ELI - The Extreme Light Infrastructure

02/09/2026

⚡An evening of research, ideas and connections at

Yesterday evening, Summer School participants took centre stage during the poster session, presenting their research and exchanging ideas with fellow early-career researchers and experts from across the scientific community. The session also featured the ELISS poster competition, recognising three outstanding student posters – and awards will be handed out at the social dinner tonight.

Today, the programme moves from posters to the infrastructure behind the science.

🔬This afternoon, participants will get a closer look at the science and technology behind ELI during laboratory tours, exploring the facilities and experimental environment supporting cutting-edge laser research.

Then, the group will enjoy a nice dinner and add new memories to this eventful week.

Stay tuned for more from !

31/08/2026

⚡ ELI Summer School 2026 is officially underway!

A week of intense science, discussion, and hands-on learning starts today at the ELI ALPS Laser Research Institute in Szeged.

Over the next five days, young scientists and early-career researchers will explore topics ranging from attosecond and ultrafast science to plasma physics, quantum technologies, nuclear photonics and advanced laser sources – alongside laboratory visits, hands-on activities, poster presentations and networking opportunities.

🎤 A special highlight of the programme is an online keynote lecture by Prof. Anne L’Huillier, 2023 Nobel Prize laureate in Physics, on the fundamentals of attosecond science through high-order harmonic generation in gases.

Stay tuned throughout the week as we share more highlights from hashtag !

27/08/2026

📢 ELI announces leadership transition

After eight years as Director General of ELI ERIC, Allen Weeks will step down at the end of September 2026. During his tenure, ELI established a successful User Programme and integrated its facilities under a unified management and governance structure.

As ELI enters its next phase of growth, Florian Gliksohn, ELI’s current Executive Director, has been appointed Interim Director General while the recruitment process for a new Director General is underway.

🔬 ELI’s scientific community continues to grow rapidly: across eight User Calls, more than 2,000 researchers from 43 countries have submitted 879 experimental proposals, with 560 accepted for implementation.

🌍 With 10 Member and Observer countries and growing international engagement, ELI is well positioned for its next phase.

The ELI team thanks Allen for his leadership and contribution to building and operating this world-leading research infrastructure and wishes him every success in his next role.

Find out more 👉 https://www.eli-laser.eu/news/eli-general-assembly-announces-leadership-transition/

17/08/2026

🔬 The 9th ELI User Call opens on 15 September 2026!

Researchers from around the world will once again have the opportunity to apply for access to the cutting-edge experimental capabilities of ELI - The Extreme Light Infrastructure.

📅 Call opens: 15 September 2026
⏳Proposal deadline: 20 October 2026
🧪 Experimental period: May–October 2027

If you are considering applying, now is the time to start preparing:
👉 Create your ELI User Registry account in advance to access the User Office System and submit your proposal.
👉 Contact the relevant instrument scientists early to discuss the feasibility of your experiment, technical requirements, and the available capabilities.

The 9th Call will continue to expand opportunities for researchers to explore ELI’s unique capabilities across a growing range of scientific and application areas 👉 https://up.eli-laser.eu/news/pre-announcement-eli-to-launch-9th-user-call-on-15-september-aizbXj

📩 Questions about the User Programme? Visit the ELI User Portal at https://up.eli-laser.eu/ and contact the ELI User Office at user-office[@]eli-laser.eu.

Stay tuned for the full Call announcement and available experimental opportunities on 15 September!

10/08/2026

⏰ Today is your last chance to register for the ELI Summer School 2026!

Are you a student or early-career researcher interested in high-power lasers, ultrafast science and the latest developments in photonics? Join us at the ELI ALPS Laser Research Institute in Szeged, Hungary, from 31 August - 4 September for a week of lectures, hands-on activities, facility tours, networking and cutting-edge science.

📅 Registration deadline: TODAY, 10 August (midnight)!

The programme covers:
⚡ Attosecond & ultrafast science
🔬 High-power lasers & advanced light sources
🌌 Plasma physics, quantum technologies & nuclear photonics
🎤 A keynote lecture by 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics laureate Anne L’Huillier (online)

You’ll also have the opportunity to present your own work in the poster session, connect with leading researchers and ELI scientists, and experience one of the world’s most advanced laser research facilities.

🔗 Register and find the full programme: https://indico.eli-laser.eu/event/240/

The 11th edition of the ELI Summer School (ELISS) series aims to provide young scientists with a comprehensive overview of the generation and application of intense laser pulses and laser-driven particle and radiation sources. Participants will also have the opportunity to engage in dynamic poster s...

15/07/2026

🚀ELI has just launched a new user-assisted commissioning call for the L4f P3 beamline at the ELI Beamlines Facility, inviting researchers in laser-plasma physics and high-intensity laser interactions to help shape the commissioning of this cutting-edge experimental platform.

💡The L4f P3 beamline is being developed towards 10 PW capability, opening new opportunities for experiments at the frontier of laser-plasma physics. As part of this commissioning campaign, ELI welcomes proposals that can enhance the experimental setup through:
🔹 Advanced laser metrology
🔹 Tailor-made gas nozzles
🔹 Additional diagnostics
🔹 Computational methods for data processing

The selected contributions will become part of a collaborative user-assisted commissioning experiment planned for September-October 2026.

