Running projects

THRILL - Technology for High-Repetition-rate Intense Laser Laboratories

The THRILL project deals with providing new schemes and devices for pushing forward the limits of research infrastructures (RI) of European relevance and ESFRI landmarks. To do so, the project partners have identified several technical bottlenecks in high-energy high-repetition-rate laser technology that prevent it from reaching the technical readiness level required to technically specify and build the needed devices, and guaranteeing sustainable and reliable operation of such laser beamlines at the partnering RIs. Advancing the technical readiness of these topics is strategically aligned with the long-term plans and evolution of the ESFRI landmarks FAIR, ELI (-BL) and Eu-XFEL, and RI APOLLON, bringing them to the next level of development and strengthening their leading position. The project is well focused and it is deliberately restricted to three enabling technologies, which require the most urgent efforts and timely attention by the community: high-energy high-repetition-rate amplification, high-energy beam transport and optical coating resilience for large optics. To reach our goals, the major activity within THRILL will be organized around producing several prototypes demonstrating a high level of technical readiness. Our proposal is addressing not yet explored technical bottlenecks - such as transport over long distances of largeaperture laser beams via relay imaging using all-reflective optics - and aims at proposing concrete steps to increase the performances and effectiveness of the industrial community through the co-development of advanced technologies up to prototyping in operational environments. The project is not only pushing technology, it is also offering an outstanding opportunity to train a qualified work force for RIs and industry. With this in mind, the structure of THRILL promotes synergetic work, fast transfer to industry and integrated research activities at the European level. Access to the RIs will be granted as in-kind contribution.

Project number: 101095207

Start date: 2023.01.01.
End date: 2026.12.31.

Funding programme: HORIZON EUROPE
Total budget: 10,425,250.00 EUR

Project partners:
Coo – GSI (GSI Helmholtzzentrum Fur Schwerionenforschung GMBH)
HZDR (Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf EV)
FZU (Fyzikalni Ustav AV CR V.V.I) - Project exit date: 2022.12.31.
LLE-AISBL (Laserlab-Europe AISBL)
FVB-MBI (Forschungsverbund Berlin EV)
EUROPEAN XFEL (European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser Facility GMBH)
FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Europe GMBH)
AMPLITUDE (Amplitude)
UoR (University of Rochester)
ELI ERIC (Extreme Light Infrastructure European Research Infrastructure Consortium)

Project website: https://www.thrill-project.eu/



This project has received funding by the European Union’s HORIZON-INFRA-2022-TECH-01 call under grant agreement number 101095207.

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RADNEXT - RADiation facility Network for the EXploration of effects for indusTry and research

New applications in the industrial sectors of space, automotive, IoT, nuclear dismantling and civil applications, medical and accelerators among others require innovative radiation testing methodologies. As well, for coping with the industrial demand and market timelines, streamlined and coordinated testing becomes highly necessary. Although punctual exceptions exist, Europe does not count with a coordinated network of cost-effective testing facilities helping these purposes. Such a network could enormously help fast innovators such as SMEs who in many cases find difficult to access the required facilities and related test expertise. As well, it will offer a competitive advantage to large Corporations. Novel testing methodologies will also pave the way for generating new standards since the existing ones are mainly restricted to classical space applications and radiation-hardened components. Pan-European and National Research Infrastructures can play a key role for boosting European Industry by taking the first steps in the creation of a sustainable, coordinated and streamlined irradiation testing facilities network. It will also respond to the need of establishing a radiation hardness evaluation based on risk assessment and mitigation rather than on complete risk avoidance. This project aims at increasing and optimizing the access of system developers to irradiation facilities in which representative conditions of their final application are reproduced, and that can serve as a satisfactory validation for the end-users. Such optimization will be based on a network of irradiation facilities with a common entry-point, in which users can define, prepare, carry out and analyze their irradiation campaigns. A key point of such improvement would be that of advancing in the harmonization and standardization of the system level testing methodology, so not to multiply efforts around the same common objective.

Project number: 101008126

Start date: 2021.06.01.
End date: 2026.05.31.

