Page 18 - Roadmap

MOMENTUM OF INNOVATION

Hungary also takes part as observer in the ACTRIS, , EU-OPENSCREEN and EST projects and in the FAIR and Life-
Watch landmark.

Considering that the ELI-ALPS (Extreme Light Infrastructure Attosecond Light Pulse Source) is the only pan-European
research infrastructure being implemented in Hungary which has ESFRI relevance, it is presented in more detail below.

The ELI-ALPS as a new European large research facility on the ESFRI Roadmap

The ELI (Extreme Light Infrastructure) high-power laser based research infrastructure is being established in European
cooperation, with the involvement of the international scientific community. The ELI is the world’s first facility to enable
the examination of interaction between light and matter at unprecedented intensities, even in the so-called ultrarelativistic
range. This can open new doors in physics and can lay the foundations of new technical developments, such as relativistic
microelectronics and compact (desktop size) laser particle accelerators. The research infrastructure indicated in the ESFRI
Roadmap is being commissioned continuously from the end of 2017.

The laser research centre is built on three sites in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Romania at the same time, subject to
joint coordination and a harmonised research strategy. The ELI Attosecond Light Pulse Source (ELI-ALPS) research in-
stitute (Szeged, Hungary) hosts experiments on extremely short processes unfolding in atoms and molecules; the ELI-
beamline (Czech Republic) focuses on generating short-pulse X-rays and on particle acceleration; and the ELI-NP
(Romania) examines fundamental nuclear questions with ultra-powerful optical and gamma pulses . The three pillars will
be integrated into a unique, international, multi-site facility by ELI-ERIC, enabling users to have access to all three research
capacities through a single call for proposal. The first call (‘zero call’), which will establish and test the access process and
support of users and the expert evaluation system, is planned to be announced in 2018.

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