At the turn of the seven years

UC: INTEREST, START and other projects

Before talking about the proposals of the JINR University Center that were included in the draft of the new Seven-Year Plan, I would like to highlight the current activities and our main events. The main task met by the UC is the attraction and admission of students and postgraduates from the JINR Member States who come to the laboratories of the Institute to prepare their graduation papers. Every year, several hundred students undertake internships and practice at JINR. I would like to take this opportunity and turn to the researchers and specialists of the Institute with a proposal to put forward more scientific projects, themes of graduation papers for students coming to Dubna.

The challenges of the last two years have contributed to the development of a new short-term online programme for undergraduate and graduate students of scientific and technical specialties from any country in the world - INTEREST. The programme that is aimed at introducing students to the Institute via the implementation of projects has proven itself well, over 250 people have taken part in it in seven stages - "waves" and some graduates have joined their scientific interests with JINR.

This year, the UC succeeded in resuming many of its previous initiatives that had been interrupted for two years. In particular, the JINR programme for students from all over the world specializing in natural sciences, engineering and IT, has got a new breath (and the name START) - it has been decided to invite selected participants to Dubna to work in scientific teams twice a year. In March 2022, after a break, students from Egypt arrived at JINR for a three-week international student practice.

The UC pays great attention to popularizing the scientific achievements of the Institute among the general public, increasing the interest of school students in natural science subjects. The UC staff has taken part in the implementation of the interactive exhibition "JINR Basic Facilities" that has become the hallmark of the Science City.

The proposals of UC for the draft of the JINR Seven-Year Plan for 2024-2030 were included in the section "Strengthening the human resources potential of JINR". The UC will keep on attracting and accompanying students that participate in the Institute's projects.

The UC Engineering Workshop has been of particular interest in recent years that has been developed with the aim of intensifying educational programmes in the field of training engineering and technical specialists for JINR and the Member States at operating, as well as advanced physical facilities the construction of which is underway. A key feature of the workshop is working with real equipment. We are planning that with the introduction of a linear accelerator at the Laboratory of Nuclear Problems, it will be possible to expand current workshops that will allow students and young scientists to deepen their knowledge and gain new skills, as well as experience in using advanced accelerator equipment and technologies.

At present, the request to work with teachers and students of educational institutions is becoming more and more significant. The UC is going to expand the offered opportunities for schools, in particular, scientific schools for teachers, project activities with schoolchildren, online and offline lectures and excursions, city scientific and educational events.

We hope that all the proposed projects and activities will be supported by the Scientific Council and the scientific community of the Institute. We are sure that the University Centre in cooperation with the JINR Laboratories will be able to implement this.

Stanislav PAKULIAK, Director of JINR UC,
Alexander VERKHEEV, Deputy Director