The important role of the Institute as a “forge of personnel” was predetermined by the principles on which it was founded and by the scientific schools of outstanding physicists, including D.I. Blokhintsev, N.N. Bogolyubov, G.N. Flerov, I.M. Frank, Kh. Hulubei, L. Infeld, G. Nadjakov, Kh. Nevodnichanski, B.M. Pontecorvo, V.I. Veksler and others.
The conceptual basis of the Institute’s modern development programmes is the triad: science – education – innovation, which also corresponds to the strategy of economic development of JINR Member States.
JINR has always been and remains an excellent place to start a successful scientific career. Students and postgraduates from JINR Member States have the opportunity to carry out their qualification theses in the Institute’s scientific divisions while combining this work with studies at the JINR-based university departments of leading Russian universities or following individual curricula. This format offers a number of advantages, for example: the opportunity to participate in cutting-edge research conducted by international collaborations; a wide range of specialisations available at the Institute; high competence of JINR experts who serve as scientific supervisors for students; and unique additional educational programmes. JINR hosts six dissertation councils for defending PhD and doctoral theses.
Each year, several hundred undergraduate and graduate students from many institutes and universities of JINR Member States pass through various educational programmes based at JINR. Overall coordination and support for JINR’s Educational Programme is carried out by its dedicated department – the University Centre (UC).
Close ties have been established between JINR and leading technical universities in Russia, including Lomonosov Moscow State University, National Research Nuclear University “MEPhI”, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Kazan Federal University, and Saint Petersburg State University. These universities maintain JINR-based departments at the Institute. At the initiative of the JINR Directorate and with strong support from Lomonosov Moscow State University and the administrations of Moscow Oblast and Dubna, the University “Dubna” was founded in Dubna in 1994. Students have the opportunity to begin their scientific careers in the Institute’s laboratories as early as their first undergraduate years.
The JINR University Centre coordinates a unified educational process for JINR-based departments to train highly qualified personnel for JINR and its Member States. To this end, the UC involves leading Institute staff in educational activities and assists in organising research work for senior students within the Institute’s research teams. Departmental curricula are supplemented with special elective courses aligned with JINR’s research directions.
For students and postgraduates from Member States, the UC organises and runs the International Student Practice, whose participants are selected through a competitive process in their home countries. The Institute also operates the “START” Student Programme, to which senior undergraduate students from any country worldwide may apply. Participants are selected by Institute staff on a competitive basis.
In 2020, the JINR University Centre launched a new programme for students worldwide called INTEREST – an acronym for INTErnational REmote Student Training. The programme allows students to learn about the Institute’s activities and carry out research projects remotely.