The regular 110^th session of the JINR Scientific Council was held on 15-16 September 2011 at the International Conference Hall with the motto “Improve the effectiveness of work”.

The session was opened with the triumphant occasion. Professor Gary Efimov, the senior scientist of LTP, got the state reward of Mongolia and the medal of Academy of Sciences of Mongolia. This country highly appreciated the work and service of this famous theoretical physicist in the field of fundamental researches and the training of young experts for this member state of JINR.

Vice-director of JINR M.G. Itkis summed up in his report all occasions of great importance, that happened in JINR over the last 6 months (after the 109^th session of the JINR Scientific Council). The following events were considered to be the most important: the visits to JINR of the Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin and the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov in July, the recognition of the leading role of Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions in the synthesis of 114^th and 116^th chemical elements by The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP).

The vice-director highlighted in the total amount of everyday work of JINR the results of the spring run of nuclotron (700 hours of duration). The half of run was devoted to the testing of the vacuum conditions in the ring of nuclotron, installing and testing of new automatic correcting systems of the beam of heavy particles and the measuring its parameters.  Another half of run was used by 6 collaborations of physicists for experimenting. The world’s first superconducting accelerator of heavy ions – nuclotron – is sure to be the base for the new progressing accelerator complex NICA. At the summer conference in Dubna M.G. Itkis pointed out as well, that the international consulting group of accelerator experts, which was created in support of the project NICA, was satisfied with the elaboration of the facility of the collider.

The project NICA was also number 1 point in the report made by the director of JINR, academician V.A. Matveev. The head of JINR regarded the State Prizes of the Russian Federation granted to academician Y. T. Oganesyan and professor M. G. Itkis for scientific achievements as significant events of the last half of the year. Then he analyzed the results of July session of the governmental commission on high technology and innovation chaired by V.V. Putin, that took place 2 months ago (Vstrecha, № 28, the 14^th of July, 2011). The session was devoted to the discussion of funding scientific megaprojects. The state experts have chosen only 6 projects out of 28. NICA is one of them.

Academician Matveev underlined that the production technologies of superconducting magnets, invented in 1993 in Dubna specially for nuclotron, will be used by German colleagues of our physicists from Darmstadt, where the accelerator complex FAIR will be created. The research programs made for both collider NICA and accelerator of heavy ions FAIR are very similar. Experimenting with collider NICA will make JINR the worldwide leader in the field of nuclear and particle physics. These fundamental researches can be beneficial in everyday life: the production technologies of nanotubes, nanomembranes, nanotransistors, accelerative technologies of secure recycling of nuclear waste, new methods of treatment the tumour with the help of accelerator.

V.A. Matveev specified the main courses of development which the administration of JINR is going to follow. They rest upon the seven-year plan of development of the institution for the period 2010-2016. Financial course of the administration aims at the concentration of resources on the basic projects of JINR noted in the seven-year plan. The finances should be effectively managed, so that the goals will be achieved. The work of all JINR subdivisions should also be effective. The administration of the institution will continue following the course of close co-operation with scientific organizations and structures of the EU and integration of basic installations of JINR into European scientific infrastructure. These installations will also be used for cross-subject survey: for example in astrophysics of particles, in life science, in physics for medicine, in molecular and nuclear physics. Information and computer complexes of JINR will be given the top priority of development. Innovation and educational activity of the institution are going to be developed and used more in the interests of the member states.

Natalia Teryaeva, Elena Zhuravleva