President of Armenia: The whole country is proud of scientific merits  and achievements of Yuri Oganesyan

ArmInfo. On July 12, Armenian  President Armen Sarkissian received the scientific leader of the  Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions at the Joint Institute for  Nuclear Research in Dubna (Russian Federation), Academician of the  Russian Academy of Sciences, foreign member of the National Academy 

of Sciences of Armenia Yuri Oganesyan.

According to presidential press office, Armen Sarkissian recalled 

that on July 11 he signed a decree on conferring citizenship of the 

Republic of Armenia to Yuri Oganesyan. Congratulating the well-known 

scientist, Sarkissian highly appreciated his contribution to the 

development of nuclear physics, noting that the country and the whole 

nation are proud of the scientific merits and achievements of Yuri 

Hovhannisyan.

The interlocutors discussed the implementation of the program for the 

production of radioisotopes and the creation of a diagnostic center.

Sarkissian welcomed the readiness of the famous scientist to promote 

the development of science in Armenia, as well as to contribute to 

the cause of education and progress of young scientists.

The interlocutors also exchanged views on the prospects for the 

development of science in Armenia.

Yuri Oganesyan 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.