In April 2026, the JINR University Centre, together with the Southern Federal University (SFedU) and the Northern (Arctic) Federal University (NArFU), conducted an extensive training programme for science and engineering teachers in the regions. The JINR Information Centres in Rostov-on-Don and Arkhangelsk provided significant support in organizing the events.
The programme was preceded by the Teachers of the Future school held at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research from 31 January to 7 February 2026. It was attended by 24 SFedU and NArFU students who plan to devote their future careers to teaching. After returning to their universities, the students began preparing specialised intensives for their regions’ educational institutions with the assistance of their professors and the methodological support of JINR mentors.
The first such programme was held from 30 March to 4 April 2026 at the Faculty of Physics of the Southern Federal University. The SFedU students not only organized experimental workshops for schoolchildren and conducted master classes on the basics of kinematics and aerodynamics, but also prepared a special short-term lecture course. It was dedicated to discussing their February visit to Dubna, particularly tours of JINR laboratories, and the current research directions of the Joint Institute.
On 13–15 April, the NArFU Higher School of Engineering hosted a three-day spring intensive, “Modern Achievements of Physics and Technology”. It was attended by 28 students of grades 7–10 from eight Arkhangelsk Region schools. The mentors and organizers were five participants of Dubna’s Teachers of the Future school. They received expert assistance from an associate professor of the NArFU Fundamental and Applied Physics Department Victoria Yulkova and an UC JINR leading methodologist Petr Shirkov.
Complementing the students’ lecture series was a talk by the University Centre representative on the JINR projects in engineering, applied research, and fundamental studies. In addition, he gave several lectures on the history of science and the outstanding discoveries made in various fields. Another presentation was delivered online by a leading researcher of the JINR Laboratory of High Energy Physics, an Arkhangelsk native Sergey Merts. He spoke about accelerator technologies and studies planned to be carried out at the NICA Complex.
In spring 2026, UC representatives and their colleagues from the JINR Information Centres successfully tested a two-part programme for training teachers of Russian regions in such sought-after areas as fundamental and applied natural sciences, engineering, applied mathematics, and computer science.
The successful experience of the Teachers of the Future school for students and intensives for schoolers is expected to be scaled up to other JINR Member States hosting the Institute’s Information Centres – platforms for educational, scientific, and methodological activities.
