Youth and science

JINR is the flagship of Dubna tourism

On 15 November, 2022, in the framework of the Decade of Science and Technology in Russia, a programme of popular science tourism for young people was launched.

At the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation approved the Concept for the Development of Popular Science Tourism until 2035 that outlines the prospects for the development of this area, as well as the role of universities, research centres and regions in the development of tourism products.

Popular science tourism is an initiative aimed at attracting talented young people to the field of research and developments, increasing the availability of information about the achievements and prospects of Russian science. The initiative is aimed at holding unique and exciting comprehensive tours around Russia for tourists of all ages.

According to the Concept, by 2025, such routes will be developed in 40 constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Several tours of the programme are already available for travel. The first one was held in November last year in the Kaliningrad region. As part of the tour, the participants learnt about the history of the region, visited the Curonian Spit, visited the research vessel "Vityaz", on board of which there are scientific laboratories, as well as expositions dedicated to the history of the study of the World Ocean. Then the project was implemented in Sochi: tourists visited the Research Institute of Medical Primatology, the Subtropical Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the botanical garden "Friendship tree" and the enclosure of the Caucasian State Natural Biosphere Reserve "Laura".

Unique complex tours are also implemented in other regions of Russia: "Nizhny Novgorod: a journey to the cradle of radiophysics", "Obninsk - Kaluga: to visit the world's first nuclear power plant", "Space Moscow: to learn the history of aviation", "St. Petersburg: to discover the secrets of engineering developments", "Irkutsk: to explore the natural resources of Baikal", Cosmodrome "Vostochny": a journey into science", "Novosibirsk: a journey to the scientific capital of Russia".

Tour "Dubna: to go on an atomic journey" involves a visit to JINR, participation in experiments and interactive classes in chemistry, geology and nuclear physics. The first stop will be the multimedia exhibition "JINR basic facilities". During a walk around Dubna, a city where the unique atmosphere of a science city of the 1950s of the last century has been preserved, guests will see houses built for scientists. Yuri Oganessian, a physicist after whom the 118th chemical element of the periodic table Oganesson is named, lives in one of them. The next stop will be the JINR Museum of History of Science and Technology that contains many unique instruments, models, items from the personal archives of famous scientists. After a journey into history, tourists will find an experiment room. Further fascinating experiments will be carried out at Dubna State University.

In addition, Dubna has become the main city of a new three-day trip around the science cities of the Moscow region "Mendeleev-tour" that involves visiting research organizations, local sights concerning science, and will be of interest to both children and adults. During the excursions, participants will be able to communicate with scientists, participate in master classes and conduct a scientific experiment. The project "Mendeleev tour" will cover eight cities: Dubna - nuclear physics, Zelenograd - electronics, Zvenigorod - astrophysics, Obninsk - peaceful atom, Protvino - energy, Zhukovsky - aerospace systems, Chernogolovka - chemistry, Korolev - rocket and space industry.

Description and booking of tours will be available on the website nauka.rf.

In parallel, the development of Dubna's tourist attractiveness is carried out by city structures. With the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Moscow Region and the Ministry of Tourism of the Tver Region, a school of guides has started to work in Dubna. In the first stream, 27 people have been trained, including two from the city of Kimry. Teachers at the school of guides are employees of the Museum of Dubna, JINR, DMP, MKB Raduga. This season, the science city is ready to meet a large flow of tourists: it is expected that about 100 ships will make a stop in Dubna. For comparison, last year there were 70.

Galina MYALKOVSKAYA,
photo by Elena PUZYNINA