October 2017
MALDI-MS profiling course
Training in utilization of MALDI-MS profiling method for bacteria identification (focused on master and PhD students).
Events
CIISB Events Calendar
Important and interesting events in the domain of large research infrastructures
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ELI’s L4 ATON Laser Achieves 5 Petawatt
The L4 ATON Kilojoule laser at the Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) – ELI Beamlines Facility achieved a peak power exceeding 5 petawatts (PW = 10¹⁵ W, or one million billion watts). This confirmed that the L4 can be operated safely and reliably at this energy level which is key for scaling up to higher power and preparing for scientific experiments. During a test campaign in September, the flagship L4 ATON system demonstrated a laser performance of 786 J energy compressed to 154 fs, corresponding to a peak power of 5.1 PW. This currently represents the highest pulse energy achieved worldwide at the multi-petawatt power level. “This accomplishment is about more than figures,” said Allen Weeks, Director General of ELI ERIC. “It demonstrates the maturity of ELI’s technology and establishing ELI as a world-leading facility that enables scientists to carry out groundbreaking experiments in high-intensity laser research.” High-Power Laser Technology Development The L4 ATON laser system was developed by a consortium of international partners made up of National Energetics (USA) and EKSPLA (Lithuania) and the ELI Beamlines Facility team. L4 ATON combines optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) with a kilojoule-class, liquid-cooled glass amplifier, allowing operation at a repetition rate of one shot per minute, an order of magnitude higher than other lasers of comparable energy. Installed in the autumn of 2018, a series of upgrades led by ELI Beamlines’ laser and engineering teams, introduced innovations in amplifier cooling, laser diagnostics, control systems, and adaptive optics, significantly improving beam quality, stability, and reliability which have gradually built unique in-house expertise in the design, alignment, and operation of high-energy, high-repetition-rate laser systems. The imposing 18 metres long vacuum compressor system was constructed for the final femtosecond pulse compression. Working in cooperation with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (USA), new multilayer dielectric (MLD) diffraction gratings were developed which are a key innovation enabling operation at extremely high energy densities on optical components. “The successful campaign confirmed that we can operate safely and stably at this exceptional energy level,” said Roman Hvězda, Director of the ELI Beamlines Facility. “It is the result of years of work by our experts, who have built unique competences in the construction and operation of petawatt-class lasers. This achievement is not only a technical milestone, but also proof of the strength and professionalism of the ELI Beamlines team.” Advancing high-power laser science and access for the user community Since 2021, the L4 ATON laser has been serving scientific experiments within the Plasma Physics Platform (P3). A commissioning campaign in December 2025 will integrate the system with new experimental setups, paving the way for external user experiments beginning in 2027 under the ELI User Programme. With its high stability and ability to repeat experiments at one-minute intervals, L4 ATON opens new possibilities for studies in laser-driven particle acceleration, extreme-state physics, and strong-field quantum electrodynamics (QED), as well as for further progress in laser-driven fusion research. The ELI team is analysing performance data to increase power toward 10 PW in 2026. This next step will expand the facility’s experimental reach even further, solidifying ELI’s position among the world’s leading research facilities for high-intensity laser science. Source: https://www.eli-beams.eu/
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European Research Consortium eLTER ERIC One Step Closer to Its Establishment
On 24 July 2025, Germany, as the designated host country of the future eLTER ERIC consortium (Integrated European Long-Term Ecosystem, Critical Zone and Socio-Ecological System Research Infrastructure), submitted a first-stage application (so-called Step 1 application) to the European Commission for the establishment of eLTER ERIC. The European Commission will subsequently review the application, the proposed statutes, and the technical-scientific description of the consortium. Within the next three months, a decision can be expected, along with possible recommendations and requests to adjust the parameters of the future eLTER ERIC consortium. The Czech Republic, together with Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland, is among the potential founding members of the consortium. European Research Infrastructure eLTER RI One Step Closer to the Establishment of the Consortium (eLTER – a European Research Infrastructure – Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research) European Research Infrastructure eLTER eLTER RI is a distributed research infrastructure that supports cutting-edge research and brings new insights into the impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss, soil degradation, pollution, and unsustainable resource use on various European socio-ecological systems. eLTER RI aims to develop scientific capacity to better understand the functioning of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. By integrating a socio-ecological approach to studying human–nature systems and engaging the knowledge of key stakeholders, it provides a solid basis for evidence-based policy-making that seeks sustainable solutions to current and future challenges. The consortium’s management functions will be ensured by the central office, which will be part of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung) in Leipzig. Other important parts of the consortium will include, for example, the Data Management Centre (“Data Centre”), responsible for data administration, and the Analytical Centre. CzeCOS – Domanínek Experimental Site (Experimentální pracoviště ekofyziologie rostlin Domanínek – Ústav výzkumu globálni změny, AV ČR v. v. i.) Czech participation in the future eLTER ERIC consortium Czech partners involved in the establishment and operation of the future European research infrastructure eLTER include the large research infrastructure CzeCOS, coordinated by the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice through the large research infrastructure CENAKVA. The Czech Republic has long acted as a significant partner for eLTER RI and as a potential host country for one of the components of the future consortium, namely the Data Centre. The research organisation responsible for the Data Centre within eLTER RI is Masaryk University in Brno, specifically the Centre for Education, Research and Innovation in ICT (CERIT), focused on building a resilient digital society.
