Speaker
Description
The Multi-Purpose Detector (MPD) is now under construction in the Nuclotron-based Ion Collider fAcility (NICA) at the Joint Institute
for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna. The MPD is designed to study heavy-ion collisions in the energy range $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=4-11$ GeV to
probe the QCD phase diagram at modest temperatures and high baryon densities.
The MPD is realized by an international collaboration, which consists of 31 institutions from 10 countries with more than 450 participants.
In its initial stage of operation, planned to start at the end of 2023, the MPD will study Bi+Bi collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=9.2$ GeV.
In this talk, we review current status of the MPD detector and its physics program, with emphasis on the physics measurements feasible with the first beams.
