Today department is headed by doctor of Ph. D., prof. Belushkin Alexandr Vladislavovich . Now he is the head of the Department for neutron research and developments in the field of condensed matter laboratory of Neutron Physics named by  I. M. Frank . Department of nuclear physical materials science is the base department of the Joint Institute for Nuclear research. 

The Joint Institute for Nuclear research was founded on March 26, 1956. It is a world-famous scientific center cooperating with more than 800 scientific centers in 62 countries. This institute  is an international intergovernmental scientific research organization located in the science town of Dubna of the Moscow region. The members of this unit are 18 States. Nuclear physics, particle physics and condensed matter studies are the main areas of theoretical and experimental research of this Institute .

It has seven laboratories, each of which is comparable to a large academic Institute:

• Laboratory of theoretical physics. N. N. Bogolyubova,
• Laboratory of nuclear problems. V. P. Dzhelepova,
• Laboratory of nuclear reactions. G. N. Flerova,
• Laboratory of high energy physics. V. I. Veksler and A. M. Baldin,
• Frank laboratory of neutron physics. I. M. Frank,
• Laboratory of information technologies,
• Laboratory of radiation biology. 

The laboratory of  neutron physics is the  main  unit providing the educational process of the basic Department. The laboratory accepts students for practical training, here the guys perform their final work. In their research employees are engaged not only in the study of the neutron as an elementary particle with the help of various tools, but also use the neutron itself as a tool for the study of the structure and dynamics of condensed matter, including: crystals and nanosystems, functional materials, complex liquids and polymers, rocks. The results of the research are used in molecular biology and pharmacology, technical diagnostics and other fields of science and technology.