A delegation of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres headed by its President Professor Jürgen Mlynek came to JINR on 7 August 2013. The delegation consisting of leaders of German leading research centres in the fields of fundamental physics became acquainted with activities and basic facilities of JINR.

Cooperation between JINR laboratories and a number of centres of the Helmholtz Association has been going for several years. Professor J. Mlynek and JINR Director Academician V.A. Matveev signed a Collaboration Agreement in the fields of JINR research, including the NICA project. Deputy Minister of the RF Ministry of Education and Science Alexander Povalko gave his comments on the signed agreement and noted that funding of the mega-science project from the Russian state budget is to be started in 2016, when participating countries sign a joint document that will define the contribution of each of the parties.

Olga Tarantina (JINR weekly newspaper "Dubna: science, community, progress")