. Igor Rudnev (NRNU MEPhI) reported on applied research at the NICA Complex in the field of radiation modification of high-temperature superconducting composites, presenting the main tasks of the NRNU MEPhI scientific groups within the ARIADNA Collaboration for the nearest future. Maksim Bulavin (FLNP JINR) informed the audience about the possibilities of studying the radiation resistance of materials at the IBR-2 Reactor in his report, highlighting the relevance of experiments using neutron sources complementary to the ARIADNA research programme.

Igor Rudnev and Maksim Bulavin chaired a section of reports on the use of beams at NICA Complex for research in the field of ADS systems. Sergey Tyutyunnikov (VBLHEP JINR) opened the section with his overview report on the status and prospects for the development of ADS systems, in which he presented the results of the previous years, obtained using beams at the JINR Nuclotron. Michaela Paraipan (VBLHEP JINR) spoke about prospects for using ion beams at the NICA Complex for the development of modern ADSR systems, presented a wide range of calculations for determining the optimal configuration of the system and choosing the types of ion beams for experimental research in this direction. David Lazarev (NOSU) delivered a report on the study of silicon photoelectronic multipliers. Ivan Gordeev (LRB JINR) spoke about the simulation of mixed radiation fields at the NICA Complex, presenting in his report aspects of radiation protection of the Nuclotron and the Booster, as well as hardware for obtaining radiation spectra close to galactic cosmic rays in composition.

During the final day of the workshop, a JINR delegation visited the “VTC Baspik” LLC that mainly produces microchannel plates (MCP) aimed at the detection of ionising radiation and signal amplification. The research and production capacities of the enterprise make it possible to fulfil individual orders for the development of microchannel plates and MCP detectors for equipment with the required technical parameters in a relatively short time.

In the conclusion of the workshop, Vice-Director Latchesar Kostov highlighted a number of new directions outlined for the cooperation between JINR and NOSU scientific teams, emphasised the importance of involving representatives of the research and production enterprises of the Republic of North Ossetia – Alania in the discussion of joint work. He also thanked the NOSU Directorate for supporting new initiatives and providing opportunities for the meeting. Nelli Pukhaeva, Director of the JINR Information Centre in the South of Russia expressed gratitude to participants for their productive work on behalf of the NOSU Rector.

The workshop made it possible to introduce representatives of NOSU, NCMMI, the enterprises of the Republic of North Ossetia – Alania to a wide range of capabilities of the NICA Complex for applied research and inform about a wide variety of opportunities for scientific and technological cooperation with a world-class laboratory. As part of the discussions held alongside of the event, teachers, students, and young researchers from NOSU and NVMMI (STU) expressed readiness for close cooperation and the launch of a number of research projects using the infrastructure of the NICA Project.