Significant scientific results, new projects, prospects
The meeting started with a minute of silence in memory of the members of the Scientific Council Director of the Research Institute for Nuclear Problems of Belarusian State University Professor Sergey Maksimenko (13.08.1954 - 16.03.2026) and Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Research Computing Centre of Moscow State University and a Branch of Moscow State University in Sarov Vladimir Voevodin (25.05.1962 - 29.04.2026).
Further, the elections for Co-Chair of the Scientific Council were held: for a period of three years, starting from this session, President of the Vietnam Institute of Atomic Energy (VINATOM) Chan Ti Thanh was unanimously elected. The meeting participants thanked Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Sergey Kilin for many years (since 2022) of fruitful work as a Co‑Chair.
The Scientific Council included Director of the Department of Science and Innovation of the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Atomic Energy M.V. Zdorovets and Deputy Director of the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan M.Yu. Tashmetov, elected by the JINR Committee of Plenipotentiaries in March 2026.
The report of JINR Director Grigory Trubnikov presented the decisions of the March session of the Committee of Plenipotentiaries, the results of the implementation of the Seven-Year Development Plan of JINR for 2024-2030, the progress of projects included in the Topical Plan for 2026, as well as events in the field of scientific activity and international cooperation of the Institute.
In particular, progress was highlighted in the implementation of the following projects:
NICA Megascience Project: preparation for the start of the second run of the Accelerator Complex (in October), equipping the collider with an extra high-frequency station and components of the electronic cooling system; completion of mapping of the magnetic field of the MPD solenoid and intensive work on the assembly of the detector; implementing a BM@N experiment with registration of about 3 billion Xe124 + Sn124 interaction events; preparation of the order for manufacturing the SPD solenoid yoke and development of the physical programme of the experiment.
Synthesis of the element 119:successful start of the experiment on the 50Ti + 249Bk reaction at the Superheavy Element Factory; completion of the construction of a new DC‑140 accelerator complex and obtaining the first beam of accelerated krypton ions (84Kr11+>) with an energy of 2.124 MeV.
Baikal-GVD: in a joint analysis of data from four experiments (IceCube, PAO, Baikal-GVD and Cubic Kilometre Neutrino Telescope), a differential upper limit of the cosmogenic neutrino flux was obtained and the magnitude of the neutrino flux (antineutrino) was estimated; the deep-sea neutrino telescope on Lake Baikal is currently developed.
DANSS: in the experiment at the Kalinin nuclear power plant, for the first time in the world, long-term diagnostics of the reactor operation (9.5 years) using antineutrinos was demonstrated; for the first time, a single beta decay of zirconium-96 was observed with a half-life of about 2.27 × 1020 years.
TAIGA: the installation of the fifth Cherenkov telescope is nearing completion; commissioning of the telescope is scheduled for the end of the year.
IBR-2: successful execution of scheduled operating cycles for physics experiments; operation of a user experiment programme at IBR‑2, providing access to a unique neutron infrastructure for scientists from JINR Member States and other countries; for the first time in the world, the cross section of the gamma-ray yield in reactions (n, Xγ) has been measured at the TANGRA facility at an energy of 14 MeV for 20 elements; a new Wide-Aperture Backscattering Detector BSD‑A has been developed for a High Resolution Fourier Diffractometer at IBR‑2; a new promising pulsed neutron source is currently developed.
Unique radiobiological experiments on the beams of accelerated heavy ions of the NICA Complex and the U‑400M cyclotron were also highlighted; successful work of the Laboratory of Theoretical Physics: interesting results in the field of mathematical physics and condensed matter physics; development and functioning of the Multifunctional Information and Computing Complex; JINR's successful participation in data analysis and detector modernization programmes for LHC experiments and other scientific advances.
The results on the development of international cooperation, educational activities, efforts to develop applied research, attracting young scientists to train highly qualified specialists for projects implemented at the Institute and JINR Member States were positively evaluated.
After the report, JINR Director Grigory Trubnikov answered questions from the session participants.
The following reports focused on the recommendations made at sessions of the Programme Advisory Committees in June, 2026. They were presented by Chairman of the PAC for particle physics I. Tserruya, Chairman of the PAC for nuclear physics V.V. Nesvizhevsky and Chairman of the PAC for condensed matter physics D.L. Nagy.
You can read more about them in No. 28 and No. 29 of our weekly.
At the session of the Scientific Council, reports of young scientists were traditionally made that were selected by the Programme Advisory Committees for presentation at this session.
Report of a junior researcher at VBLHEP M. V. Mamaev "Directed proton flux in Xe + CsI collisions at a beam energy of 3.8 A GeV in the BM@N experiment". At the beginning of 2023, the first physical experiment on the collision of xenon Xe nuclei on the CsI cesium-iodine target was completed at the BM@N facility. The first data on the directional flux of protons produced in Xe+CsI collisions were presented in the report and the results were compared with the current world data and theoretical predictions of the nuclear-nuclear collision model.
Report of a researcher at FLNR N. D. Kovrizhnykh "Investigations of the reactions 238U + 54Cr, 242Pu + 50Ti and 237Np + 48Ca at the SHE Factory". These reactions were investigated in a gas-filled separator DGFRS‑2 at the FLNR Superheavy Element Factory. An investigation of the resulting isotopes, reaction channels and sections showed that the reaction of isotopes of actinide elements with 50Ti is an order of magnitude preferable to reactions with 54Cr for the synthesis of new elements 119 and 120.
Report by a trainee researcher at FLNP M. V. Naumenko "Small-angle X‑ray scattering (SAXS) and complementary methods in characterizing liposomal delivery systems for biologically active isothiocyanates". The report is dedicated to the investigation of the interaction of a natural biologically active compound - sulforaphane (SFN) with single-layer phospholipid vesicles DMPC. The high antitumor and antioxidant potential of sulforaphane is limited by its chemical instability and low bioavailability that necessitates its encapsulation into liposomes. The investigation was carried out using the small-angle X‑ray scattering (SAXS) on the Xeuss 3.0 facility.
With interest, members of the Scientific Council listened to the scientific report of the winner of the B. M. Pontecorvo Prize, Professor M. E. Shaposhnikov "From neutrino oscillations to the origin of ordinary and dark matter".
The jury's decisions on awarding the V.P. Dzhelepov Prize to B. N. Gikal and M. V. Zdorovets for a significant contribution to the development of an accelerator complex of heavy DC‑60 ions and the development of a large research centre in the Astana Branch of the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Republic of Kazakhstan on its basis were approved. The jury also approved the decision to award the G. N. Flerov Prize to P. Yu. Apel for his outstanding contribution to the development of applied nuclear physics.
At the meeting, diplomas were solemnly presented to the winners of JINR prizes for the best papers in science, methodology and technology, applied physics.
At the end of the session, a general discussion and approval of the resolution were made.
The 141st session of the Scientific Council will be held on 18‑19 February, 2027.
Galina MYALKOVSKAYA, photo by Igor LAPENKO