by Andrei GAGARINSKY, Dr. Sc. (Phys. & Math.), adviser to the director of the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute", Yekaterina YATSISHINA, deputy director for coordination and development of public relations of the NRC "Kurchatov Institute" (Moscow)

On April 12, 1943, the Vice-President of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Academician Alexander Baikov, signed an order on setting up Laboratory No. 2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences-what was to become the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute". Founded 70 years ago to make the first Soviet atom bomb, it played a key role for the country's security, and pioneered in many lines of research, actually covering the entire range of contemporary science.

Winter of 1943. The Great Patriotic War in full swing. Sovinformbureau News Agency reporting on victories of Soviet troops at the battle-fronts. But the Soviet press was silent on the most important event that would subsequently impact the course of history-both of our country and of the world at large. On September 28, 1942, the USSR State Defense Committee issued a secret order (No. 2352ss) on starting work on uranium; this order outlined targets for what was called the uranium problem-and that was to develop

Monument to the founder of the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute" Acad. Igor Kurchatov unveiled in 1971 in the Moscow square named after him. Sculptor, lulian Rukavishnikov.

nuclear weapons. The works that started in 1943 at Moscow Laboratory No. 2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences, was supervised by a 40-year-old professor of the Leningrad Physico-Technical Institute, Igor Kurchatov (elected to the national Academy of Sciences in 1943).*

Authorized to enlist research institutes, design bureaus and enterprises as well as specialists from the army in the field and military plants, he gathered the flower of the country's researchers, mainly physicists from the Leningrad Physico-Technical Institute**,-pupils of Abram Ioffe, Abram Alikhanov, Lev Artsimovich***, Isaak Kikoin****, Georgi Flerov, Venedikt Dzhelepov, Pyotr Spivak, Boris Kurchatov, Mikhail Kozodayev, Viktor Davidenko, Leonid Nemenov... They worked closely in touch with Yuli Khariton***** and Yakov Zeldovich from the Moscow Institute of Chemical Physics. Working side by side with Kurchatov were also Isaak Pomer-anchuk, Ivan Voznesensky, Igor Golovin, Vladimir Goncharov, Isaak Gurevich, Vladimir Merkin, Mikhail Meshcheryakov, Igor Panasyuk, Nikolai Pravdyuk, Sergei Baranov, Mikhail Pevzner, and others.

* See: Ye. Velikhov, "Pride of Russian Science"; V. Sidorenko, "Pioneer of Soviet Atomic Power Engineering"; Yu. Sivintsev, "A Few Unforgettable Meetings"; R. Kuznetsova, V. Popov, "Scientific Heritage of Academician Kurchatov", Science in Russia, No. 6, 2012.-Ed.

** See: B. Dyakov, "Fiztekh: a Multidimensional View", Science in Russia, No. 3, 2003.--Ed.

*** See: Ye. Velikhov, "Thermonuclear Combustion"; M. Petrov, "Talent Is Judged by Work", Science in Russia, No. 1, 2009.-Ed. **** See: M. Khalizeva, "Talent's Energy", Science in Russia, No. 3, 2008.--Ed.

***** See: A. Vodopshin, "On a Visit to Khariton", Science in Russia, No. 5, 2009.--Ed.

This work started in grim war years produced important results. As early as 1944, there was built and commissioned a cyclotron at Laboratory No. 2, where uranium-radiated neutrons made it possible to accumulate a preassigned quantity of a new, not existing in nature, element-plutonium-the basic metal for a nuclear charge. This helped Boris Kurchatov, one of the founders of Soviet radiochemistry, begin studies of its nuclear and chemical properties and even work out first recommendations for an industrial technology of plutonium separation from uranium and elimination of fission fragments.

In early 1946, the laboratory had 3 departments: "K" (headed by Igor Kurchatov), which had to take care of industrial production of plutonium in the uranium-graphite pile (reactor), to carry out nuclear-physical studies and measurements, and also to attack most important problems of radiochemistry, first of all, isolation of plutonium. Department "D", headed by Isaak Kikoin addressed the most difficult task at that time-obtaining the highly enriched uranium-235 (fissile material for the A bomb) using the gas-diffusion method; and Department "A", which, headed by Lev Artsimovich, was developing an electromagnetic method of uranium isotope separation.

