ELI ERIC


On 30 April 2021, the Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) was granted the legal status of European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) by the European Commission. ELI ERIC will provide access to world-class high power and ultra-fast lasers for science and enable cutting-edge research in physical, chemical, materials, and medical sciences, as well as breakthrough technological innovations.

The ERIC is a specific legal form designed to facilitate the establishment and operation of Research Infrastructures of European interest. ERICs are participated by States and international organisations as members. As a main statutory mission, ELI ERIC is responsible for making the ELI Facilities available to the scientific community as a single international organisation, with unified governance and management.

The Czech Republic hosts the ELI ERIC statutory seat in Dolní Břežany, in the South of Prague, at the ELI Beamlines Facility. A second Facility, ELI ALPS, is hosted by Hungary in Szeged. The Czech Republic and Hungary are joined by Italy and Lithuania as Founding Members, while Germany and Bulgaria are Founding Observers. A third ELI Facility is operating in Romania which was accepted as a Founding Observer in ELI ERIC from 1 January 2024. This step was crucial for Romania’s path towards becoming a future Host Member. 



The ELI ERIC is tasked with enabling scientists to access the state-of-the-art lasers at the ELI Facilities. Access is open for all scientists and based on proposals evaluated by an independent panel.

The decision by the European Commission and the ERIC statutes from 2021 are publicly available in the EU Official Journal.

The most recent amendments to the ELI ERIC Statutes came into effect on 18 October 2023, and the consolidated amended version is available for preview HERE.




Key policies and other documents

ELI ERIC Gender Equality Plan (2022-2025)

Information on the protection of whistleblowers 




General Assembly and Appointed Representatives


On 16 June 2021, the first General Assembly of ELI ERIC was held with delegates and experts from each member and observer country. Allen Weeks, former Director General of ELI DC (Delivery Consortium, an international non-profit association that supported the coordinated implementation of the ELI research facilities) was appointed the Director General of ELI ERIC, while Prof. Caterina Petrillo was appointed Chair of the General Assembly.

                                                                                                  
                                                                                 Allen Weeks                                                    Jan Hrušák
                                                                   Director General of ELI ERIC                      Chair of the General Assembly



Delegates and Experts of the General Assembly


Founding Members:

Czech Republic

Jan Řídký (Delegate)
Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS)

Marek Vyšinka (Delegate)
Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS)


Michael Prouza (Expert Advisor)
Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IoP)

Hungary

Ferenc Nagy-Rébék (Delegate)
Head of Department, Ministry of Culture and Innovation (KIM)

István Szabó (Delegate) 
Deputy CEO for Strategy and Innovation, HUN-REN Hungarian Research Network


Italy

Sandro De Silvestri (Delegate)
National Research Council (CNR)

Michele Crisafi (Delegate)
Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR)

Eugenio Nappi (Expert advisor)
National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN)

Giorgio Rossi (Expert advisor)
University of Milan “Statale”

Lithuania

Gediminas Račiukaitis (Delegate)
Center for Physical Sciences and Technology

Aidas Matijošius (Delegate)
Laser Research Center, Vilnius University (VU)

Tadas Juknevičius (Expert advisor)
Ministry of Education, Science and Sport (SMMIN)


Founding Observers:

Bulgaria

Milena Damyanova (Delegate)
Ministry of Education and Science (MON)

Lubomir Kovachev (Delegate)

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS)

Ekaterina Iordanova (Expert Advisor)
Director of Institute of Solid State Physics, 
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS)

Germany

Eckart Lilienthal (Delegate)
Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Sebastian Schmidt (Delegate)

Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR)

Bernadette Klose (Expert advisor)
DLR Project Management Agency

Barbara Schramm (Expert advisor)
Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR)

Romania

Mihnea Cosmin Costoiu (Delegate)
National University of Science and Technology




Administrative and Finance Committee (AFC) members


Chair: László Bódis (Hungary, Ministry of Culture and Innovation (KIM)

Founding Members:

Czech Republic

Jan Buriánek (Vice-Chair, Delegate)
Ministry of Education, Youth and sports (MEYS)

Petr Lukáš (Delegate)
Nuclear Physics Institute (CAS)

Hungary

László Lengyel (Delegate)
National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NRDI)

Italy

Veronica Buccheri (Delegate)
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN)

Antonella Tajani (Delegate)
National Research Council (CNR)

Lithuania

Artūras Malysis (Delegate)
Ministry of Education, Science and Sport (SMMIN)


Founding Observers:

Bulgaria

Zornitsa Georgieva (Delegate)
Ministry of Education and Science (MON)

Germany

Bernadette Klose (Delegate)
DLR Project Management Agency

Barbara Schramm (Delegate)
Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR)

Romania

Andreea Crupa (Delegate)
Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization


 


International Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (ISTAC) members


Chair: Roger Falcone (University of California, Berkeley)

Félicie Albert

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)

Andrius Baltuška
Photonics Institute TU Wien

Angela Bracco
Università degli Studi di Milano

Francesca Calegari
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY)

John Collier
Central Laser Facility, STFC

Per Eng-Johnsson
Lund University

Leonida A. Gizzi
National Research Committee (CNR)

Ekaterina Iordanova
G. Nadjakov Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Katalin Kamaras
Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics, Wigner Research Centre for Physics

Katia Parodi
Ludwig-Maximilians University Muenchen (LMU)

Tomáš Polívka
University of South Bohemia

Ulrich Schramm
Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR)

Thomas Tschentscher
European XFEL

Jonathan D. Zuegel
University of Rochester