At the meeting of the JINR STC

Personnel - a strategic task

On 29 November, a joint extended meeting of JINR Directorate and a meeting of the JINR STC was held. It was chaired by JINR Director Grigory Trubnikov and Chairman of the STC Elena Kolganova. Grigory Trubnikov presented the information of Directorate, Acting Rector of the University Andrey Denikin presented the report "Dubna University. 30 years of training personnel for a knowledge-intensive economy" and Director of the University Centre Dmitry Kamanin spoke about the work programme of the UC.

Grigory Trubnikov began his speech with scientific news from the Laboratories. In the Baikal-GVD project of the Laboratory of Nuclear Problems, two new clusters of optical modules are prepared for the 2025 expedition and the coastal infrastructure is developed. From the accumulated experimental data, it is clear that the accuracy of measuring the angle of the sky is four times higher than the accuracy in the IceCube project. LINAC-200 in the commissioning mode will be launched by the end of the year. Samples from Azerbaijan, Vietnam and South Africa are measured at positron spectrometry facilities. The DANSS project at the Kalinin NPP is currently carried out, the employees of the Laboratory have joined the SPD experiment and currently participate in the international projects JUNO, LEGEND and COMET at CERN.

E.Kolganova, G.Trubnikov and N.Kucherka

FLNR prepares to synthesize elements 119 and 120. The new U-400R experimental building is nearing completion and the first experiment has been carried out on the upgraded U-400M accelerator. Research on DC-140 is delayed by six months and the first accelerated ion beams will be obtained in the second half of 2025. The dates for the project stages were specified at the recent meetings of the Coordination Committee and the Supervisory Board of the NICA project and several sections of the Nuclotron ring are widely upgraded and replaced. Director thanked the employees of DLNP, FLNR and FLNP for quickly joining the assembly on the ring. A long-awaited success: after seven years, the cryogenic compressor complex is ready for launch and the first long-term experiments for Roscosmos have been implemented on cryogenic beams.

The Tier 1 centre of MLIT is the first among the centres of this level for the CMS LHC experiment. The digital ecosystem of the Institute develops: PIN-2 and the repository of employee publications have been put into trial operation and services for collaborative work have been added. Active cooperation with other laboratories of the Institute is underway.

At FLNP, work is underway to replace two air heat exchangers of the IBR-2 reactor; they will be completed in mid-December. To put the reactor into operation, it is necessary to amend the license conditions, so the trial start-up of the reactor is expected in May 2025. "The reactor has been shut down for almost three years, this is a tragedy for the Laboratory, it loses users. IREN and other secondary neutron facilities operate, results are obtained, but the reactor has to be put into operation as soon as possible," Director emphasized.

Over the 10 months of this year, 18 theses have been defended in the Dissertation Council and since the reappointment of membership of the Council on 1 September, 2019 - 109 (86 candidate, 23 doctoral theses).

As of 1 November, the Institute has 4185 employees, 86 associates and 906 - in self-supporting units. Among the research staff, 68% are citizens of the Russian Federation, 21% are from Member States and 11% are from other countries. At the suggestion of Directorate, monthly allowances for an academic degree will increase from 1 January and from 1 March, the base salary will be indexed by 4%.

The 28th International Conference of Young Scientists and Specialists was successfully held, bringing together 260 participants from many countries of the world. Since the new year, JINR has been organizing an annual competition of innovative projects. The first issue of the new JINR journal Natural Science Review (Editor-in-Chief - Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences V.A.Matveev) will be published by the end of 2024. "This journal is an important infrastructure and reputation project of JINR. For the successful development of the journal, it is necessary to unite the efforts of the entire Institute; this is a matter of honor for JINR," Grigory Trubnikov emphasized.

Following the session of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives held in Dubna in November, a strategy for the spatial development of Dubna and a master plan for the social and economic development of the city for the coming decades will be developed. This year, repair work has been carried out at the JINR sites and in the city territory, on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the Conference Centre, the restaurant of the Hotel "Dubna", the checkpoint of the FLNP site, the parking at the VBLHEP checkpoint, the Resort Hotel "Ratmino", on Lipnya Island, in the Resort Hotel "Dubna" (Alushta).