In 1946, the Kurchatov department achieved a great success: on December 25, on the physical reactor F-1*, Igor Kurchatov and colleagues were the first in Eurasia to get a self-sustaining chain reaction of uranium fis-

* See: N. Chernoplekov, "At the Dawn of Atomic Energetics", Science in Russia, No. 6, 2006.-Ed.

sion. The works on F-1 helped speed up a launching of the first industrial uranium-graphite reactor for pluto-nium production.

In the summer of 1948, in Ural (Ozersk, Chelyabinsk region), the first nuclear reactor was commissioned: on June 22, Kurchatov and his fellow workers brought the Plutonium reactor to its full capacity of 100 MW for a regular buildup of plutonium*, and already on August 29, 1949, at the Semipalatinsk proving ground (Kazakhstan)**, the Soviet Union carried out its first A bomb test. Thus, under Kurchatov's scientific guidance, this country created her nuclear shield. The American monopoly in this sphere was broken in just 4 years, which helped stabilize the international situation for many decades and ward off wide-ranging military conflicts.

The creation of the atomic weapon was the result of the heroic work of Laboratory No. 2, research institutes and enterprises of the new defense industry, first of all,

* See: M. Khalizeva, "No Hit-or-Miss Chance", Science in Russia, No. 4, 2008.--Ed.

** See: R. Petrov, "At the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site", Science in Russia, No. 1, 1995.--Ed.

VNII (Research Institute) of Experimental Physics (Sarov, Nizhni Novgorod region)*, NII of Chemical Machinery Building (Moscow), VNII of Technical Physics (Chelyabinsk) as well as scientists and engineers of Leningrad, Krasnoyarsk, Sverdlovsk, Tomsk and other nuclear centers, the military and the personnel of nuclear proving grounds.

But even before the work was completed, Kurchatov called attention of the USSR government to the possibility of using the energy of nuclear fission for peaceful purposes-in atomic power engineering, in the navy, in aviation and even in outer space. Already in the late 1940s, the Laboratory of Measuring Instruments of the USSR Academy of Sciences (the institute's name from 1949) began to shift from nuclear weaponry to a wider range of problems of the nuclear science and technology. At that time Kurchatov planned to design and build an experimental nuclear station for electricity and heat generation.

The world's first atomic power station was put into commission in 1954 in Obninsk, and the day of its

* See: V. Lukyanov, "A "Nuclear Hermitage" at Sarov", Science in Russia, No. 3, 2009.--Ed.

launching is rightfully regarded as the birth date of atomic power engineering. A year later Kurchatov and his deputy, Academician Anatoly Alexandrov* headed a development program for USSR nuclear power engineering, within the framework of which construction of big atomic electrical power stations was started-the Beloyarsk (Sverdlovsk region) and Novovoro-nezh (Voronezh region) stations, built in 1957 and 1964 respectively. The Novovoronezh station built under the scientific supervision of the Kurchatov Institute, was the first step in a long chain of water-moderated (water-cooled) reactors, the physics and technology of which determined the main line of the Institute's activity for many years ahead. The experience of creating industrial uranium-graphite reactors resulted in the development of channel-type high-power reactors. In all built, at present in our country and abroad are as many as 86 generators with different types of reactors, 14 industrial, 500 marine and 40 research reactors, and 11-for space hardware, all this under the supervision of the Kurchatov Institute.

The Kurchatov Institute laid a foundation for atomic ship-building**. Academician Nikolai Khlopkin, who headed this direction, from the early 1950s worked in cooperation with Georgi Gladkov, Boris Buinitsky, Boris Pologikh, Yuri Sivintsev, Nikolai Lazukov and many other specialists who contributed greatly to naval nuclear power engineering.

On September 9, 1952, came a decision to build the first atomic submarine which, in late 1962, got the name of "Leninsky Komsomol". This achievement was due to the dedicated work of three outstanding scientists: Ana-

* See: N. Ponomarev-Stepnoi, "At the Head of the Nuclear Branch", Science in Russia, No. 2, 2003; Ye. Velikhov, "Unable to Live Otherwise"; M. Mokulsky, "Rebirth of the Nation's Genetics"; V. Popov, "Scientific Works of Academician Alexandrov", Science in Russia, No. 1, 2013.-Ed.

** See: G. Gladkov, "Four Generations of Atomic Submarines", Science in Russia, No. 3, 1999.--Ed.

toly Alexandrov (research supervisor), Vladimir Peregu-dov (the ship's chief designer) and Nikolai Dollezhal (chief designer of the power unit). The creation of the first Soviet nuclear power setup for submarines determined the basic strategies for a wide use of nuclear-powered ships, it laid foundations for a new branch of science and technology in our country-naval nuclear power engineering. The solution of this important task and subsequent mass construction of nuclear-powered ships changed substantially the naval potential of our country.

In 1953, work began to design atomic-powered surface vessels. The icebreaker "Lenin" (chief designer, Vasily Neganov; chief designer of the nuclear reactor, Igor Afrikantov), put into commission in 1960, became the world's first surface nuclear-powered vessel, which had no analogs in capacity. It played an important role in the development of the Northern Sea Route, increasing the navigation time twofold-from 3.5 months to 7. Besides, it became possible to increase the speed and safety of icebreaker convoys, to open new cargo routes and methods of transportation. In subsequent years the Soviet Union created a nuclear-powered fleet* which secured the-year-round navigation along the Northern Sea Route and the industrial development of polar territories.

For studies in the sphere of reactor technology and radiation materials technology, in April of 1952 the Laboratory created, under the supervision of Vladimir Goncharov, Dr. Sc. (Tech.), the first Soviet experimental base comprising 10 MW RFT (reactor for physical and technical studies), reactor loops** with various types of coolants and test modes as well as a "hot" laboratory for studying the characteristics of materials.

In 1956, on Kurchatov's proposal, the Laboratory was renamed into the Institute of Atomic Energy (IAE) of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1960, after Kurchatov's death, it was named after Kurchatov, its first head. Kurchatov's deputy became its new director.

From the early 1960s IAE increased considerably the volume of work connected with the use of atomic energy in outer space, and in aircraft, with high-temperature sources of atomic energy** developed at the department headed by Academician Mikhail Millionshchikov. Igor Kurchatov was the prime mover of this line of research. On his initiative, in the late 1950s a pulsed homogenic graphite reactor of original design was built for studying

* See: A. Chechurov, "Champion Among Atomic Giants", Science in Russia, No. 3, 2009; V. Makarov, "The Future of Marine Nuclear Power", Science in Russia, No. 4, 2010.-Ed.

** Reactor loop-an independent circulation reactor contour, designed for experimental purposes, consisting of one or several channels.-Ed. *** See: N. Ponomarev-Stepnoi, N. Kukharkin, V. Grebennik, "High-Temperature Effects", Science in Russia, No. 3, 2012.-Ed.

the dynamics and safety of reactor in case of high reactivity and at high temperatures.

In cooperation with other organizations the Kurchatov Institute launched the world's first reactor-converter " Romashka" (1964), one unit of which combined a high-temperature reactor and thermoelectrical semiconductor converters.

Kurchatov's followers pioneered in a new line of space technology related to electric rocket engines. Such work begun at the department of Academician Lev Artsimov-ich in the 1960s rapidly brought good results. First came Soviet pulsed plasma ERE (1964); tested afterwards in outer space were ion (1966) and stationary plasma engines (1972). These sources expanded the potentialities of direct high-quality television broadcasting, improved air and sea transportation, created new conditions for information and telephone communications, and allowed to carry out studies (impossible before) in lower and upper space.

In 1950, before completion of work on a hydrogen bomb (using uncontrolled thermonuclear chain reaction), the Institute of Atomic Energy on Kurchatov's initiative started studies of plasma physics and controlled thermonuclear fusion. In 1956, in his famous report at Harwell (Great Britain), Kurchatov told about studies carried out by his team on the possibility of a thermonuclear reaction in a gas discharge, and proposed to launch broad international cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Already in the late 1950s, it became possible to formulate the basic principles of controlled thermonuclear fusion with magnetic plasma confinement. A theory of equilibrium and stability of the plasma column (pinch) with current in the magnetic field was postulated. Many basic principles of controlled thermonuclear fusion are associated with the names of their authors-theoreticians of the school of Academician Mikhail Leontovich.

Tokamak (toroidal chamber with doughnut magnetic coils), the concept of which was proposed in 1951 by academicians Andrei Sakharov* and Igor Tamm, became the basic object in controlled nuclear fusion studies, while leading positions of the Soviet school of physics of thermonuclear plasma received world recognition.

In the 1970s, the Institute of Atomic Energy commissioned a big thermonuclear setup, T-10, that followed the world's first tokamak T-7 with super-conductive windings on the basis of niobium-titanium alloy; in the late 1980s came the country's largest tokamak T-15**. Works on controlled thermonuclear fusion, successfully carried out in our country and abroad paved the way for the experimental international thermonuclear reactor ITER***. The project appeared due to the initiative of President of the Kurchatov Institute Academician Yevgeny Velikhov. Thus realized almost 30 years after, was Kurchatov's appeal for international cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

From its first days the Kurchatov Institute was conducting fundamental studies in various fields of science: nuclear physics, solid state physics, including superconductors, materials technology, plasma physics, physical chemistry... Among the works recognized by the world

* See: B. Altshuler, "Sakharov, FAC and Rockets", Science in Russia, No. 1, 1993.--Ed.

** See: V. Strelkov, "No Royal Ride in Thermonuclear Research", Science in Russia, No. 1, 2009.-Ed.

*** See: V. Glukhikh et al., "On the Brink of Thermonuclear Era", Sciencein Russia, No. 3, 2003; L. Golubchikov, "Tokamak-International Challenge", Science in Russia, No. 1, 2004; Ye. Velikhov, S. Mirnov, "ITER at the Finish Line", Science in Russia, No. 1, 2010.-Ed.

community are those connected with a search for quark-gluon plasma-a new state of nuclear material; also, studies of new exotic nuclei, unique nuclear structures and new types of nuclear decay as well as studies of neutron physics and physics of condensed state of matter.

The necessity of satisfying the needs of the nuclear science and technology in strong magnetic fields of accelerators, thermonuclear plants and devices spurred the intensive development of superconductors research; most important were works in technical superconductivity. In the late 1960s the Institute gained a status of a supervisor of studies related to problems of superconductivity in the nuclear science and technology and some other spheres. In the mid-1970s, under the supervision of Nikolai Chernoplekov, Corresponding Member of the national Academy of Sciences, principles of stabilization of the superconducting state were identified in concrete structures of technical superconducting materials. Wide-scale industrial production of wires, cables and tyres on the basis of Nb-Ti alloy and inter-metal compound Bn₃Sn*, one of the world's largest, was launched.

Special attention was paid to the problem of superconducting magnets with forced cooling by means of liquid helium, providing the possibility of creating big systems with an intricate configuration of a magnetic field, intended, in particular, for thermonuclear reactors of the future. Superconducting magnets of Kurchatov are widely used in the laboratories of the Institute, of other research organizations of our country and abroad.

* See: V. Sytnikov, V. Vysotsky, "Superconducting Technologies in Power Engineering", Science in Russia, No. 2, 2010; M. Khalizeva, "Durable Wires", Science in Russia, No. 2, 2012.-Ed.

An outstanding contribution to the development of solid state physics in different years was made by Boris Kurchatov, Leonid Groshev, Vladimir Mostovoi, Spar-tak Belyaev, Isai Gurevich, Viktor Galitsky, Yuri Kagan, Viktor Voitovetsky and many other scientists, who achieved world-level results. Our specialists obtained important information on the structure of medium-sized nuclei by studying spectra of gamma-rays of excited nuclei, formed in reactions (n, γ) on thermal neutrons of the IRT-M plant. Known worldwide are the works of Pyotr Spivak and his colleagues on the beta-disintegration of a free neutron. Back in 1949, they were the first to observe a phenomenon of neutron disintegration directly. In 1958, Boris Samoilov and coworkers, while studying atomic nuclei polarization, opened a new physical effect-strong magnetic fields on the nuclei of non-magnetic elements introduced into ferromagnetics. This phenomenon was used as a new method of polarization of atomic nuclei. In 1974, under the supervision of Alexei Ogloblin, they were the first in the world to obtain a beam of accelerated beryllium ions.

Significant success was achieved by the school of Academician Isaak Kikoin, which was formed while the problem of uranium isotopes separation was being solved. His team updated the gas-diffusion technology, studied other methods of separation of uranium isotopes. The joint work of scientists of the Institute of Atomic Energy, Central Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering (Leningrad) and Ural Electrochemical Industrial Complex (Novouralsk, Sverdlovsk region) culminated in putting into operation the first experimental plant in 1957. This allowed national industry to use gas centrifuges and radically (20-30 times) decrease the consumption of electrical energy.

Centrifugal equipment opened up the possibility of large-scale separation of stable isotopes, an achievement significant in medical uses as well.

The experience of 1964-1984 amassed during applied research led to fundamental results in the inorganic chemistry of fluorine; the most important result was new evidence on the physico-chemical characteristics of noble (inert) gases, and their compounds; realization of highest valent states of some elements was another accomplishment. These achievements have greatly changed our notion of the nature of a chemical bond and served as a groundwork for unique technologies, in particular, on the basis of atomic fluorine.

