NUST MISIS Will Train Researchers for MegaScience Facilities

National University of Science and Technology MISIS in collaboration with Freiberg Mining Academy under the coordination of the National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute” will train specialists to work on MegaScience research facilities. The start of the international master’s program is scheduled for autumn 2020.

By the executive order of the President of the Russian Federation V. V. Putin of July 25, 2019 “On measures to develop synchrotron and neutron research infrastructure in the Russian Federation”, MegaScience research infrastructure will be established and developed in Russia in 2020-2024. It will include: 4th generation Synchrotron Radiation Source, Prototype of an impulse neutron source on an evaporation-chipping reaction, International Center for Neutron Research based on a high-flow PIK reactor as well as Kurchatov Specialized Synchrotron Radiation Source. The scientific guidance, methodological support and organization of scientific and technical expertise is provided by the National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute”.

The implementation of such a large-scale program requires training of scientific personnel for conducting synchrotron and neutron research in order to obtain world-class scientific results. These tasks become even more urgent, given the significant participation of the Russian Federation in the Project European XFEL (European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser Facility) and ESRF (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility).

Regarding these challenges, this year NUST MISIS and Freiberg Mining Academy plan to open an international master’s program to give not only theoretical knowledge, but also practical skills to use the capabilities of modern research synchrotron and neutron complexes to study the features of structural transformations in materials. Such an agreement was reached during the visit of the delegation form Freiberg: Rector, Professor Klaus-Dieter Barbknecht, Head of Materials Science Institute, Professor Rudolf Kawalla and Scientific Director of XFEL, Professor Serguei Molodtsov.

The parties have been cooperating for many years on academic exchange programs, training master’s graduates in the fields of Metallurgy and Mining. Now, after the launch of XFEL in Germany, the range of educational cooperation will be expanded.

According to the preliminary curriculum developed by NUST MISIS, training will take place in English, with mandatory externship on MegaScience facilities. Together with NUST MISIS, Freiberg Mining Academy and XFEL, the project is planned to involve ESRF and the National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute”, the latter providing overall coordination and scientific management of the project.

For now, the main task is to coordinate the educational standards of Russia and Germany: approve of the list of academic discipline and exams, as well as mechanisms for externship and defense of master’s theses.

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