84th session of the JINR Scientific Council
R E S O L U T I O N
I. General considerations
1. The Scientific Council takes note of the information presented by
the Director of JINR about the decisions taken by the JINR Committee of
Plenipotentiaries (CP) at its March 1998 meeting, in particular:
- of the approval of the concept and plan of the first stage of
reforms proposed by the JINR Directorate and endorsed by the Scientific
Council at its previous session;
- of the approval of the "JINR Scientific Programme for the years
1998-2000" based on the recommendations of this Council and the PACs;
- of the appointment of the Scientific Council members for a new
term of 5 years;
- of the appointment of I. Meshkov as Chief Engineer of JINR.
2. The Scientific Council appreciates the steps taken so far by the
JINR Directorate within the reform programme in the areas of basic
facilities and infrastructure. It looks forward to a staff reduction using
all existing possibilities of alternative job opportunities and of social
security.
The Scientific Council reiterates its strong support of this
important initiative and looks forward to being informed at its next
sessions about the progress of these reforms and about the Directorate's
proposal in the field of scientific research in view of the deep reforms
under way.
The Scientific Council also reiterates its earlier recommendations
to the JINR Directorate about a comprehensive review of the present
Laboratory structure to determine whether it adequately meets the needs and
goals of the JINR scientific programme.
3. The Scientific Council stresses the primary importance of JINR
as the place where common scientific work is to be done by scientists from
the Member States in collaboration with scientists working permanently at
JINR. It recommends that the JINR Directorate balance this very important
point with interests asking for JINR's participation in research projects
outside the Institute area.
4. The Scientific Council wishes again to express its concern that
the high intellectual and technological potential of JINR is not matched by
adequate financial resources in the real JINR budget. The Council therefore
urges the JINR Member States to make available their nominal contributions
in due time , in order to allow for successful implementation of the
scientific programme and of the reforms aimed at preserving JINR as an
attractive international research centre.
In view of the extremely difficult financial situation at JINR, the
Scientific Council addresses a letter (Appendix 1) to the President of the
Russian Federation B. Yeltsin.
The Scientific Council recommends that the JINR Directorate address
similar letters to the governmental authorities of those Member States which
have debts to JINR.
II. Recommendations concerning JINR basic facilities
1. The Scientific Council takes note of the report "Status and
future development of the JINR basic facilities" presented by the new JINR
Chief Engineer. His report demonstrates significant progress in the
management of the facilities.
The Scientific Council supports the decision of the JINR
Directorate,approved by the CP, concerning the centralized management of the
JINR facilities: the Nuclotron, U400 - U400M cyclotrons, IBR-2 reactor, and
the IREN construction project. The Scientific Council highly appreciates the
efforts taken by the Directorate in the current difficult situation to
ensure a guaranteed scheduled operation of the JINR basic facilities. It
takes note , with satisfaction , of the close correspondence between the
actual and planned running time achieved for the majority of the facilities
during the first 5 months of 1998, and wishes that the annual facility
operation schedule be successfully realized.
2. The Scientific Council takes note of the review of the IREN
project requested at the previous session.It is of central importance to the
future of JINR . Therefore, a realistic schedule, an adequate financial
support, and a timely implementation are needed.
The Scientific Council welcomes the decision taken by the JINR
Directorate to allocate in 1998 a special-purpose grant for construction of
IREN's vital systems. It recommends that further efforts be made by the
Directorate to find the funds needed for rapid completion of this major
project.
3. The Scientific Council reiterates its standing recommendations
about the priority development of the JINR basic facilities, namely:
- construction of the Nuclotron slow beam extraction system;
- modernization of the IBR - 2 reactor, with a view to securing the
long-term future of this facility;
- upgrading of the cyclotron complex at the Flerov Laboratory of
Nuclear Reactions in line with forthcoming PAC-recommendations.
III. International cooperation
1. The Scientific Council takes note of the information about the
activities of the Latin-American Centre for Physics (Centro Latinoamericano
de Fisica , CLAF) presented by Professor L. Masperi, Director of CLAF, and
endorses the intention of the JINR Directorate to conclude an agreement with
this international intergovernmental organization. The Scientific Council
cautions, however , that concrete further steps should be commensurate with
JINR's budget provisions.
2. Given the difficult overall budget situation of JINR , the
Scientific Council , while appreciating the importance of intensive
scientific exchange for the quality and competitiveness of JINR's research,
nevertheless feels that the expenditure on foreign travel should be
reviewed by the Directorate, with a view to perhaps further optimize the use
of JINR's scarce resources.