The session of CP held in Minsk on 13-15 November approved the JINR budget for 2025: revenues will amount to $229 million, expenses - $277 million. The session approved Director's initiative to organize a programme to support interlaboratory innovation projects, supported the active scientific and educational activities of the UC, approved the implementation of the JINR postdoc and scholarship programmes and the publication of a new journal, JINR Natural Science Review.

V.V.Korenkov was awarded the Mongolian Friendship Medal, L.Kostov - the Russian Federation Friendship Order, V.A.Matveev - the Bogolyubov Gold Medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

In 2026, the 70th anniversary of JINR will be celebrated and preparations for the anniversary events have already started. "I urge all laboratories to think about special editions and albums for the anniversary, this is a reason to remember everyone that has contributed to this success. And the next milestone is 14 December, when the 75th anniversary of HTL and DLNP will be celebrated," Grigory Trubnikov addressed the participants.

A.Denikin

Andrey Denikin recalled in his speech that the university was established 30 years ago by the decision of the Moscow Region Government, the city leaders and JINR Directorate. "We can say that today, we are talking about the results of one of the longest-term projects, in which JINR plays a leading role," he highlighted. The restructuring of the university that was started by the decision of the Russian Government, has now been completed. In addition to the main university in Dubna, the university includes branches in Dmitrov and Protvino. Today, 4100 people study at the university, 57% of whom are full-time students and 2870 - in our city. Only 20% of students are from Dubna, the rest represent 82 regions of Russia. "This is good, the students that come are highly motivated, 75% of them stay to work in Dubna and at JINR as well. In 2022, we stopped to be a regional university and our federal status forces us to compete for the distribution of the Russian Federation budget with leading universities in Moscow and in the Moscow Region. It explains the decrease in the number of students," the speaker empasized.

The university will reach 4500-5000 full-time students by 2030-2033. In particular, the number of students in information and communication programmes will be increased from 336 in 2024 to 655, in fundamental and natural sciences (the most in-demand at JINR and SEZ companies) - from 96 to 345, in engineering and technological areas - from 134 to 365, in social and humanitarian areas - from 262 to 580, the latter mainly due to contractual recruitment. In 2022, the geography of enrollment was as follows: 40% of applicants represented Moscow and the Moscow Region, another 23% - other regions of the Central Federal District and only 3% - abroad. The latter figure is unacceptable for a city with an international institute and by 2030, it will be increased to 15%, taking into account those entering not only the first year, but also the master's and postgraduate programmes.

An indicator such as the average USE score was 75-78 points at the university several years ago, today, it has decreased to 70. By 2030, it will be increased to 85 and higher. Analyzing the situation in previous years, it can be said that the university does not always meet the requests of city employers for training personnel in certain specialties. A solution here could be a network model, within the framework of which the Dubna University is considered as a personnel hub for the entire science city, welcoming students that have studied at other universities and not only in the Russian Federation. At one time, A.N.Sisakyan brought a large team of JINR employees to the university, as a result of whose activities seven basic departments were established and currently function, 700-800 people study there annually and 150 JINR employees teach. During this time, 650 graduates of the university have not only entered the Institute, but also work there today. If you look at the distribution by laboratories, the maximum number works at VBLHEP - 180 people. Several years ago, the university launched cutting-edge educational projects: the JINR-supported Big Data Analytics School, the International Engineering School and a number of others. This format, in the opinion of A.S.Denikin, is a golden mean between theoretical and practical training that allows students to fully immerse themselves in the content of their future work.

According to the speaker, in order to attract 5000 children here, the "information funnel" should be 200-300 thousand people annually, that is, information about JINR should be broadcast to an audience of this scale in Russia. This task is difficult to meet in person; it should be divided into parts. There are currently two large educational institutions in Dubna - the university and a branch of Moscow State University. There is JINR, for which education is a very important component and the SEZ that is a good practical base. Joint projects, a single programme, a common understanding of how to involve young people are needed. Such a tool can be the international physics and mathematics Olympiad "Dubna", organized in several stages - correspondence and face-to-face that will expand the audience reach several times. According to the speaker, the practice of schools for physics teachers at JINR should be turned into a year-round marathon, so that they are held at least once a quarter. And to invite not only teachers of physics and mathematics, but also chemistry, biology and computer science. The university is ready to become a platform and the main organizer; JINR will need help with the programme saturation and funds for implementation. The university is also ready to join the international conference, annually held by the JINR AYSS, expanding the areas of its topics.