Funding programme: HORIZON 2020
Total budget: 4,999,999.75 EUR


Project partners:
Coo – CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Reseach)
CSL-ULiege (Universite De Liege)
KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) 
UCL (Universite Catholique De Louvain)
TRIUMF (TRIUMF)
PSI (Paul Scherrer Institut)
ELI Beamlines (Fyzikalni Ustav AV CR V.V.I) - Project exit date: 2022.12.31.
NPI-CAS (Ustav Jaderne Fyziky AV CR)
GSI (GSI Helmholtzzentrum Fur Schwerionenforschung GMBH)
HZDR (Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf EV)
Fraunhofer (Frauenhofer Gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten E.V.)
PTB (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt )
UOXF (Carl Von Ossietzky Universitaet Oldenburg)
CLPU (Consorcio Para El Diseno, Construccion, Equipamiento y Explotacion Del Centro De Laseres Pulsados Ultracortos Ultraintensos)
UC3M (Universidad Carlos III De Madrid)
USE (Universidad De Sevilla)
JYU (Jyvaskylan Yliopisto)
CNES (Centre National D'Etudes Spatiales - CNES)
CNRS (Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique CNRS)
ESRF (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility)
GANL (Grand Accelerateur National D'Ions Lourds)
ILL (Institute Max Von Laue - Paul Langevin)
IROC (IROC Technologies Sa)
ISAE (Institut Superieur De L'aeronautique et De L'Espace)
UJM (Universite Jean Monnet Saintetienne)
UM (Universite De Montpellier)
UKRI (United Kingdom Research and Innovation)
ENEA (Agenzia Nazionale Per Le Nuove Tecnologie, L'Energia e Lo Sviluppo Economico Sostenibile) 
UniPd (Universita Degli Studi Di Padova)
UMCG (Academisch Ziekenhuis Groningen)
UU (Uppsala Universitet)
ELI ERIC (Extreme Light Infrastructure European Research Infrastructure Consortium)

Project website: https://radnext.web.cern.ch/



This project has received funding by the European Union’s HORIZON 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement number No 101008126.

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EuPRAXIA - EuPRAXIA Preparatory Phase Project

EuPRAXIA is a distributed, compact and innovative accelerator facility based on plasma technology. It has been selected for the 2021 Update of the ESFRI Roadmap. In its first phase, its consortium of 51 institutes and industry partners will construct an electron-beamdriven plasma accelerator in the metropolitan area of Rome, thus bringing innovation, potential for spin-off companies, state-of-the art scientific applications and a vibrant international user community to the middle of Italy. In its second phase, EuPRAXIA will build one laser-driven plasma accelerator at a site to be chosen between several options in Europe. EuPRAXIA will serve users in ultra-fast science, e.g. on high-resolution medical imaging, deeply penetrating positron annihilation spectroscopy for materials and with Europe’s most southern free-electron laser (FEL). It will offer fascinating capabilities for research on biomolecules, viruses and microscopic processes. EuPRAXIA will thus be a transformative step in the development of ultra-compact accelerators and applications. The Preparatory Phase project EuPRAXIA-PP will prepare its full implementation.

Project number: 101079773

Start date: 2022.11.01.
End date: 2026.10.30.

Funding programme: HORIZON EUROPE
Total budget: 2,490,000.00 EUR

Project partners:
Coo – INFN (Istituto Nazional Di Fisica Nucleare)
CNR (Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche)
ELETTRA (Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste SCPA)
ENEA (Agenzia Nazionale Per Le Nuove Tecnologie, L'Energia e Lo Sviluppo Economico Sostenibile) 
UNI SAPIENZA (Universita Degli Studi Di Roma La Sapienza)
UNITOV (Universita Degli Studi Di Roma Tor Vergata)
CEA (Commissariat A L'energie Et Aux Energies Alternatives)
CNRS (Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique CNRS)
THALES (Thales Las France SAS)
DESY (Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron)
FBH (Ferdinand-Braun-Institut GGMBH Leibnizinstitut Fur Hochstfrequenztechnik)
FZJ (Forschungszentrum Julich GMBH)
HZDR (Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf EV)
LMU Munchen (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen)
Wigner RCP (Wigner Fizikai Kutatóközpont)
USZ (Szegedi Tudományegyetem)
UPS (Pécsi Tudományegyetem - University of Pécs)
IST ID (Associacao Do Instituto Superior Tecnico Para A Investigacao E Desenvolvimiento)
IP-ASCR (Fyzikalni Ustav AV CR V.V.I) - Project exit date: 2022.12.31.
CERN (Organisation Europeenne Pour La Recherche Nucleaire)
IASA (Institute of Accelerating Systems and Applications)
CLPU (Consorcio Para El Diseno, Construccion, Equipamiento y Explotacion Del Centro De Laseres Pulsados Ultracortos Ultraintensos)
HUJ (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Fraunhofer (Frauenhofer Gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten E.V.)
ALBA-CELLS (Consorcio Para La Construccion Equipamiento y Explotacion Del Laboratorio De Luz Sincrotron)
UCLA (James Benjamin Rosenzweig - Associated partner)
EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne - Associated partner)
EMPA (Eidgenossische Materialprufungs und Forschungsanstalt - Associated partner)
Imperial (Imperial College of Science Technolgy and Medicine - Associated partner)
QUB (The Queen's University of Belfast - Associated partner)
UKRI (United Kingdom Research and Innovation - Associated partner)
ULIV (The University of Liverpool - Associated partner)
USTRATH University of Strathclyde - Associated partner)
UOXF (The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford - Associated partner)
ELI ERIC (Extreme Light Infrastructure European Research Infrastructure Consortium)
PSI (Paul Scherrer Institute)
GSI (GSI Helmholtzzentrum Fur Schwerionenforschung GMBH)
HHU (Heinrich-Heine Universitaet Duesseldorf)
AMPLITUDE (Amplitude)

