Agreement on implementation of JINR-Mexico projects signed

On 8 December, in Mexico City, a JINR delegation visited the Secretariat of Science, Humanities, Technology and Innovation (Secihti), a federal executive body of the United Mexican States that functions as the Ministry of Science and Technology.

At the meeting, a trilateral agreement was signed between JINR, the Secretariat and the Institute of Nuclear Sciences of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) to expand scientific cooperation.

On behalf of Secretary Rosaura Ruiz, Vice Minister of Science and Humanities Violeta Rojas outlined the current status of JINR-Mexico cooperation in accordance with the declaration of intent for joint activities in fundamental, advanced and applied scientific research signed in 2023. Professor Rojas thanked the Joint Institute and Director Grigory Trubnikov personally for their dedication to developing international scientific and technical cooperation. She expressed confidence that cooperation with JINR will significantly contribute to the development of a younger generation of Mexican scientists and specialists.

JINR Director Grigory Trubnikov emphasized that the trilateral agreement being concluded primarily focuses on developing tools for further expanding JINR-Mexico cooperation. These tools will be aimed at developing human capital and training highly qualified personnel for Mexico, providing Mexican scientists with access to JINR's extensive research infrastructure, particularly, the NICA Accelerator Complex and the Multifunctional Information and Computing Complex, as well as promoting academic mobility through joint conferences and seminars at JINR.

Following a competitive selection process, three research areas will be funded under this agreement: nuclear analytical techniques for studying nanomaterials and environmental samples, participation in the MPD NICA collaboration and research using high-energy beams at the Van de Graaff accelerator.

Grigory Trubnikov highlighted with satisfaction the parties' mutual interest in developing a joint research programme in environmental investigations, radiobiology, biomedicine and IT. JINR Director emphasized that Mexico's example has become a starting point for expanding JINR's cooperation with other Latin American countries, such as Brazil and Argentina.

JINR Vice Director and Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Kekelidze spoke about experiments at the NICA Accelerator Complex and the participation of Mexican scientists in the NICA Megascience Project collaborations. He highlighted the contribution of the Mexican institutes' collaboration under the auspices of UNAM to the development of the MPD project and the role of Alejandro Ayala, a researcher at the UNAM Institute of Nuclear Sciences, as Chairman of the MPD Institutional Council.

The meeting was also attended by the representatives Secihti Lisa Aceves, Gerardo Tamayo and Andres Triana, Head of the JINR Department of International Cooperation Otilia-Ana Culicov and scientists from Mexico: members of the JINR Scientific Council Ana Maria Cetto and Alejandro Ayala, Maria Rodriguez (Institute of Physics, UNAM), Luis Hernandez (Metropolitan Autonomous University, UAM) and Alfredo Raya (Universidad de Michoacan San Nicolas de Hidalgo, UMSNH).