On 20 July 2026, the summer session of the START programme (STudent Advanced Research Training at JINR) began at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, with 37 students from Belarus, China, Cuba, Egypt, India, Kazakhstan, Russia, South Africa, Uzbekistan and Vietnam taking part.
This year, two main arrival dates were chosen, on which the majority of students arrive. This allows for more joint lectures and excursions to be organised for them, and also creates a common starting point for getting to know the Institute and one another. The first group of 19 people has already arrived in Dubna and started work. The remaining 18 students will join the programme in October.
The opening of the session took place at the University Centre. An introductory lecture on JINR, its structure, scientific directions and opportunities for young scientists at the Institute was given by the Director of the UC, Dmitry Kamanin. He also spoke about Dubna as a city where science has become part of everyday life, and invited the participants to consider the possibilities of building their scientific careers through JINR.
The Deputy Director of the UC, Wael Badawy, asked the participants about what difficulties they had encountered when registering for the programme, given the new application rules that have been in effect since this year. Now, when filling out the application form, participants indicate not only their area of scientific interest, but also the number of the topic from the JINR topical plan for the current year, which allows for a more precise distribution of students among laboratories and research groups. Most students noted that the process had been clear and had not caused any serious difficulties.
Immediately after the official part, an excursion to the Laboratory of Information Technologies (MLIT) was organised for the participants.
In the coming weeks, the participants will have intensive work ahead of them: they will spend between 6 and 8 weeks working on projects in various laboratories of the Institute. For many of them, this is their first experience working in an international scientific environment based on world-class facilities.
The START programme gives students a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in real research activity, work with leading scientists and acquire skills that cannot be gained within the framework of a standard university course.
