Events

The first winners of the OGANESSON Prize
were awarded

On 16 February, the first award ceremony for the OGANESSON Prize winners was held in Moscow. The solemn event was held within the walls of the State Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S.Pushkin. The prize was established in 2023 by Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yuri Tsolakovich Oganessian and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in order to support scientists and popularizers of science.

In 2022, Yuri Tsolakovich became the winner of the first Sber Scientific Prize for his fundamental research on the synthesis of superheavy elements and his contribution to the establishment of an experimental base for accelerators that lay the promise for revolutionary nuclear technologies. On the initiative of the academician, a reward in the amount of 20 million rubles was transferred to JINR to organize a new scientific award. The funds received by the academician served as the basis for organizing the OGANESSON Prize to reward scientists and educators.

Representatives of scientific organizations and Russian ministries, cultural and artistic figures and media workers gathered to participate in the gala event in the Michelangelo Hall of one of the world's leading museums.

Opening the ceremony, JINR Director Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Grigory Trubnikov expressed gratitude for the support of the prize and assistance in organizing the event to the administration of the Pushkin Museum, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

At the award ceremony at the State Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S.Pushkin

"The line-up of guests at the event once again proves that science is truly capable of uniting peoples. Over the past two days, a session of the JINR International Scientific Council was held in Dubna, in which representatives of many countries took part, such as South Africa, Bulgaria, Armenia, Belarus, Brazil, Mexico, Cuba, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Romania and Kazakhstan. Many council members are present today not only as guests, but also as participants in the event. And this is really wonderful," JINR Director Grigory Trubnikov noted.

Chairman of the OGANESSON Prize jury, scientific director of the Russian National Centre for Physics and Mathematics, former President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Sergeev in his speech quoted the words of Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences Andrey Sakharov about the importance of scientific and technological progress through "preserving the human in man and the natural in nature".

"We live in difficult, turbulent times that cannot but affect our lives, our ideas about the present and the future. It is very important that all the winners whom we honor today are people who, of course, think about the future in such difficult conditions of the present. We all should understand our responsibility for the development of the world," Alexander Sergeev addressed everyone present at the event.

The Michelangelo Hall of the Pushkin Museum greeted the first winner of the first wave of the OGANESSON Prize Ana Maria Cetto Kramis with applause. A professor of physics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico Ana Maria became the first woman in Mexico to be awarded a doctorate. The prize was awarded to her for outstanding scientific work in the field of quantum mechanics and theoretical physics, for her enormous personal contribution to strengthening global scientific cooperation in the name of peace and sustainable development.

First of all, Ana Maria Cetto Kramis expressed gratitude to her husband that carried out scientific work in Moscow and introduced her to the achievements of Russian science. It was thanks to him that she learned about the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in the city of Dubna and about many outstanding scientists in Russia.

"For many years now, I have been talking about the importance of international scientific cooperation. For me, as a member of the JINR Scientific Council, it is important to be here today. We should all make significant efforts to establish and maintain international cooperation. We, people of different nationalities, people of different cultures, should be able to understand each other not only in science, but also in everyday life, for without it there will be no peace. For me, there is only one science - science for peace," Ana Maria Cetto Kramis emphasized the importance of cooperation.

For his outstanding personal contribution to the development of international scientific and cultural cooperation, the popularization of the achievements of modern science in the media, Mikhail Efimovich Shvydkoy, Doctor of Art History, Director of the Moscow Musical Theater was awarded.

The outstanding figure of culture and education thanked the jury members for the non-core nomination and expressed gratitude to the "Culture" TV channel for the opportunity to cover the agenda of modern science and to his family members for their support.

"Communication with scientists is communication with free people. These people want to know about the world as it really is," he said.

At the end of his speech, Mikhail Shvydkoy made an unexpected initiative. He proposed to transfer the monetary reward either to scientific institutions for research work by young scientists, or as a version, to establish a competition for schoolchildren from Russian regions. For example, for the best essays about the city of Dubna, children will be able to go on an excursion to the science city and visit the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research.

