Successful integration: MEPhI and University of Oslo develop cooperation
12.01.2018

Integration into the world educational community is one of the key strategic directions of MEPhI development. Today the University actively cooperates with many leading foreign universities, implementing exchange programmes of students and lecturers, carrying out joint research projects.

Developing international cooperation, MEPhI has signed an agreement with one of the largest universities in Scandinavia and all over Europe – the University of Oslo (Universitetet i Oslo, Norway). It was the result of successful fruitful interaction between universities, which has begun in 2016 with the preparation of an application for a 4-year grant under the Norwegian partnership programme UTFORSK. The application was prepared by Professor of the Department No. 67 of NESPI at MEPhI A. Taranenko, professors E. Zabrodin (University of Oslo, MEPhI) and L. Bravina (University of Oslo).

The program of the project "Training of bachelor, master and PhD students in the field of high energy physics" included the following: implementation of international schools, conferences and meetings for undergraduate and postgraduate students in Norway and Russia; long-term internships (3-5 months) for students and University staff; joint supervisor of diploma works of students and postgraduate students, creation of new courses and writing of textbooks and development of links between research groups at the University of Oslo, MEPhI, MSU, SPBU and JINR.

Application of MEPhI was approved and the project received funding. This was an important achievement for our University – this project is the first large project on high energy physics between universities in Norway and Russia, which was supported by the Norwegian side for the last 15 years.

In May 2017 the University of Oslo hosted the school "Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions, Cosmology and Dark Matter, Cancer Therapy", which was attended by 60 undergraduates, postgraduate students and lecturers from Germany, Denmark, China, Norway, Russia, Romania and Ukraine. MEPhI was represented by three lecturers and eight undergraduate and postgraduate students from INPhE, LAPLAS, PhysBio and NESPI. Associate Professors of the Department № 67 A. Taranenko, I. Selyuzhenkov, A. Tyshchenko read a series of lectures and conducted practical classes for students of the school.

The School also included a youth workshop "Nuclear, Particle Physics and Cosmology", where the students were able to present the results of their scientific work. It is important to note that the report of a PhD student of the Department № 67 A. Feshchenko has been recognized as the best among reports of young school participants. The event was held at the 11-deck marine DFDS ferry "Pearl Seaways" on the route Oslo – Copenhagen – Oslo. In Copenhagen the participants of the school visited the famous Niels Bohr Institute. All expenses for participants from MEPhI were fully paid for by the grant of the UTF-2016-long-term/10076.

This year it is planned to held three international schools for students and postgraduates in high energy physics and relativistic nuclear physics in the framework of project UTF-2016-long-term/10076: two schools in Norway and one in JINR (Dubna), which will be held on 20-31 August.

The first international school of 2018 "Standard Model, Quantum Chromodynamics, Heavy Ion Collisions" is holding right now at the ski resort Skeikampen in Norway. On 2-7 January, the school crossed with the 25th Nordic Particle Physics Meeting – Spatind 2018. Two young lecturers and eight underg and postgraduate students of INPhE are representing MEPhI at the school.

It is planned to conduct a long-term training of MEPhI masters and postgraduates at the University of Oslo in the group of Professor L. Bravina in the framework of the project in 2018.

Project name: Monte Carlo Simulations for proton-proton and nucleus-nucleus collisions at NICA, RICH and LHC energies.

Duration of internship: 3-4 months, spring semester of 2018

Requirements to candidates: knowledge of C++, ROOT, Python, Fortan

Competence in English language

Scholarship for masters: 10500 NOK/month + airfare, visa, insurance

For additional information, please contact: A.V. Taranenko, PhD, Associate Professor of the Department № 67 of MEPhI AVTaranenko@mephi.ru

1. The website of the international school 2017 "Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions, Cosmology and Dark Matter, Cancer Therapy": https://indico.cern.ch/event/612795/overview
2. The website of youth workshop "Nuclear, Particle physics and Cosmology": https://indico.cern.ch/event/632020/
3. The website of the Winter School 2018 “Standard Model, Quantum Chromodynamics, Heavy Ion Collisions”: https://indico.cern.ch/event/683528/