JINR has recently organized several of its information centres in universities in different countries. This resource is extremely interesting in terms of attracting both students and teachers to the university. A meaningful round table on the issues of education was held at the beginning of the year within the framework of the Conference "Mathematics. Computer. Education". In addition to the university and JINR, representatives of Rosatom's flagship universities took part in it. Based on the results of this round table, it is possible to begin to develop a joint programme for the university and the Joint Institute. There is another tool for attracting foreigners - quotas from the Government of the Russian Federation that are difficult to use due to their bureaucracy, yet the Government is ready to provide this money for the education of students in Dubna. Within the framework of this system, the university has already announced several programmes that are maximally focused on the tasks of JINR and under them, it is possible to organize the arrival of foreign students from JINR Member States and BRICS countries. The implementation of all these plans is limited by infrastructural constraints. The project of the international science and technology park is a powerful incentive for the development of the city in both the educational and scientific and industrial parts. On the project, more than 10 thousand high-tech production places will be established, 5 thousand students will enter the university and the volume of state investments in budgets at all levels from the results of economic activity will increase several times.

In response to T.A.Strizh's question about where to get the required number of qualified teachers for the increased number of students, A.S.Denikin replied that the issue of attracting new teachers from other places and moving them to Dubna could be met by implementing the project of an international science and technology park, where service housing is provided.

R.V.Jolos asked whether the problem with budget places that arose after the university's status changed from regional to federal had changed? "In the first year, enrollment decreased by 10 times," Andrey Sergeevich replied. "Today, we have succeeded to restore the size of budget enrollment to 60% and in the future, we are going to increase this figure so that up to 1000 people are enrolled to the budget annually."

W.Badawy emphasized that it would be very useful for the reports to be learnt about in the Member States and advised to strengthen the cooperation with the universities of these countries.

"It is good that the university has turned to JINR," Grigory Trubnikov evaluated the report. "You have spoken well about the development of the university, but cooperation with JINR still needs to be discussed. The Institute is interested in masters and postgraduates in scientific fields and bachelors in engineering. Let's focus on them next time. The task of increasing the enrollment of foreign students to the university to 15% is not ambitious. In the conditions of competition with Moscow universities, in order to have federal support, it is necessary to stand out with bright features. These can be foreign students. We cannot cope here without a network format. Agreements on the recognition of double degrees with Belarus, Vietnam, Egypt are necessary. Let's intensively work on it."

D.Kamanin

D.V.Kamanin began his report by defining the place of personnel training and the UC in the activities of JINR: "This is the intersection of four very important areas in the Seven-Year Plan: personnel training programmes, organization of scientific activities, development of scientific communications, development of the Institute as an international intergovernmental organization. The trajectory of personnel training occurs precisely in the process of work through international practices, internships and all kinds of dissemination of information about the Institute. Another plane of our work includes programmes: from school educational programmes to programmes for science leaders. All the mentioned above fits into the concept of continuous education that was recognized by UNESCO as a guiding structure for educational reforms around the world back in 1972. And there are also unrealized opportunities - internships for faculty and schools for future teachers."

At the last extended meeting of Directorate, Directors of all Laboratories were asked to formulate their expectations and requests to the UC. D.V.Kamanin presented the information received. BLTP proposes to provide an opportunity to invite promising students for temporary work (internship) at JINR. To do this, it is necessary to estimate the need for dormitories for young employees and students. The request from DLNP is assistance in opening a new department of Radiochemistry at the MSU branch; expansion of the JEMS excursion base; training in a number of disciplines of industrial safety, blue-collar jobs and labor protection. A new approach is scheduled for the last issue on a new technological base. LRB proposes to organize the passing of the candidate minimum directly at JINR for research interns and employees. It requires minor revision and in the near future, the UC will complete this request. A request was received from VBLHEP for postgraduate studies. This is a complex issue requiring separate discussion. MLIT proposes to organize a school for computer science teachers. The task seems simple, but it is worth an entire strategy, according to the speaker. MLIT also suggests refining the coordination issues when conducting excursions. "In fact, we should free the laboratory staff from many of the things which we are rightly criticized for," D.V.Kamanin emphasized, "That is, we need some kind of comprehensive programme for staffing the UC." FLNR suggests thinking up an Olympiad for schoolchildren and the UC already works on it. FLNP focuses on organizational work on the entire range of issues related to students. The task, the speaker complained, is that there are few supervisors of student work and the requests constantly increase.

