On 8 May 2025, the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of the Federative Republic of Brazil (MCTI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Russia. The document is aimed at strengthening cooperation between the parties in fundamental and applied research. The agreement provides for the creation of a JINR–Brazil Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) at high governmental level. The JCC is designed to establish a structured method of selecting and implementing collaborative projects, particularly those that involve using the large research infrastructure of JINR and Brazil to achieve the national goals of scientific and technological development of Brazil and the JINR Member States.

Photo © Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia

The signing of the memorandum was the result of ongoing joint work between the Institute and scientific organizations of the Federative Republic of Brazil. On 28 February 2024, an MCTI delegation visited the Joint Institute. Three months later, in May, JINR employees travelled to a number of scientific organizations and universities of Brazil. In 2024, cooperation agreements were signed with the National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN), the Federal University of Southern Bahia (UFSB) and the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF). An agreement with the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) will be concluded in May 2025. Representatives of Brazilian organizations are members of the JINR Advisory Bodies: the Scientific Council and the Programme Advisory Committee for Nuclear Physics.

JINR Director, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Grigory Trubnikov emphasised that the Institute highly appreciates the established ties with relevant Brazilian agencies and sees great potential for joint work in using the large research infrastructure of both JINR and Brazil. The Director of the Joint Institute drew special attention to the importance of the agreement for developing long-standing scientific partnerships with Brazil. “The memorandum we signed today is the decisive step on this path. The Joint Coordinating Committee and the Expert Working Group are crucial for forming a strong foundation for cooperation between researchers from Brazil and all JINR Member States,” Grigory Trubnikov concluded.

Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation of Brazil Luciana Barbosa de Oliveira Santos expressed a wish to establish closer contact between JINR and Russia’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education with organizations subordinate to the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation of Brazil: the Brazilian Centre for Research in Physics (CBPF), the Brazilian Centre for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), and the National Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA).

The most promising areas for strengthening cooperation between JINR and Brazilian research laboratories and universities are:

• theoretical physics (quantum field theory; the interface between QFT, cosmology, and general relativity; lattice quantum chromodynamics, theory of hadronic matter under extreme conditions, topological superconductivity, and theory of atomic nuclei);
• nuclear physics (low energy nuclear reactions, nuclear structure and clusterisation in nuclei, and production cross sections of superheavy elements);
• applied nuclear research (materials and life sciences, ecology, and radiobiology);
• condensed matter physics (atomic and magnetic structure of novel materials and materials in extreme conditions, soft matter studies, and structural biophysics);
• computing and IT (distributed data processing and machine learning for data analysis);
• educational programmes (training and exchange of highly qualified personnel).

The delegation of the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation of the Federative Republic of Brazil included the Ministry’s General Coordinator of Bilateral Cooperation Vânia Gomes da Silva, an employee of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry Lucielen Franciane Correa Barbosa, and Head of the Department of Science, Technology, Innovation, and Environment of the Brazilian Embassy in Russia Fabiano Burkhardt.

The meeting was attended by JINR Deputy Chief Scientific Secretary Alexey Zhemchugov and Assistant Secretary of the JINR Director Office Margarita Khvedelidze.

Photo © Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia