Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Tashkent branch of National Research Nuclear University MEPhI opens a new undergraduate program “Medical Physics: Nuclear Medicine”.

The new direction will be aimed at training highly qualified specialists to work in the field of nuclear medicine, the use of nuclear technologies in the diagnosis and treatment of a number of oncological, cardiological, neurological and other socially significant diseases. According to the Uzatom Agency, a new intake of students will take place this year.

Kasym Tokhtakhunov, Head of the Department of Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Technologies of the Uzatom Agency, speaking about the new direction, explained: “The opening of a new direction is based on the increased need for the development of nuclear medicine in the country, and one of the important first steps is the training of qualified personnel.

The branch of National Research Nuclear University MEPhI in Tashkent will train medical physicists who are competent to work at special nuclear installations that are designed to diagnose and treat complex diseases. The fact is that for the development of nuclear medicine in Uzbekistan, not only doctors are needed, but also professionals who can work on special installations, for example, accelerators.

These people must be able to carry out complex physical calculations to determine the radiation dose rate, the depth of penetration into the tissue, and so on. As a rule, in addition to the doctor, at least 4-5 medical physicists must work at one installation to ensure full-fledged work. In addition, the country needs nuclear chemists. Doctors, in turn, will be trained at the relevant medical universities in the country.”

As a result of training under the new educational program, future medical physicists will have the skills to work with high-tech diagnostic equipment and use radiopharmaceuticals for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

According to Kasym Tokhtakhunov, the branch of National Research Nuclear University MEPhI in Tashkent today has sufficient resources and conditions, including laboratory equipment, to train students of a new direction in the first years of study. In senior years of study, with the advent of special courses, students will be able to do internships at the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan (INP), as well as in institutions of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan. At the same time, the branch management is assessing the needs for the purchase of new additional equipment.

The new curriculum is expected to enroll 50 people who will study on a paid contract basis. To participate in the competition, applicants will take exams in three subjects: mathematics, physics and Russian language.

The human resources development strategy for the nuclear energy program of Uzbekistan provides for an integrated approach to personnel training. In 2018, in order to form a basic educational institution in the field of training specialists for the country’s nuclear industry, the Tashkent branch of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (TF NRNU MEPhI) was established.

The university is among the top 100 best universities in the world in the field of training engineering and physics specialties. Last year, NRNU MEPhI took 6th place in the world in the Round University Ranking in the field of Nuclear Education and Technology. NRNU MEPhI has 17 operating branches in Russia. The Tashkent branch became the first unit opened abroad, which began training the first stream of students in September 2019. Graduates of the branch receive a state diploma from National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, which is recognized as a document of higher education in Uzbekistan.

Currently, 285 students are studying at the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI Faculty in four areas: “Thermal Power Engineering and Thermal Engineering”, “Electrical Power Engineering and Electrical Engineering”, “Nuclear Energy and Thermal Physics”, “Nuclear Physics and Technologies”. In 2023, the first graduation of bachelors in these areas took place. As a result, today half of the graduates are employed in the country’s energy industry, about 30 people continue their studies in a master’s degree, of which 24 graduates continue their studies in a master’s degree at the head site of NRNU MEPhI. This year, all four undergraduate areas of the TF NRNU MEPhI successfully passed state accreditation in Rosobrnadzor. This means that the quality and level of knowledge acquired by students at the branch meets all the requirements and educational standards of the parent university, National Research Nuclear University MEPhI in Moscow.