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