From the early 1970s, the Institute of Atomic Energy concentrated on problems connected with plasma, chemical and electrochemical methods of obtaining hydrogen along with the hydrogen safety of nuclear-power generators. It studied processes occurring in low-temperature plasma, methods of applying coatings on various surfaces and modifications of polymer membranes.

In the late 1960s-early 1970s the Institute began work to create new technologies in the sphere of microelectronics (ion implantation, super pure substances, lithography, plasma chemistry, fine films) and soon achieved world-level results. The development of technological processes in making elements for integral diagrams in the nanometric range, based on the use of laser, electron and ion beams ushered in a new promising line of research.

In the fitful years of economic and political reforms of the late 1980s-early 1990s the Institute of Atomic Energy preserved its basic personnel, its unique plants and infrastructure. In 1991, in keeping with a presidential decree, it was reorganized into the Russian Research Center "Kurchatov Institute".

In the 1990s, president of the Kurchatov Center Yevgeny Velikhov came forward with the conversion idea relative to Russian Defense Shipbuilding; he proposed that heads of enterprises of submarine shipbuilding and the oil-and-gas industry should begin a joint development project for offshore deposits of oil and gas on the Arctic shelf. The shipyards of the great "Sevmash"* plant having a significant potential of high technologies in nuclear shipbuilding started building a marine ice-resistant stationary platform for the development of Prirazlomny oil deposit in the Pechora Sea. This, on the one hand, helped the defense enterprise over the crisis and, on the other, laid the foundation for a national mining industry of marine deposits in Arctic regions.

* See: M. Khalizeva, "Arctic Project 'Sevmash'" in this issue of our magazine.-Ed.

In the 1990s, the activities of the Kurchatov Institute took in information technologies as well. Actually it was an Internet pioneer in our country. Today it is one of the basic institutions developing GRID and GLORIAD* technologies and using information technologies in the nuclear power industry.

In 1999, what with good prospects of this trend worldwide, a Kurchatov Center for Synchrotron Studies was set up. Its manager was Mikhail Kovalchuk, RAS corresponding member. Built under his supervision was the first, and so far now the only one in Russia and CIS countries, specialized source of synchrotron radiation, which became a basis for work in the sphere of nanobio-technologies, materials technology, basic sciences, molecular biology and medicine.

The Kurchatov Institute moved into the 21st century with new global ideas. In just a few years, beginning in 2005, it overcame the aftermath of the 1990s and the difficulties of the transition period of the early 2000s; more than that it wrought great changes in the life of the Institute. On the initiative of Mikhail Kovalchuk, the Center ushered in a qualitatively new phase in the use of megaplants-accelerator complexes, thermonuclear units, sources of synchrotron radiation and neutrons.

The development of science at big plants is now a global trend. Big nuclear physics complexes are the prime movers in the development of essentially new

* GRID-geographically distributed infrastructure, uniting resources of various types (processors, long and efficient memory, depositories and data bases, networks), the access to which users can receive from any point, irrespective of location. GLORIAD-a new segment of the global network, meant for transfer of enormous arrays of scientific information.-Ed.

branches of industry since they give rise to high technologies and stimulate their use in production.

The process of merging the nuclear-physical potential of research organizations affiliated with different departments is on in our country since 2008 too. That is why the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute" was established in 2010. It brought together four leading nuclear-physics centers of Russia: the Kurchatov Institute proper, the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (Moscow), the Institute of High-Energy Physics (Protvino, Moscow region)* and the Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics (Gatchina, Leningrad region). Today, the united center concentrates a colossal scientific, technological and research staff potential; it comprises a unique complex of research and technological plants: particle accelerators, neutron reactors, criticality stands, plasma setups (tokamaks in particular), complexes of "hot" chambers for materials study, it handles nano- and biotechnologies, nuclear medicine, neurosciences and

* See: N. Tyurin, S. Ivanov, "Proton Accelerator and Its Mission", Science in Russia, No. 3, 2010.-Ed.

cognitive studies. It runs a data-processing center on the base of the Kurchatov super-computer, which allows to do research practically in all fields of contemporary science.

After joining the National Research Center, the Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics pooled efforts on a high-neutron flux reactor PIK (beam research complex), out to become the most powerful source of neutrons in the world.

