1. The Scientific Council notes the information presented by JINR Director V. Kadyshevsky concerning the decisions taken by the JINR Committee of Plenipotentiaries (CP) at its March 2004 session, in particular:

– the approval of the JINR Topical Plan of Research and International Cooperation for 2004 based on the recommendations of the Scientific Council and the PACs;

– the appointment of G. Shirkov as Chief Engineer of JINR until the completion of the term of office of the present Director;

– the formation of a committee for the election of the JINR Director for a new term of office, which is scheduled for the next CP session in March 2005, in accordance with the JINR Charter.

2. The Scientific Council appreciates the stable operation of the JINR basic facilities and the tendency of increasing running times of the facilities in the last few years.

The Scientific Council is pleased to note that the financing of the IBR-2 modernization, including the installation of the movable reflector, is being implemented in accordance with the Agreement between JINR and the Russian Federal Agency for Atomic Energy, and with the JINR internal plan of funding. The Scientific Council expects that the financial plan for the modernization and exploitation of IBR-2 for the year 2004, approved by the JINR Director, will be successfully fulfilled.

3. The Scientific Council appreciates the long-standing and close cooperation between JINR and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). JINR has been successfully involved in many particle-physics research programmes at CERN in the past and is now widely participating in the LHC project. In addition, JINR and CERN have several common educational projects including the organization of the European Schools of High-Energy Physics, conferences, workshops and exhibitions, in particular the joint exhibition “Science Bringing Nations Together”.

The various aspects of this collaboration were discussed during the visit to Dubna, in April 2004, of the new Director-General of CERN, Dr R. Aymar, together with some other members of the CERN management. The Scientific Council looks forward to the continuation of the mutually beneficial cooperation between these two international organizations.

The JINR Scientific Council congratulates CERN on its 50th anniversary, celebrated this year, and wishes this Laboratory much success in the future.

The Scientific Council takes note of the written recommendations made by the PACs at their April 2004 meetings. These recommendations were further elaborated in reports at this session by Professor P. Spillantini, as the last-minute replacement of Chairperson T. Hallman, by Professors N. Rowley, and W. Nawrocik.

The Scientific Council highly appreciates the important achievement of the VBLHE staff in realizing the Nuclotron beam extraction with a spill duration of up to 10 seconds. An energy increase of the Nuclotron nuclear beams up to 6 GeV/N is considered to be a task of primary importance in the development of the Nuclotron in 2004.

It appeared that the deep concern expressed by the PAC about the level of support for the Nuclotron programme can be somewhat mitigated by the fact that there is also support from external parties and from the JINR Directorate. It was reiterated that the funds for the upgrade of the Nuclotron are secured.

As was emphasized by the PAC, JINR has succeeded in the on-time fulfilment of all its obligations in the external experiments in which it participates: this is important for JINR’s further participation in these collaborations. The Scientific Council appreciates these results. It also urges the JINR physicists in these projects to be deeply involved in the analysis of the collected data and in the development of relevant theoretical models and descriptions. The Scientific Council wishes to learn about the physics subjects that are going to be studied by the JINR groups and how this analysis work will be organized.

The Scientific Council supports the PAC’s recommendation to search for the pentaquark with high priority. At present the NIS experimental set-up is being brought to completion. The search could be carried out with the present status of the Nuclotron. A high-intensity polarized beam would also enable the determination of its spin properties.

The Scientific Council also supports the recommendations on two new projects (“F-Cluster” and “Med-Nuclotron of JINR”) as outlined in the PAC report.

The Scientific Council looks forward to hearing about the first experiments to be started in Phase I of the DRIBs project. To maintain the attractiveness of the FLNR basic facilities in the future, this project should be realized as quickly as possible including its Phase II. To this aim the upgrade and modernization of the U400 accelerator should be treated with particular urgency.

The Directorates of JINR and FLNP are urged to search for ways to accelerate the IREN project, i.e. seeking external financing if this is the only possibility to ensure its timely implementation. If IREN cannot be completed by 2006, a very important opportunity will be lost. A recommendation concerning the continuation of the project should be made at the next session of the Scientific Council, based on a solid plan of investment.

The Scientific Council supports the SAD project, which is of considerable interest to JINR Member States, and encourages closer collaboration and information exchange between SAD and other international transmutation projects.

The Scientific Council also supports the PAC’s recommendations to continue the DUBTO and LESI experiments which are producing interesting new results.

