From 18 to 22 May 2026, the eleventh meeting of the international SPD (Spin Physics Detector) Collaboration is taking place at Tomsk State University (TSU) in a hybrid format. More than 170 scientists and engineers from Russia, Armenia, China, Belarus, South Africa, and Cuba are discussing updates on the SPD Project, progress of the experimental facility’s creation, and the development of the IT infrastructure for the future spin physics experiment at the NICA Collider.
Photo © Tomsk State University
Before the start of the meeting, TSU Rector Eduard Galazhinskiy gave a welcome speech. He noted the high importance of holding international scientific events at the university, which always paid special attention to fundamental studies. In his opinion, events such as the SPD meeting serve as a platform where new ideas emerge and new professional connections establish. This is what drives science forward and creates an environment in which new knowledge appears. “I am confident that the results of the SPD Collaboration’s work will become important steps that will allow us to supplement, and perhaps even change, our understanding of the physics of the microworld”, Eduard Galazhinskiy emphasised.
Dean of the TSU Faculty of Physics Sergey Filimonov gave a presentation on Tomsk State University and its research capabilities. He went into detail about the activities of the TSU High Energy Physics Data Analysis Laboratory, which greatly contributes to the work of the SPD Collaboration. The department employees take an active part in creating the data acquisition system (DAQ) and in the computer modelling of physics processes for the SPD Experiment based on the Geant4 Software Package. Sergey Filimonov emphasised the importance of involving young specialists in fundamental science and announced a student presentation competition at the 11th SPD Сollaboration Meeting.
The next talk, delivered by Chair of the SPD Collaboration Council, a leading researcher at the Alikhanyan National Science Laboratory Armen Tumasyan, was devoted to the collaboration’s organizational activities, with an emphasis on the continuing expansion of its membership and the renewal of its committees.
Head of the Elementary Particle Physics Laboratory at the Konstantinov Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, Collaboration Co-Spokesperson Victor Kim provided an update on the SPD. Priority tasks for 2026 remain the signing of a contract for magnet yoke manufacture, as well as the development of infrastructure for the detector’s cryogenic spin physics system.
In addition, Victor Kim announced the appointment of Konstantin Mukhin (VBLHEP at JINR) as the SPD Chief Engineer. In conclusion of the talk, he invited collaboration members to take part in the international workshop on high energy spin physics (DSPIN-26), which will be held in autumn 2026 in Dubna.
Deputy Director for the Implementation of Large Infrastructure Projects of the Laboratory of High Energy Physics at JINR Sergey Kostromin detailed the preparation and process of Run 1 at the NICA Accelerator Complex. His talk focused on the engineering and technical tasks done before the collider’s launch. In particular, NICA engineers brought the complex’s cryogenic system to its design capacity, which enabled the simultaneous cooling of the Booster, the Nuclotron, the collider, and the MPD (Multi-Purpose Detector) superconducting solenoid.
As part of his comment on the first heavy ion beam injection into the collider and their stable circulation, Sergey Kostromin outlined important tasks for the next run. Efforts will focus on increasing beam intensity, correcting their orbit, and implementing the collider’s electron cooling system.
The second part of the plenary session was dedicated to talks by the SPD Coordinators. Amaresh Datta (DLNP at JINR) and Evgeny Soldatov (MEPhI University) discussed the research programme preparation. The experimental facility progress and plans for the creation of its key subsystems were presented by Head of the VBLHEP JINR Scientific Experimental Department of Spin Structure of Hadrons and Rare Processes Alexander Korzenev. A senior researcher at the Laboratory of Information Technologies at JINR Danila Oleynik made a presentation on the SPD computing infrastructure.
The first day concluded with a session dedicated to SPD DAQ. A DLNP JINR senior researcher Leonid Afanasyev provided a data acquisition system update supplemented with talks by representatives of TSU, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, Lobachevsky University, and VBLHEP at JINR.
During the eleventh SPD Collaboration Meeting, participants will detailedly discuss the progress of all subsystems of the facility, electronics, and software. In total, the event’s scientific programme comprises over 60 talks covering key aspects of the experiment’s development.