📅 Proposal deadline: 11 August 2026, 12:00 CEST

Step into the laboratory via the virtual walkthrough of the experimental hall which houses the L4f P3 beamline: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=zuCegjZYkSU

👉 Read the full commissioning call and submit your proposal through the ELI User Portal: https://up.eli-laser.eu/call/call-for-user-assisted-commissioning-of-the-l4f-p3-9BVucM

14/07/2026

🚀 Great news for Europe's deep-tech innovation ecosystem!
ELI - The Extreme Light Infrastructure has been awarded a €5 million Horizon Europe project to coordinate ELIgnite – a new initiative designed to accelerate the journey from breakthrough science to market-ready innovation.

ELIgnite will connect startups, SMEs and industrial innovators with Europe's world-leading laser and photonics infrastructures, making cutting-edge research facilities more accessible than ever before.

💡 What makes ELIgnite unique?
✅ €5 million in Horizon Europe funding
✅ More than 60% of the budget dedicated to cascade funding for companies
✅ Grants of up to €500,000 for breakthrough technologies
✅ Access to world-class laser facilities, scientific expertise and tailored business support
✅ A fast-track approach to commercialising deep-tech innovation

From clean energy and advanced manufacturing to healthcare, semiconductors and resilient infrastructure, ELIgnite will help transform pioneering ideas into real-world solutions.

ELI is excited to lead this outstanding European consortium and looks forward to welcoming the first innovators when the project launches in September 2026, with the first open calls expected in early 2027.

Find out more 👉 https://www.eli-laser.eu/news/eli-led-consortium-awarded-5-million-project-elignite-to-accelerate-deep-tech-innovation/

02/07/2026

💥 The ELI Summer School 2026 is coming up - don't miss the opportunity!

Join ELISS 2026 on 31 August-4 September at the ELI ALPS Facility in Szeged, Hungary - the go-to international training programme for students and early-career researchers in laser science and its applications.

This year's programme dives into some of the most exciting topics in the field: attosecond and ultrafast science, XUV, X-ray and hard X-ray sources, plasma physics, laser development, THz science, quantum technologies, nuclear photonics, and space-related applications.

✨ Special keynote: Anne L'Huillier, 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics laureate

During the week, participants will also get to:

🔹 Take guided tours of the ELI ALPS Facility
🔹 Gain hands-on experience through practical activities
🔹 Present their research at the poster session and compete for prizes
🔹 Connect with fellow students, researchers, and leading experts
🔹 Explore research and career opportunities at ELI

👉 Register now: https://indico.eli-laser.eu/event/240/registrations/109/

01/07/2026

🎉 The ELI User Meeting 2026 started exactly a week ago, and it's time to take one more opportunity to congratulate the winners of this year's Poster Competition! 👏

Their outstanding research, creativity, and scientific excellence truly stood out during the poster session.
🏆 Young Researcher Award – Alfred Mishi (ELI Beamlines)
"Controlled Electron Injection in Laser Wakefield Acceleration using Nanoparticles"
🏆 Best ELI-Related Topic – Daniel Dorobantu (ELI Nuclear Physics)
"Towards high-quality laser-driven ion beams for radiobiology studies at ELI-NP"
🏆 Most Innovative Idea – Rajaram Shrestha (ELI ALPS)
"Single-Cycle, 30 μJ mid-IR Pulses at 100 kHz at ELI ALPS"

Congratulations to all three award recipients on this well-deserved recognition! 🌟 And thank you to everyone who presented their research and helped make this year's poster session such a success.

30/06/2026

👁️ How do we see the world in such vivid detail - and what happens when that process goes wrong?

A new study published in Science Magazine - https://scim.ag/4w9ufHf - has, for the first time, revealed the three-dimensional structure of human cone opsins in their inactive ("dark") state. These light-sensitive proteins in the retina enable daylight vision, colour perception, and our ability to track fast-moving objects. Understanding how they work at the molecular level could open new avenues for studying retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and colour vision deficiencies.

The study was carried out in collaboration with colleagues at PSI Paul Scherrer Institut, ELI - The Extreme Light Infrastructure, and the The University of Tokyo / UTokyo.

ELI played a key role in this international collaboration through its Femtosecond Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy (FSRS) instrument, where researchers tracked the ultrafast molecular dynamics of cone opsins immediately after they absorbed light. By capturing these processes across timescales from femtoseconds to microseconds, the experiments helped connect the proteins' structure with their function in real time.

As Jakob Andreasson, Group Leader of the Structural Dynamics Team at ELI, explains:
“Experiments like this demonstrate how ELI can support frontier research well beyond traditional laser physics. Life-science questions increasingly require access to instruments that can capture biological processes at their natural speed and complexity. ELI brings this capability to the user community by combining advanced laser technology with experimental platforms designed for demanding molecular studies. "

Check out the article on this topic from ELI 👉 https://www.eli-laser.eu/news/experiment-performed-at-eli-enables-new-insights-into-human-vision/ and PSI 👉 https://www.psi.ch/en/news/media-releases/new-insights-into-human-vision