The Scientific Council highly appreciates the successful completion by the FLNP staff of important stages of the IBR-2 modernization programme: the manufacturing and testing of the new movable reflector and the delivery of new fuel elements.

The Scientific Council shares the concern of the PAC that condensed matter physics research is underfunded. The Scientific Council also learned about the serious lack of staff to operate IBR-2 safely and reliably in the future. This problem is presently being studied. The Scientific Council asks the JINR Directorate to take all necessary measures to guarantee the completion of the IBR-2 modernization by 2010. There should be a team of experienced and skilled people able to operate the reactor during the next 20 years.

The Scientific Council appreciates the ongoing instrumentation developments at FLNP which make IBR-2 competitive in the use of neutron scattering methods in condensed matter investigation.

The Scientific Council notes the scientific and social importance of the studies in the field of cancer treatment at the Phasotron and at the proposed new beam line at the Nuclotron. It encourages the JINR Directorate to provide these activities with appropriate funding. A coordination of the various activities in medicine and biology at JINR is also recommended.

The Scientific Council has discussed among others the following topics:

PAC memberships.

The Scientific Council has expressed the wish for fixed terms of three years for each PAC member with the possibility of extension for one more term, so as to ensure a regular rotation of the membership.

The Scientific Council expects that all the PAC Chairpersons ought normally to be present during its sessions. If this is not possible, they should arrange in advance for a deputy to present their PAC recommendations.

Scientific priorities.

The Scientific Council would like the PACs to set scientific priorities, in light of budgets requested for the projects, being informed by the Directorate of the global financial situation, and the resources they propose to distribute to different fields of research. The Directorate should then formulate proposals that fit the financial constraints. Thereafter this information should be passed on to the Scientific Council for further consideration and comment.

Physics in external experiments.

The Scientific Council wishes to hear the physics topics that will be investigated in the external experiments at the LHC and at the Tevatron at its next session.

Procedure.

The Scientific Council would appreciate having a maximum of time for its scientific discussions.

1. The Scientific Council has taken note of the end-of-terms of the PAC Chairpersons, and decided to re-appoint N. Rowley as Chairperson of the PAC for Nuclear Physics for a term of three years.

2. The Scientific Council has taken note of the Regulation for the composition and structure of the PACs, as given in the Resolution of the 84th session of the JINR Scientific Council (June 1998). This Regulation foresees three-year terms for the members and a replacement of one third of the members each time. The Scientific Council observes that this Regulation has been generally applied for the PACs for Nuclear Physics and Condensed Matter Physics. However, this is not a case for the PAC for Particle Physics. The Scientific Council asks the Directorate to change this situation as soon as possible and expects a proposal for the next session.

The Scientific Council elected by ballot R. Leitner as Deputy Director of the Dzhelepov Laboratory of Nuclear Problems (DLNP) until the completion of the term of office of the DLNP Director.

The Scientific Council congratulates Professors A. Budzanowski, J.H. Hamilton, M. Kirpichnikov, W. Sandhas, E. Steinnes, and  on being a warded the title “Honorary Doctor of JINR”, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the advancement of science and the education of young scientists.

The Scientific Council notes with interest the scientific reports presented at this session:

• “20 Years of Exploitation of the IBR-2 Reactor” by V. Ananiev,

• “Neutron Scattering in Condensed Matter Research at the IBR-2 reactor” by A. Balagurov,

• “Future Development of DESY” by A. Wagner,

• “Physics Results of the NA48 Experiments and the Dubna Group’s Role in Their Realization” by V. Kekelidze,

• “From Resonances and Gluons to the LHC and the Origin of Mass” by R. Cashmore,

• “Integrable Models of Non-Equilibrium Processes” by V. Priezzhev,

• “Search and Study of Narrow Exotic Baryons at the Nuclotron” by E. Strokovsky.

• The Council thanks the speakers and for their informative presentations.

The Scientific Council deeply regrets the sad loss of Academician N. Amaglobeli, member of the JINR Scientific Council and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to JINR, who made outstanding contributions to the development of the scientific cooperation between JINR and Georgia’s research centres.

The Scientific Council also deeply regrets the sad loss of Professor V. Papoyan, member of the JINR Scientific Council, who made outstanding contributions to the development of the scientific cooperation between JINR and Armenia’s research centres.

The 97th session of the Scientific Council will be held on 20–21 January 2005.

V. Kadyshevsky
Chairman of the Scientific Council