Support for the Extreme Light Infrastructure-Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP) project was yesterday approved by the European Commission (EC), according to a press release posted on the website of the institution.

ELI involves nearly 40 research and academic institutions from 13 EU members countries, forming a pan-European laser facility, that will host the most intense lasers world-wide.

The facility has obtained a financial commitment exceeding EUR 700 million and will be based in four sites. The first three sites will be situated in Prague (the Czech Republic), Szeged (Hungary) and Magurele (Romania) and should be operational in 2015. The fourth site will be selected in 2012 and is scheduled for commissioning in 2017.

In Romania, Magurele, the ELI pillar will focus on laser-based nuclear physics. For this purpose, an intense gamma-ray source is forseen by coupling a high-energy particle accelerator to a high-power laser.

The financial contribution from the EU for the project hosted in Magurele will come from structural funds, with an investment of almost EUR 180 million.

“We have very high hopes for the ELI-NP project. Through it, Romania has a chance to put itself firmly on the map of European research, to retain highly-specialized workers – reversing the ‘brain drain’ and attracting new companies to the region,” said Johannes Hahn, commissioner for regional policy.

Romania is currently investing only 0.5 percent of GDP in research and development across the public and private sector. It has a Europe 2020 target of 2 percent of GDP, in the context of an EU-wide headline target of 3 percent, according to the press statement.

“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. This project is also expected to considerably enhance the attractiveness of Romania as a location for research excellence and innovation,” it further says.

Source: business-review.ro