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The Czech Republic has become one of the founding countries of the newly established European research consortium DANUBIUS-ERIC
On 25 June 2025, the European Commission adopted a decision to establish the consortium of the European research infrastructure DANUBIUS-ERIC, which will manage the European research infrastructure DANUBIUS (International Centre for Advanced Studies on River-Sea Systems). The DANUBIUS-ERIC European research infrastructure consortium project brings together a total of 7 European countries: the Czech Republic, Italy, Moldova, the Netherlands, Austria, Romania, and the United Kingdom. The registered office of the DANUBIUS-ERIC consortium will be located in Romania, at the coordination centre in the town of Murighiol, situated directly in the Danube River Delta. DANUBIUS-ERIC is the first European research consortium to be based in Romania. The Czech Republic is involved in the consortium through the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and two national nodes: the large research infrastructures CENAKVA (operated by the University of South Bohemia) and CzeCOS (operated by the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences). DANUBIUS-ERIC is 21st ERIC with participation of the Czech Republic. A view of the future central HUB site in Murighiol, Romania (Media Gallery – DANUBIUS-PP) European Research Infrastructure DANUBIUS The mission of DANUBIUS-ERIC is to enable excellent research within the river–sea system, to offer state-of-the-art research infrastructure, and to provide integrated knowledge necessary for the sustainable development and protection of aquatic ecosystems. The formal essence of the European research infrastructure DANUBIUS is a coordinated network of scientific institutions distributed across Europe. The management function will be carried out by the coordination centre located in Romanian Murighiol. Other important parts of the research infrastructure include the Data Centre based in Bucharest. The role of specialised centres providing equipment and services, storing and making data available, and access to experimental and measurement facilities will in the future be fulfilled by a set of nodes – for example, the analytical node, operating within the centre in Murighiol, or the observation node operated by the Marine Laboratory (PML) in Plymouth, southern England. Finally, the structure of DANUBIUS-ERIC is also composed of so-called Supersites. These are sites with significant scientific potential, serving as focal points for observation, comprehensive research, and modelling of river–sea systems. One such Supersite, named Hydrological Nexus of Central Europe, has been in operation since last year on the territory of the Czech Republic. Pond facility of the CENAKVA Centre in Vodňany, South Bohemia (Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicích – centrum CENAKVA) Czech Participation in DANUBIUS-ERIC The Czech Republic was one of the first countries where the DANUBIUS European research infrastructure project received official support. Czech partners involved in the creation and operation of the future European research infrastructure DANUBIUS include the large research infrastructure CzeCOS, coordinated by the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice through the large research infrastructure CENAKVA. Both CzeCOS and CENAKVA offer capacities for excellent research on European river basins, which can be used within the Czech Supersite Hydrological Nexus of Central Europe. The unique role of the Czech Supersite is given by the location of the Czech Republic as a watershed of three seas and as the source area of several major European rivers. Thus, within DANUBIUS-ERIC, the Czech side participates in activities aimed at supporting top-level world interdisciplinary research and innovation in freshwater research.