Meridians of cooperation

The internship was interesting and useful

From 21 September to 11 October, the JINR University Centre hosted the second stage of the International Student Internship for participants from Vietnam, Serbia and South Africa. During the first days of the internship, 25 students were introduced to the Institute's core facilities at an interactive exhibition in the Cultural Centre "Mir" and later, most of them were seen during tours of the Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions, Laboratory of Nuclear Problems, Laboratory of Information Technologies and Laboratory of High Energy Physics.

This time, the students selected projects from all the laboratories and the engineering group at the UC for their academic research projects.

A week before the end of the internship, the traditional international day was held, during which the participants learned a little more about Russia and introduced each other to the history and customs of their countries. Focusing on various aspects of life in South Africa, Vietnam and Serbia, showing off the country's landmarks and sharing specific aspects of life (Serbs, for example, are a heavy smoker - one in three people smoke), the students did so with humor and without pomp and treated the participants to national dishes.

On the final day of the internship - the day of project defenses and certificate awarding, some students and project supervisors shared their impressions.

The graduate students from Serbia...
...and students from Vietnam are defending the project

Junior researcher Inna Kolesnikova (LRB): "In our project, we worked with Aleksandra Borich from Serbia. She is a third-year medical physics student at the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Kragujevac. During her internship, Aleksandra had the opportunity to learn about the techniques used in radiobiological experiments at the Radiation Physiology Section of LRB. We work with small laboratory animals and Aleksandra tried herself in the role of a researcher, participating in testing rats using special behavioral devices. She was introduced to the Barnes and Open Field tests. Aleksandra participated in video recording during the experiment, after which she learned to independently process the experimental data. For example, in the Open Field device, it is necessary to analyze individual behavioral patterns (grooming, burrowing, vertical rearing and others). Aleksandra learned to recognize individual animal actions on video and successfully quantified them. We learned to process all the experimental data obtained statistically, applying appropriate criteria and using special software.

In addition to studying behavioral tests, the student had the opportunity to observe how we work with histological preparations. Alexandra learned about standard histological techniques, participated in staining procedures with various dyes and learned about immune histochemistry techniques. For example, we used TUNEL staining to detect and quantify apoptosis (programmed cell death). Alexandra worked with brain and intestinal samples, gaining experience with histological preparations using a light microscope and a camera and using software for making digital images of microslides.

I hope this experience will be useful to Alexandra in the future. The workload was extensive, but I am very pleased that we were able to introduce the student to all stages of the radiobiological experiments carried out in our department."

"Four students from Vietnam worked on our project "Radiation protection and safety of radiation sources"," a senior researcher at the Laboratory of Nuclear Problems Said Abdelshakur said. "We investigated radiation defects in materials and explored radiation safety issues. The students were hardworking. They learned about various detectors, from scintillation to pixel detectors. We compared their resolutions and calibrations and they calculated attenuation coefficients in various materials, such as aluminum and copper. They also calibrated using X-ray tubes. We also carried out simulations and the results matched the experimental data. Time was short, of course, but we got everything done. Working with the students was interesting.

Are you ready to invite them to prepare their theses here or to come back after their defense?

"It's important for us that potential employees know Python or C++. Two of our internship participants are proficient in these languages and have worked well, so if they're interested, we're willing to welcome them for their theses and then work there for a year or two."

Quang Hai Vu (Vietnam): "This internship was very useful for me in my areas of interest: nuclear physics and nuclear medicine. I think I'd like to pursue research in this area in the near future. The internship was incredibly rewarding, it gave me a boost and it was very inspiring. I try to improve my education. All the experiments here are excellent. And our mentor Said was the best."

PhD students at the Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences (Serbia) Milos Simic, Nada Adamovic and Jovanna Bukumira have chosen the FLNP project "Neutron activation analysis and related analytical techniques in environmental and life sciences" for their research papers.

Milos: "The internship was very useful for me because I had the opportunity to analyze my samples using techniques we don't have in Serbia. The topic proposed in the FLNP project aligns with my research interests. Perhaps, some collaboration will arise."

Nada: "The internship was interesting but unfortunately, this project will not be included in my thesis. However, learning new techniques was very useful for the future; it expands our knowledge."

Jovanna: "I work with angular diffraction analysis of matter but it was interesting to learn new research techniques."

Ntombizikona Nglovu and Inga Kolesnikova

The supervisor of the South African student group was Ntombizikona Ndlovu, already familiar to her colleagues at JINR. She herself, as a student, had participated in a similar internship fifteen years earlier and a few years later, came to Dubna as the supervisor of a group of students from South African universities.

Is this the second time South African students visit JINR this year?

"This is an additional, second group of students. The first that participated in the internship for South African students in June, is much larger. Today, the students that were unable to participate in the summer internship have arrived."

Are you here as a supervisor?

"Yes, the students came with a research manager from IThemba LABS but he was only able to stay here for a week and asked me to replace him as a supervisor."

Do you go on with the ecology research you began during your student internship at FLNP?

"I still collaborate with Inga Zinkovskaya (FLNP Neutron Activation Analysis and Applied Research Sector) and Grzegorz Kaminski (FLNR). Since Inga is still involved in these internships, I am familiar with the project topics that has helped me to supervise the students' papers."

Olga TARANTINA,
photo by Lyubov KRYLOVA