Known as “Extreme Light Infrastructure – Nuclear Physics”, ELI-NP will serve as a pan European laboratory and will host a broad range of scientific disciplines, which will include: ground- breaking fundamental physics, new nuclear physics and astrophysics as well as material science and life sciences. Researchers will also be working on new ways to handle nuclear materials and radioactive waste.
The project involves 40 research and academic institutions from 13 member states and is part of a wider initiative with the Czech Republic and Hungary to make up a pioneering European research consortium, the press statement reads.
“This is exactly the type of project we want to see more of in the future. It is aimed at boosting research and innovation with a clear EU added value, to ensure that each and every Euro is wisely spent,” said Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn.
The project aims to promote national and European research by creating an internationally-renowned research infrastructure, open to specialists from the academic and private scientific sphere, as well as the business sector.
ELI-NP is one part of the “Extreme Light Infrastructure” which was identified in 2006 by the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructure (ESFRI) as one of the top priority projects of research infrastructure for Europe. The project is the second pillar of a pan-European Laser facility – the Commission approved EUR236 million in funding for the first ELI pillar in the Czech Republic, in April 2011.
Romania is currently investing only 0.5% of GDP in research and development (R&D) across the public and private sector. It has a Europe 2020 target of 2% of GDP, in the context of an EU-wide headline target of 3%. ELI-NP is expected to give a much-needed boost to research and development in Romania, helping the country to bridge the innovation gap and foster knowledge and technology transfer. The project is also expected to considerably enhance the attractiveness of Romania as a location for research excellence and innovation, according to the press statement.
ELI-NP is expected to be operational in 2015.