On 21 October, an awarding ceremony of the Honoris Causa Doctorate title of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University was held in Lublin. The highest academic title of the prestigious university was awarded to Scientific Leader of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions JINR, Academician Yuri Tsolakovich Oganessian.

The Senate of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (UMCS) took a decision to award the high title to Yuri Tsolakovich on 26 May 2021 to acknowledge his outstanding scientific achievements that had led to the discovery of new superheavy chemical elements and their isotopes, as well as for fruitful cooperation with the University since 1974.

Director of the Joint Institute Grigory Trubnikov welcomed the audience and highlighted the importance of awarding the prestigious title to the JINR scientist. “It is very important that the scientific achievements of Academician Oganessian are recognised in Poland since it is one of the founding states of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research,” he said. “I would like to especially note the role of the Maria Skłodowska-Curie University in Lublin. It is our traditional partner, one of the pillars of a strong friendship between JINR and our Polish friends.”

“Yuri Oganessian teaches his colleagues a lot, but I especially draw attention to his sensitive communication with young people,” the JINR Director highlighted. Grigory Trubnikov noted the necessity to unite efforts for the development of international youth scientific dialogue and invited all students to take part in the JINR programmes since they “provide an opportunity to work together with such scientific stars as Yuri Oganessian.”

“The high title the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University awards me today is a great honour,” Yuri Oganessian said. “I express my deep gratitude to the academic community of the University for appreciation of my work.” Yuri Tsolakovich highlighted in his speech the importance of the connection between generations for the development of science and told the audience about his scientific career, research conducted jointly with colleagues from all over the world, and the history of nuclear physics development.

The scientific nature of the awarding ceremony will be complemented with the 27th Nuclear Physics Workshop held on 21 – 23 October. The event is organized by the UMCS Department of Theoretical Physics in Lublin in cooperation with the National Centre for Nuclear Research in Warsaw (NCBJ), the Institute of Nuclear Physics Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow, and the Joint Institute. The Faculty of Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science of UMCS will host the conference. There will be about 30 reports made on the latest achievements in nuclear physics. Almost 60 scientists have announced their participation in the event, including a number of leading scientists of the Joint Institute. The Nuclear Physics Workshop, an annual conference, enjoys a recognised reputation in the nuclear physics community.

This year, the venue and time of the Workshop have been synchronised with the central event, i.e. the presentation of the diploma of Honoris Causa Doctorate to Yu. Ts. Oganessian, and the subject of the conference will be entirely devoted to physics of superheavy nuclei – the specialisation of professor Yuri Oganessian. The conference will present the latest results of theoretical and experimental research on the nuclei of the heaviest elements known to mankind. Synthesis of such elements is an extremely complicated task, and scientific discoveries in this field move the borders of Mendeleev’s Periodic Table of Chemical Elements.

Photos by UMCS