JOINT INSTITUTE FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH
The Joint Institute for Nuclear
Research (JINR) is an international intergovernmental
scientific research organization established through the Convention signed on 26 March
1956 by eleven founding States and registered with the United Nations on 1 February 1957.
It is located in Dubna, near Moscow,
Russian Federation.
The Institute was established with the aim of uniting
the efforts, scientific and material potentials of its Member States for investigations of
the fundamental properties of matter.
At present, JINR has 18 Member States: Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Bulgaria, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, the Russian Federation, the Slovak
Republic, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
As stated in its Charter, JINR is basing its
activities on the principles of its openness for participation to all interested states,
of their equal and mutually beneficial cooperation.
The main fields of JINR’s activity are theoretical
and experimental studies in particle physics, nuclear physics, and condensed matter
physics. The research policy of JINR is determined by the Scientific Council which
consists of eminent scientists from the Member States, CERN, France, Germany, Italy, and
the USA.
There are 7 Laboratories at JINR, by the scope of
scientific activities each being compatible with a large research institution. JINR’s
staff totals approx. 6000, including more than 1000 scientists, 2000 engineers and
technicians.
Available at this Institute is a unique choice of
experimental facilities. Apart from the still operational early machines - the 680 MeV Phasotron and the 10 GeV Synchrophasotron, they
include: the newly commissioned Nuclotron,
a superconducting synchrotron for nuclei and heavy ions up to 6 GeV/n intended for
relativistic nuclear physics studies; the U400 and U400M cyclotrons used for experiments
on the synthesis of heavy and exotic nuclei, on the studies of their properties and
heavy-ion reaction mechanisms; the IBR-30
neutron booster and the IBR-2 reactor
(mean power 2 MW, peak power 1500 MW) used for nuclear physics research with neutrons and
condensed matter studies.
One of the main aspects of JINR’s activity is its
extensive international scientific and technical cooperation: it collaborates with nearly
700 research centres and universities worldwide. A bright example is the long-standing
collaboration between JINR and CERN, which contributes to a range of theoretical and
experimental work in high-energy physics. JINR is participating in the Large Hadron
Collider (LHC) project, namely in the design and construction of elements for the ATLAS, CMS,
ALICE detectors and LHC machine.
On the basis of its High-Performance Computing Centre, JINR is taking part in the creation
of the Russian regional distributed centre for LHC data processing which is planned to be
integrated into the HEP EU-Grid project. In 1995 and in 2000, JINR hosted the
international symposiums “LHC Physics and Detectors” which gathered together in Dubna
hundreds of scientists from CERN and JINR Member States. Since 1970 JINR and CERN have
been conducting joint Schools of High-Energy Physics for young scientists, the most recent
one having taken place in
Portugal in August/September 2000.
Over more than four decades of JINR’s existence, a
wide range of research has been conducted at this centre and numerous specialists of the
highest qualification have been trained for the Member States. About 500 research papers
and reports representing approx. 3000 authors are submitted every year by JINR to
editorial boards of journals in many countries and to organizing committees of
conferences. JINR publications are sent to over 50 countries.
JINR accounts for a half (about 40) of the total
number of discoveries in particle and nuclear physics, registered in the former Soviet
Union. As a recognition of the achievements of JINR’s staff of researchers, in 1997 the
International Committee of Pure and Applied Chemistry awarded the name “Dubnium” to
element 105 of the Periodic Table.
In light of the recent breakthroughs, the Superheavy
Elements Programme of JINR deserves special mentioning. On the eve of 1999, scientists of
JINR, in collaboration with colleagues from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
(USA), synthesized a new, long-lived superheavy element with atomic number 114. This
discovery crowned 35 years of international research efforts in search of the “stability
island” for superheavy nuclei. In July 2000, in a fusion reaction using unique
curium-248 and calcium-48 targets, Dubna physicists observed the decay of a new atom of element 116.
An event of the utmost importance for JINR was the
recent ratification by Russian Parliament of “The Agreement between the Government of
the Russian Federation and JINR on the Location and Terms of Activity of JINR in the
Russian Federation”. The corresponding Russian Federal Law on Ratification came into
force on 6 January 2000. The Agreement confirms the international legal capacity of JINR
and grants it privileges and immunities in compliance with established practice for
international intergovernmental organizations. It also includes the obligations undertaken
by Russia as a host country of JINR to contribute to the successful activity of this
centre in the future.
The Joint Institute for Nuclear Research is evolving
into the 21st century as a large multidisciplinary international scientific centre
incorporating basic research in the domain of modern nuclear physics, development and
application of high technologies, and university education in the relevant fields of
knowledge.
Address: 141980 Dubna, Moscow Region, Russia.
Phone: (+7-09621) 65-059. Fax: (+7-09621) 65-891, 65-599.
E-mail: post@jinr.ru
WWW address: http://www.jinr.ru
For more information please contact:
Mr Boris Starchenko, JINR Scientific Information Service
E-mail: bstar@cv.jinr.ru