Today the "Kurchatov Institute" is engaged in interdisciplinary studies in the sphere of nano-, bio-, and info-technologies, in cognitive sciences and sociohum-anities; in technologies of nuclear power engineering of a new generation; in basic and applied research in plasma physics and tokamaks. Its research priorities also cover sources of synchrotron radiation, neutrons, protons, heavy ions, information-communication technologies and systems, nuclear medicine, coordination of international scientific megaprojects and interdisciplinary education of research personnel.

In recent years the Center has been actively developing a new research line, connected with the convergence of

nano-, bio-, and info-technologies, cognitive sciences and sociohumanities. Its main goal is to combine technological achievements, e.g. in microelectronics, with principles of living nature, and create on this basis hybrid materials and anthropomorphic systems of bionic type. Tackling these interdisciplinary tasks is the Kurcha-tov Nano-, Bio-, Info-, Cognitive and Socio-Humanities Center. Its core is a specialized source of synchrotron radiation, substantially modernized in recent years.

In addition to the Kurchatov synchrotron, the Center runs the IR-8 reactor combining a neutron generator and the Kurchatov supercomputer.

Working in the Center is a medico-biological complex with gene-engineering and immunological laboratories; there are also laboratories involved with proteomics, genomics, and nuclear medicine. The nanotechnological department is fitted out with X-ray facilities, atomic-power and electronic microscopes and the NANOFAB*

* See: V. Bykov, "A Microscope Scans Atoms", Science in Russia, No. 4, 2000; V. Bykov "Advance Deep into Matter", Science in Russia, No. 6, 2008; D. Andreyuk, "'Oscar'-to Probe Microscope", Science in Russia, No. 2, 2010.--Ed.

multifunctional modular nanotechnological system. The department of cognitive research studies consciousness and the brain, first of all from positions of basic science with the use of up-to-date technologies. The Kurchatov Center of High-Performance Calculations is the unifying link in the chain of interdisciplinary studies. It evaluates and stores information supplied by laboratories and research complexes.

Nano-, bio-, info- and cognitive research showed the importance of social sciences and the humanities: psychology, ethnography, philosophy and linguistics; this gave rise to a department involved with the humanities and social sciences.

Today the Kurchatov Institute is actively participating in international projects and often comes up as their initiator. We mean here first of all the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor ITER, one of the masterminds of which was Yevgeny Velikhov, president of the Kurchatov Institute; the XFEL European project of a laser on free electrons, initiated by the National Research Center, with the Russian government acting as

a scientific coordinator and manager from our country. On Mikhail Kovalchuk's initiative the Kurchatov Institute is taking part in the XFEL project at all scientific and administrative levels.

The Large Hadron Collider* at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) is yet another megaplant where our specialists are working. The Center conducts experiments on one of the four of its detectors-ALICE. The Kurchatov Institute's scientists are full members of the international experiment on neutrino physics carried out in the underground laboratory of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics BOREXINO in Italy, a megaproject of the European Center for Studies of Ions and Antiprotons FAIR, in the suburb of Darmstadt (Germany). In 2004, Yevgeny Velikhov and his Italian colleague Professor Bruno Coppi started a Joint Russian-Italian project, an experimental tokamak of a new type IGNITOR, in which strong current is used for obtaining high-temperature plasma.

The development of these lines of research and most sophisticated technologies undoubtedly calls for specialists of a new interdisciplinary type. The training of such experts is carried out by the Kurchatov Institute in cooperation with other leading higher schools. The first result-the Chair of Nanosystems at the Physics Depart-

* See: L. Smimova, "The 21st Century Megaproject", Science in Russia, No. 5, 2009.--Ed.

ment of Lomonosov Moscow State University, successfully working since 2005. Today such chairs are functioning also at the Moscow Engineering and Physics Institute and Moscow State Technical University named after N. Bauman.

In 2009, the Moscow Physico-Technical Institute was organized the world's first chair of nano-, bio-, information and cognitive technologies, where the idea of continuous interdisciplinary training was realized in the sphere of convergent technologies. Therefore we included into the educational infrastructure of the center four basic Moscow schools, with teachers from among scientists of the Kurchatov Center.

Working today at its numerous modern laboratories are a great number of college students, post-graduates and young specialists. Modern setups, great possibilities and prospects the Center offers are attractive to talented people. Kurchatov Institute carries on active and interesting scientific life and builds modern and future Russian science.

Illustrations from the archives of the laboratory of scientific-technical photography of the Kurchatov Institute