Wednesday, July 11 2018 08:21

ArmInfo. Prime Minister of  Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met with the world-famous Russian scientist,  expert in experimental nuclear physics Yuri Oganesyan, academician of  the Russian Academy of Sciences, during which he announced the  signing of a decree on granting the Armenian citizenship to the  scientist.

According to the press service of the Armenian government, Pashinyan  stressed Oganesyan's high standing in the scientific circles of the  world and noted that his support for the development of science in  Armenia is very important. "I am very glad that you are de jure now a  citizen of our country, since they have always been de facto,"  Pashinyan stressed. He expressed confidence that Oganesyan will now  visit Armenia more often.

Oganesyan expressed gratitude for granting citizenship and informed  the Prime Minister about the results of the meetings with the  Ministers of Education and Health of Armenia. "We discussed with them  the process of launching a production center for radioisotopes, as  well as the possibility of the participation of physicists in this  process," the scientist said.

Yuri Hovhannisyan is a famous Soviet and Russian scientist, an expert  in experimental nuclear physics, an academician of the Russian  Academy of Sciences, a scientific leader of the Flerov Laboratory of  Nuclear Reactions at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR)  in Dubna near Moscow. In honor of Oganesyan, the chemical element  "Oganeson" is named in the periodic table.

Back in 1998, in response to the government's offer, the Dubna  scientists Alexei Sissakian (now the late former JINR Director,  Academician of the RAS - Ed.) And Yuri Hovhannisyan agreed to conduct  a work to assess the potential of the Yerevan Physical Institute.  Then the leaders of the world's largest scientific laboratories from  Germany, France, the United States, Great Britain, Russia and other  countries responded to Yuri Oganesyan's appeal. A commission of 9  leading scientists of the world was established, who after the  evaluation proposed to the Armenian government, along with the direct  appointment of a physical institute, to use its capabilities and  infrastructure for other purposes. Thus, the idea of creating an  excellence in the field of oncology was created on the basis of the  Center founded in 1944, the part of funds from the work of which was  to be directed to the continuation of fundamental research. "Not many  people know that the Institute of Dubna has initiated the creation of  the Center of Excellence, which is a concrete example of the  transformation of fundamental science into applied science,"  Hovhannes Torosyan, senior scientific associate at JINR, said earlier  in a conversation with ArmInfo correspondent. The scientist,  expressing surprise at the fact that the creation of the center  turned into an object of unfinished construction. "But on the basis  of this cooperation it would be possible to form a powerful  scientific cluster uniting the Metsamor nuclear power plant, JINR,  the Armat Institute, the Institute of Physics, and other interested  organizations," Hrach Torosyan stated.

The Prime Minister of Armenia recently expressed his extreme surprise  at the "unfinished" center of excellence, who asked to find an  opportunity to complete such an important project for Armenia, which  has already been realized by 80% due to sponsorship and which the  previous government deemed ineffective.  Apparently, the arrival of  Yuri Hovhannisyan in Armenia and set a goal to find ways to  resuscitate and restart the program, from which the former  authorities began to disband.

The Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna is implementing a  number of programs in Armenia aimed at further developing the  scientific potential in nuclear physics. The Institute, one of the  founders of which together with other 18 states (Belarus, Bulgaria,  Czech Republic, Vietnam, etc.) is the Republic of Armenia, intends to  implement a number of so-called collaborative programs. It is a  question of creating a pool of scientific groups and laboratories  that by joint efforts, exchanging knowledge and experience, while  teaching young scientists, will set themselves specific goals in the  field of fundamental nuclear research.  This includes, among other  things, the active use by scientists from different countries of the  world of a new, modern electronic accelerator at the Kendl Institute  for Synchrotron Research, which is indispensable in its parameters  for some kind of research.