Status and Perspectives of the NICA Project

The NICA (Nuclotron-based Ion Collider fAcility) is the new international research facility under construction at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna. The main targets of the facility are the following: 1) study of hot and dense baryonic matter at the energy range of the maximum baryonic density; 2) investigation of nucleon spin structure and polarization phenomena; 3) development of JINR accelerator facility for high energy physics research based on the new collider of relativistic ions from protons to gold and polarized protons and deuterons as well with the maximum collision energy of sqrt(sNN) ~11GeV (Au79+ +Au79+) and ~ 27 GeV (p+p). An average luminosity of the collider is expected at the level of 1027 cm-2 s-1 for Au (79+) and 1032 cm-2 s-1 for polarized protons at 27 GeV. Two collider detector setups MPD and SPD are under design and construction. The setup BM@N (Baryonic Matter at Nuclotron) was commissioned for data taken at the existing Nuclotron beam fixed target area. The MPD construction process is progressing well. The essential step to the SPD project was made in 2018.