IV. JINR Educational Programme and recruitment of young staff
1. The Scientific Council takes note of the impressive progress in
the field of education achieved at the University Centre since its
establishment in 1991, in particular, the increasing number of the subjects
offered for training graduate and post-graduate students.
The Scientific Council recommends that this activity, aimed at a
higher inflow of young scientists to JINR, be continued as a vital strategic
objective of JINR.
2. The Scientific Council learned with interest about the situation
at JINR with the staffing of young scientists . The Council considers
recruiting first-rate scientific staff, in particular younger scientists from
the Member States,to be an extremely important responsibility of the JINR
Directorate and its investment for the future, and recommends stronger
efforts to be taken in this area.
The Scientific Council invites the Directorate to include highlight
scientific reports by JINR young researchers in the agenda of its future
sessions.
V. Recommendations in connection with the PACs
1. The Scientific Council takes note of and concurs, after due
discussion, with the recommendations made by the PACs at their April 1998
meetings and presented by their Chairmen.
2. The Scientific Council agrees with the Directorate's proposal
that the PACs review during the remainder of the year the priority assignment
of the experimental programme in the light of the forthcoming reforms.
3. Based on the proposal of the JINR Directorate , the Scientific
Council approves the revised text of the "Regulation for the JINR Programme
Advisory Committees" (Appendix 2) which envisages regular rotation of the PAC
members with a view to ensuring both change and continuity in the membership
of the PACs.
VI. Recommendations concerning JINR's longer-range plans
1. The Scientific Council was presented with further reports
concerning longer-range plans of JINR activities.
The Scientific Council notes that JINR has good prospects for
development of condensed matter research with neutron and synchrotron
radiation sources, and recommends that the directorates of JINR and FLNP
speed up the modernization of the IBR - 2 reactor and extend the research
programme using the beams of the Siberia-2 synchrotron radiation source at
the Russian Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute".
2. The Scientific Council wishes that the presentation of longer-
range plans be continued at the next sessions.
VII.Recommendation concerning JINR's High-Performance Computer Centre
The Scientific Council congratulates the directorates of JINR and
LCTA on the successful work accomplished since its previous session to
establish a high - performance computer centre for providing a full-scale
network and informatics support of the research under way at the Institute
and for promoting a more efficient cooperation with member-state and non-
member-state institutions.
The Scientific Council got acquainted with interest with the
operation of this Centre, and thanks the organizers of the presentation.
The Scientific Council reiterates its recommendation about further
development of the JINR network, information and computing infrastructure as
an important priority task.
VIII. Recommendation concerning radiobiological studies
The Scientific Council takes note of the report presented on the
radiobiological studies with radionuclides and their use in clinical
medicine , purposed for diagnostics and treatment of various diseases ,
including cancer . The Council notes the significant social importance of
these studies and recommends that this area of research at JINR get its
further development.
IX. Nominations
1. The Scientific Council elected by ballot N . Russakovich as
Director of the Laboratory of Nuclear Problems for a term of 5 years.
2. The Scientific Council recommends the following vacancies
at directorate level of JINR Laboratories:
- Deputy Directors of the Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical
Physics
The election to these positions shall be held at the 85th session of
the Scientific Council in January 1999.
- Director of the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics (FLNP).
The election to this position shall be held at the 86th session of
the Scientific Council in June 1999.
3. According to the regulation in force , the Scientific Council
announces the following vacancies at directorate level of JINR Laboratories:
- Director and 2 Deputy Directors of the Laboratory of Computing
Techniques and Automation (LCTA)
The election of the LCTA Director shall be held at the 86th session
of the Scientific Council, and the election of the Deputy Directors at the
87th session in January 2000.
- 2 Deputy Directors of the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics
The election of the FLNP Deputy Directors shall be held at the 87th
session of the Scientific Council.
4. Upon proposal by the JINR Directorate and on recommendations of
the PAC members , the Scientific Council re-appoints the following Chairmen
of the PACs for a term of one year:
H. Lauter - PAC for Condensed Matter Physics,
P. Spillantini - PAC for Particle Physics,
and appoints C. Briancon as Chairperson of the PAC for Nuclear Physics for a
term of one year.
5. The Scientific Council thanks Professor G.J. Deutsch for his most
valuable work as Chairman of the PAC for Nuclear Physics.
X. Next session of the Scientific Council
The 85th session of the Scientific Council will be held on 14 - 15
January 1999.
V. Kadyshevsky
Chairman of the JINR Scientific Council
© Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. Dubna, 1998