INFN-LNF Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati
The Official Journal of February 6, 2020 publishes the Decree of the Ministry of Education, University and Research no. 1118/2019, “Allotment of the fund aimed at relaunching investments of Government Central Administrations and at Country’s development”, as provided for in the Article 1, section 95 of the Law of December 30, 2018, no. 145.
The fund referred to by the Decree, amounting to a total of 823 ME, provides funding for Research Institutes to enhance or create infrastructures, over the period 2019-2033.
INFN falls within it featuring two major initiatives: the creation of a European Hub for scientific computing and Big Data, through the CINECA, with a 105 ME funding (2019-2025), and the preparation of the EuPRAXIA project at Frascati National Laboratories, with a 108 ME (2019-2031) funding.
In particular, EuPRAXIA will represent a European facility dedicated to developing a FEL based on plasma acceleration, besides being equipped with a linear accelerator with high gradient “X-band” advanced technology, based on the R&D made for CLIC at CERN. The EuPRAXIA Collaboration, born around a Design Study of Horizon 2020 (2015-2019), intends to submit the project of a facility distributed among various European centres to the ESFRI (European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures) Roadmap 2021, so as to enter the preparatory phase for the realization of the site. The Collaboration chose LNF as the construction site dedicated to house the part that will use the beam-driven plasma technology.
Germany, France, UK, Portugal and Czech Republic will host as many centres of expertise devoted to the development of high-frequency laser, plasma acceleration, laser applications, computing and technology, respectively.
The overall cost of the EuPRAXIA project is estimated at around 300 ME (staff and infrastructures). Details of the EuPRAXIA project, its technological impact, together with the Conceptual Design Report published on October 2019, are available at http://www.eupraxia-project.eu
Translation by Camilla Paola Maglione, Communications Office INFN-LNF