Afterwards, Director of the UC proposed to discuss the outlines of the UC development strategy. It is clear that it is necessary to rely on the JINR Charter, the strategic development plan, the Seven-Year Plan, but with a new approach - individual career trajectories. These career trajectories go through the training of masters and postgraduates in laboratories. It is necessary to ensure sustainability in the most popular areas - work with school teachers. Focus on issues of the highest responsibility is further development of the educational and methodological complex "Physics. Engineers of the Future". The fact that it is included in the list of recommended textbooks is an asset that has gone beyond JINR. The most important of the new requests is passing internship for faculty. Network solutions for organizing scientific and educational work and creating a motivational environment at the local level mean transferring scientific and educational solutions outside the Institute to information centres. Of course, development of the UC and training of personnel at the Institute are impossible without a scientific and educational cluster in Dubna and this is the Dubna University and a branch of Moscow State University. The issue of training personnel requires reliance on internal and external expertise; it is necessary to resume the work of the Council of the University Centre.

Regarding the strategic area - work with teachers, from 2025, teacher visits will be organized in two or more streams, a school for teachers in English will be organized. In February 2025, a pilot school "Teacher of the future" will be held for teachers selected by information centres in the territory of the Russian Federation.

"And now, the most important thing is the UC Council, its goals, objectives, status. Undoubtedly, everything we do should ensure the implementation of the Strategic Plan for the Long-Term Development of JINR and the Seven-Year Plan in terms of personnel training," Dmitry Vladimirovich emphasized. It is proposed to make the Council an advisory body to JINR Directorate. Among its tasks are the development of proposals for updating the strategy for training JINR personnel, discussing the areas of activity of the UC and estimating its efficiency, discussing the activities of basic departments and joint educational programmes, social and organizational issues of students' and postgraduate students' stay at JINR, estimating the required resources and other issues. In addition to Directors of JINR and the UC and the representatives of JINR Directorate and Laboratories, the Council should necessarily include the heads of the AYSS and of national groups, of the Department of International Cooperation. The formation of the Council's working group has already started.

Estimating the efficiency of the UC programmes is a difficult task. Only part of the work can be estimated using numerical indicators. Such as, 1217 people have passed through the UC (JINR basic departments, Dubna University, other universities) over the past five years, 47% of whom came to work at the Institute and 24% work today. The teachers that participated in the schools have repeatedly evaluated this form as the best opportunity to see modern science with their own eyes and they also provide information about graduates that have entered our university. There are many wonderful success stories from participants in the START programme and international student practices, who visiting JINR became a turning point for in their scientific careers.

D.V.Kamanin's speech raised many questions and comments. For example, D.V.Peshekhonov does not understand the essence of the changes in the activities of the UC in recent years. The speaker responded: "A.S.Denikin and I work in very tough competitive conditions. We need to cover, as Andrey Sergeevich has estimated, an information funnel of 200-300 thousand people. The size of our funnel is probably even larger, we need to attract high-quality students, cover the Member States, so it is necessary to work on those fronts that are specific." S.N.Dmitriev, E.A.Kolganova, S.N.Nedelko, B.Yu.Sharkov highlighted that the landscape has changed, the UC does difficult work and a Council and a permanent working group are needed. E.A.Kolganova emphasized that it is evident from the reports that the main task is the personnel that the Institute needs, therefore the UC should work very closely with both the university and the JINR HR department. "Even those people that go through the UC and stay in their organizations and countries also work for us, they are extremely useful for the Institute. We have a strategic task - to increase the staff by 1000 people by 2030. We need to think about the role of the UC in achieving it," Chairman of the STC concluded the meeting.

Olga TARANTINA,
photo by Elena PUZYNINA