On September, 15 a meeting of Russian participants of ALICE collaboration in CERN was conducted in MEPhI. This was the second day of the regional meeting «ALICE-RUSSIA 2016» held in MEPhI together with Kurchatov Institute. Such event, where all the organisations, participating in ALICE on the part of Russia, gathered together, was conducted for the first time in the history of experiment existence.

M.N.Strikhanov delivered a welcoming speech, pointing out, that after 25 years of silence there appeared an opportunity to meet first at the Kurchatov Institute and then at MEPhI. He expressed his hope that such occasions will become regular in Russia. After that he introduced honorary guests: Head of ALICE collaboration Federico Antinori from the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics and codirector of FAIR-Russia Research Centre Professor Hans Gutbrot. “I think we have all opportunities to strengthen MEPhI activity in experiments on collisions of relativistic heavy ions, in particular, ALICE in CERN. And I hope this event will help our students to join mega-science experiments - both in CERN and other installations in Europe or in the United States, Japan,” said M.N.Strikhanov.

Then Associate Professor at the Department of condensed matter physics Arkadiy Taranenko made a report «Relativistic heavy-ion physics at MEPhI». In his presentation he spoke about MEPhI success in this sphere, his plans for future and existing problems. Arkadiy Taranenko spoke why scientists confront nuclei under relative energies. “It recreates the matter in conditions, in which it existed in the Universe a few seconds after the Big Bang, on Earth.” At the moment MEPhI is the participant of all existing experiments on collision of heavy ions. “MEPhI contribution in these experiments is important both at the level of ideas and at the practical level, and this requires a lot of people and efforts.”

Then Federico Antinori gave a report on topic «Physics of ALICE experiment at CERN LHC». “It’s my first in Russia. I hope this will be the first of many visits. He said that Russia has one of the best students in the world, and MEPhI has made a great contribution to the development of the ALICE experiment. “For us Russia and MEPhI are one of key collaboration participants.” In the main part of his lecture Federico Antinori told about ALICE experiment, its leading detectors, results, achieved in Run 1, analysis of Run 2, conducted now, and the hope that the questions, unsolved in first 2 rounds, will be answered in Run 3 and 4.Then the reports participants, sharing their experience during their research in high-energy physics were made.

Iliya Selyuzhenkov, MEPhI Associate Professor and GSI (Germany) research fellow stressed the importance of such meeting. “It is necessary for future fruitful cooperation with CERN that they know well about work, conducted by Russian scientists.”

Hans Gutbrot said that until 1930 people thought that the Universe is endless and the time doesn’t exist. But then we understood that it appeared as the result of the Big Bang. He added that each modern thinking human being now wants to understand where we come from and where we are going to.