EuPRAXIA is the first European project focused on the development of a distributed infrastructure for particle acceleration research based on novel concepts such as plasma acceleration and laser technology.
The preparatory phase, which it is currently underway, should define the €569 million facility. The facility will have two plasma accelerators: one driven by an electron beam, to be built in the Italian city of Frascati, and the other, based on laser technology, the location of which will have to be decided in the middle of next year.
A delegation of experts appointed by the EuPRAXIA consortium is carrying out a series of visits to potential candidates to host the laser-driven plasma accelerator. One of them is Spain’s unique scientific-technical infrastructure (ICTS) specialized in ultra-intense lasers, the Center for Pulsed Lasers (CLPU).
Throughout the morning, a first contact was made with the strategic lines of action followed by the ICTS with a series of talks. The session was opened by the director of the CLPU, María Dolores Rodríguez Frías and the vice-rector for research of the University of Salamanca, José M. Mateos Roco.
After these talks, the delegation went to the infrastructure to hold a round table with the three entities that make up the infrastructure: the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, led by the Deputy Director General for Internationalization of Science, Inmaculada Figueroa; the Regional Government of Castilla y León, through the Director General of Universities, Blanca Ares, and the University of Salamanca, with the presence of José M. Mateos Roco.
The meeting was supported by members of the ultra-intense laser research community, such as the "Guillermo Velarde" Nuclear Fusion Institute; the Specialized Group of Ultrafast Lasers of the Spanish Royal Society of Physics; the Spanish Society of Optics or the IMDEA, as well as important companies in the sector such as Amplitude, Leonardo, or AWGE, and transfer and innovation entities such as the CDTI and Induciencia.