Project website: https://www.eupraxia-pp.org/ 

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STEFF -  Strong-field electrodynamics in Flying Focus pulses

In this action, we propose a theoretical investigation of charged particle behavior in external laser fields using the recently-described “flying focus"" (FF) regime, a laser field setup which allows precise control of the position and velocity of its focus. This novel regime makes it possible to adjust the laser focus so that it co-propagates with the particle, including the situation when the particle is moving against the laser phase fronts. The resulting long laser-particle interaction time enabled by FF pulses is expected to significantly enhance radiation reaction, methods of particle beam control, and cumulative magnetic moment effects along the particle trajectories. In the classical relativistic framework, this will give us the possibility to test the equations of motion, which include radiation-reaction terms and Stern-Gerlach force in the case of particles with spin. In the quantum framework, we will first investigate analytically the probability of single photon emission by a high energy electron in a flying focus beam, and then study numerically the cascade emission of several photons (quantum radiation reaction). Finally, we will implement flying focus fields and the calculated probabilities of the quantum emission processes into the Particle-In-Cell code SMILEI. With this code, we will perform simulations of experimental setups exploiting flying focus fields in laser-particle interactions. Thus we will identify viable experiments that could lead for the first time to unambiguous radiation reaction detection, allow for methods of particle beam control, and enable us to probe quantum electrodynamics in the strong field regime.

Project number: 101105246

Start date: 2023.01.05.
End date: 2025.04.30.

Funding programme: HORIZON EUROPE
Total budget: 150,438.72 EUR

Project partners:
Coo - ELI ERIC (Extreme Light Infrastructure European Research Infrastructure Consortium)
MPG (Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Forderung der Wissenshaften EV - Associated partner)

Probono -  PROton BOron Nuclear fusion: from energy production to medical applicatiOns

Recent experiments with high-intensity lasers have shown record production of alpha particles by irradiating boron-hydrogen targets. This opens the way to completely new studies on pB fusion with multiple goals: i) studies related to nuclear fusion. The proton-boron fusion reaction produces 3 a-particles and releases a large energy. It is considered an interesting alternative to deuterium-tritium fusion because it produces no neutrons, therefore no activation and radioactive wastes. However, it is also considered too difficult due to the enormous temperatures needed to trigger it. Laser-driven experiments may offer an interesting nonthermal fusion approach, alternative to classical inertial fusion schemes. In addition, it will be possible to address still unanswered key questions like determining the penetration of a-particles in dense plasmas. ii) generation of novel laser-driven a-particle sources. Currently there are no high-current and compact aparticle sources (they are typically produced from radioactive materials or from accelerating He-ions in large-size cyclotrons). Laser-driven a-particle sources are promising due to the high brightness implied by the small size of the laser-plasma interaction point and the short particle bunch duration. Such sources could be used for multidisciplinary applications, including medical ones (e.g. radioisotope production for cancer therapy or PET). The Action's work will aim at understanding the physics involved in the emerging topic of laser-driven pB fusion, facilitating access to experimental infrastructures, maximizing production of new knowledge and achieving breakthrough discoveries, boosting career of young researchers by fostering opportunities for training, and finally interconnecting researchers across countries building a well-organized community focused on pB research.

Project number: CA21128

Start date: 2022.10.24.
End date: 2026.10.30.

Funding programme: COST - The European Cooperation in Science and Technology
Total budget: 124,993.50 EUR

Grant Holder: ELI ERIC (Extreme Light Infrastructure European Research Infrastructure Consortium)

Project website: https://www.ca-probono.eu/




COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is a funding agency for research and innovation networks. Our Actions help connect research initiatives across Europe and enable scientists to grow their ideas by sharing them with their peers. This boosts their research, career and innovation.

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