17–21 Apr 2023
iNEXT-D hands-on workshop on cryo-FIB lamella preparation & cryo electron tomography
This is a workshop distributed over several participating centres of the iNEXT-Discovery infrastructure.
Events
CIISB Events Calendar
Important and interesting events in the domain of large research infrastructures
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Czechia has joined LOFAR ERIC
Czechia has joined the largest European infrastructure in the field of radio interferometry, the international LOFAR telescope (short for LOw Frequency ARray). LOFAR is a network of nearly fifty receiving stations operating or under construction in a total of eleven European countries. One of them should be built in Czechia within three years. The system works as one giant antenna, a so-called interferometer, which allows detailed imaging of objects in the near and distant universe on radio waves. However, the scientific use of the device is much broader and, in addition to research in many areas of astrophysics, it is also used in fields such as monitoring and forecasting space weather, studying the ionosphere, lightning physics, and the interaction of cosmic ray showers with the Earth’s atmosphere. This is reflected in the high demand from the Czech research community, with several institutes of the Academy of Sciences and university departments expressing long-term interest in participating in the project. Source LOFAR /ASTRON The LOFAR radio interferometer is one of the key projects mentioned in the ESFRI Roadmap for European research infrastructures and is organized under European law as an ERIC (the European Research Infrastructure Consortium). The Czech Republic is a member, represented on the LOFAR ERIC Governing Board by Dr. Jan Buriánek, representative of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS), while the Czech scientific community is currently represented on the Board by Dr. Miroslav Bárta from the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (AsI CAS). The Czech Republic became a member of ERIC LOFAR at a Council meeting held on September 24, 2025, in Paris. At this meeting, which was important for both the Czech Republic and LOFAR, the Czech participation was represented by Dr. Bárta, Dr. Marek Vyšinka, Head of the Research Infrastructure Department at the MEYS, and Dr. Pavel Jáchym, Head of the research infrastructure EU-ARC.CZ (Czech participation in the ALMA project). EU-ARC after its planned expansion will cover the operation of the Czech LOFAR station and the servicing of the Czech scientific community. The admission itself was preceded by long and demanding negotiations between the MEYS, LOFAR ERIC, and the AsI CAS, as the leading representative of the Czech telescope user community. The effort was successfully completed with the submission of the Czech application by the MEYS and its subsequent acceptance at the LOFAR ERIC Council meeting in Paris. Czechia was welcomed among the consortium members by Dr. Jacqueline Mout, Chair of the LOFAR ERIC Council. She appreciated that “the Czech Republic’s entry into the LOFAR project reflects the growing interest and activity of the community behind LOFAR’s scientific mission.” She went on to say that “Czechia brings additional energy and valuable expertise to this international collaboration and will certainly play an important role in shaping the next phase of LOFAR’s development.” She also praised the rich experience in the field of systematic support for the user community that Czech science has within the service infrastructure for the ALMA observatory, which will also be innovatively applied to scientific users of the international LOFAR telescope. LOFAR ERIC Director General Prof. Michiel van Haarlem “welcomed the Czech Republic to the thriving community centred around the LOFAR project, its scientific use, and further development. The installation of the LOFAR station in Czechia will also contribute to the broader scientific reach of this international network and to deeper cooperation within the consortium. This is an exciting step forward for LOFAR and for European radio astronomy as a whole.” For Miroslav Bárta and Pavel Jáchym, representatives of the Czech scientific community, the Czech entry into LOFAR means “a huge leap forward for development of Czech research in astrophysics and other fields and is a unique opportunity for the wider Czech user community.” As Dr. Bárta said, “it is a dream come true for an entire generation of Czech astronomers.” Radio observations, and in particular interferometry and aperture synthesis, are a modern and promising field that is experiencing a worldwide boom and has applications in many areas of research. By joining ERIC LOFAR, Czechia has confirmed its position as a rising star in the European radio astronomy sky. After more than a decade of successful work within the international ALMA observatory, operating as a millimetre wave interferometer, it has now joined a second major project with a global impact in this field. Participation in LOFAR ERIC stems from a rich tradition of radio spectroscopy operated at the AsI CAS since 1966. As in the case of Czech participation in the ALMA project, engagement in LOFAR ERIC is from a technical perspective secured by the AsI CAS in the framework of the EU-ARC CZ large research infrastructure funded by the MEYS. As stated by representatives of the MEYS, that is responsible the Czech involvement in all ERICs, Dr. Vyšinka and Dr. Buriánek “Czechia joining LOFAR ERIC means a significant contribution to the development of Czech astronomy and its integration into international research environment.” Source LOFAR /ASTRON
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Long Live Research Data: The National EOSC CZ 2025 Conference Brought the Latest Topics in Research Data Management and Sharing to Ostrava