The third winner of the prize for theoretical research of the electronic structure and chemical properties of superheavy elements of the periodic table of D.I.Mendeleev was Valeria Pershina, professor of chemistry at the Institute of Heavy Ions in Darmstadt.

The professor spoke about "passing the baton" in the discovery of superheavy elements from Germany to Russia. She expressed special words of admiration for the Factory of Superheavy Elements, developed on the basis of the Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions of JINR.

"Yuri Tsolakovich motivates us. He practically returned physical theory to Russia and was always in favor of having all Russian-speaking scientists to carry out research on superheavy elements in one scientific centre, in Dubna. Today, it is clear that this is where the elements will be produced in large quantities. And it means that soon it will be possible to study their chemistry," Valeria Pershina said.

In the nomination for young winners for significant personal contribution at an early stage of his scientific career to the development of new basic experimental facilities at JINR, providing breakthrough scientific results in the field of nuclear physics, Head of the Department of the Accelerators Complex of the Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions Vasily Semin was awarded. He headed the commissioning and adjustment of the DC-280 cyclotron of the SHE Factory. The successful operation of the accelerators allowed to bring the accelerator complex to a world record level in terms of beam intensity.

"This award is truly very important for the entire community because it is a small guiding light in difficult times that reminds our society of the need for international relations and cooperation both in science and beyond. And the name of Yuri Tsolakovich and events such as the new prize always emphasize interest in science in society," Vasily Semin admitted.

Over ten years of work at JINR, he has developed from an ordinary engineer to the head of a department. "The superheavy factory that from a once ambitious idea has today become the foundation of new scientific results, is the merit of our entire team, who I want to express my deep gratitude to: colleagues, mentors, predecessors, the fruits of whose work we currently cultivate as real scientific results," Vasily Semin said. He said that he is a third-generation citizen of Dubna: "Since 1957, my family has been inextricably tied to the Institute."

In the final part of the ceremony, the founder of the award Yuri Tsolakovich Oganessian spoke to the audience. "I do not know what to say. Maybe in Chekhov's way: "God, how good!" he shared the emotions that overwhelmed him. Academician Oganessian thanked his colleagues from JINR for their help and support in organizing the prize and also expressed gratitude to the Chairman of the Committee Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Sergeev, Scientific Leader of the NCFM in Sarov, for his professional approach to the selection of winners. "Selecting the best of the best is always a very difficult task, especially when doing it for the first time. Today's winners are interconnected in many ways, although anyone that has done something outstanding in the field of science can apply for the prize," Yuri Oganessian announced.

Yuri Tsolakovich emphasized that he is very pleased that the prize is awarded not only for scientific achievements, but also for the popularization of science. He spoke about the popular science book "Light in nature and in the laboratory" by Ana Maria Cetto Kramis that sold a hundred thousand copies. "For every scientist, the popularization of his activities is extremely important. He is a member of this society and it is very important to him how society evaluates his work. And here the popularizer is an absolutely irreplaceable person," he explained.

Speaking about the winner Mikhail Shvydkoy, Yuri Oganessian emphasized his merits in covering the work of JINR on the "Culture" TV channel. For the other two winners, the award ceremony was especially symbolic. Valeria Pershina is engaged in theoretical research in the field of chemistry of superheavy elements and offers her own scientific substantiation that the 118th element oganesson is a noble gas, while Vasily Semin, as part of a team of FLNR scientists, will be able to confirm or refute this in practice.

The award ceremony ended with a joint commemorative photograph of the winners and founders of the award. Finally, words of gratitude to Dubna came from Alexander Sergeev: "Dubna is an outpost of world science. The Superheavy Element Factory and the NICA collider are absolutely outstanding world-class projects. Dubna today is a real centre of international cooperation. The OGANESSON Prize creates a new tradition that will definitely find a response from the scientific community not only in Russia, but also in the world."

JINR Press Office,
photo by Elena PUZYNINA