Ostrava, 2–3 December 2025 – The city of Ostrava hosted another edition of the National EOSC CZ Conference under the title Long Live Research Data. The two-day event brought together more than 100 experts from universities, research organizations, data centers, libraries, funding agencies, and public institutions. The program offered plenary sessions, panel discussions, and hands-on workshops focused on current challenges in research data management, sharing, and reuse. Tomáš Kozubek opened the conference from IT4Innovations at VSB – Technical University of Ostrava, who welcomed participants and introduced new services and infrastructure of the national supercomputing center. From Data Management to Skills Development The first day of the conference focused on three main thematic tracks: Tools for Data Management, Stories of Data (Re-)Use, and Advancing Data Skills. The opening presentation, Research Data in the Czech Republic, was delivered by Matej Antol, Executive Manager of the IPs EOSC-CZ, who summarized the current state and future directions of research data management in the Czech Republic. Tools for Data Management The keynote lecture was given by Petr Knoth (The Open University, UK), who emphasized the role of institutions in managing research outputs: “Institutions should take responsibility for managing and preserving the research outputs produced by their academics. They should also make at least the metadata of these outputs openly available to the wider world in a machine- readable format through their repository systems. This will help ensure the long-term openness and FAIRness of their research outputs, and keep the open scholarly ecosystem decentralised, and therefore resilient against third-party monopolies.” Knoth stated. Subsequent presentations showcased practical examples from Czech research organizations. Petra Černohlávková (National Library of Technology) highlighted the crucial importance of persistent identifiers (PIDs): “Without PIDs and associated metadata, research loses its findability and visibility. It’s a small but crucial step toward fair and efficient sharing of research data,” she explained. Jan Fousek (CEITEC Masaryk University) presented the development of multimodal repositories for imaging and physiological data, Antonín Fejfar (Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences) discussed the OneData platform, and Illyria Brejchová (Institute of Computer Science, Masaryk University) shared experiences integrating repositories into user- oriented systems. Stories of Data (Re-)Use In the second thematic block, Martin Komenda (Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic) focused on data stories from the National Health Information System, the formats used for their sharing, and their broader social impact: “Data are stories about the health of a society. Their responsible sharing and correct interpretation help us better understand public health, improve navigation within the entire healthcare system, and strengthen trust in science and research,” said Komenda. The panel then presented examples of data reuse across disciplines – from biomedicine to informatics. Jaroslav Oľha (Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University) demonstrated the reuse of RNA sequencing data, Monika Čechová (Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University) shared insights from computer science, and Marek Cebecauer (J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences) introduced automation tools that accelerate data sharing. Advancing Data Skills The final keynote was delivered by Ladislav Krištoufek, Vice-Rector for Research at Charles University, who spoke about the changing research environment and the need for new competencies in his lecture Data Matters – and Data Matter: “Today’s research requires not only data, but also the ability to work with them — in teams, across disciplines, and in line with the principles of reproducibility. Not everyone needs to master everything, but everyone must understand that research is a team effort,” emphasized Krištoufek. The following presentations shared experiences with the training and certification of data stewards from universities in Vienna and Prague. Michael Feichtinger (University of Vienna) and Jan Dvořák (Faculty of Arts, Charles University) introduced new educational programs focused on developing competencies in research data management. Jan Vališ (National Library of Technology) demonstrated how skills in research data and open science can be systematically strengthened. Georgia Koutentaki (Faculty of Information Technology, Czech Technical University in Prague) highlighted the role of data stewards in academic education. Discussion on Skills and Research Generations In a panel discussion moderated by Matej Antol, participants agreed that successful research data management requires not only new tools, but also a change in researchers’ mindset. “Many problems in working with data arise because researchers often don’t even fully understand what data they are working with. The key is to learn how to interpret and describe data properly,” was one of the reflections shared during the discussion. The panelists also emphasized that technical tools alone are not enough. The future of research, they agreed, depends on systematic thinking, precise documentation, and open communication. Data stewards, they noted, demonstrate that success in this field is not only about technical expertise, but also about soft skills – the ability to communicate, empathize, and listen. The session concluded with a call for stronger institutional support. “Data stewards can offer assistance, but if the institution itself does not make a commitment and create a supportive environment, their efforts will remain ineffective,” summarized Georgia Koutentaki. Practical Workshops and Poster Session The second day of the conference was dedicated to practical workshops. Participants in the Young Researchers track focused on FAIR principles, metadata management, and the use of services within the national data infrastructure. In parallel, the Repo Builders track addressed repository development, legal and licensing issues, and the use of tools such as Dataspecer and Persistent Identifiers (PIDs). During the Poster Session, the expert jury selected the three best projects. The Best Poster Award went to poster no. 8 by Radovan Tomášik, Ivan Mahút, and Simona Menšíková, titled “Privacy-Preserving Data Quality Assessment for Federated Health Data Networks.” The winning contribution impressed the jury with its innovative approach to assessing the quality of health data in decentralized networks while maintaining data privacy. Conclusion The National EOSC CZ 2025 Conference reaffirmed the growing importance of open science and the emphasis on high-quality research data management in the Czech research environment. “Data management and sharing are no longer peripheral issues; they are the foundation of credible and effective research,” concluded the closing session. The event was organized by the EOSC CZ team, comprising representatives from Masaryk University, IT4Innovations (VŠB–Technical University of Ostrava), and CESNET. The full program, speaker presentations, and video recording of the conference will be available on the conference website. Source: Press release EOSC-CZ
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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/