EuPRAXIA-DN Camp on Science held in Lisbon

On the 14^th and 15^th July 2025, the EuPRAXIA Doctoral Network held a two-day Camp at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) in Lisbon, Portugal.  The camp looked at the breakthrough science that the EuPRAXIA facility will enable, exploring how advanced accelerator technologies are paving the way for more compact and versatile particle accelerators. 

Group photograph of the participants of the EuPRAXIA-DN Camp II.

Participants were able to make the most of a wide array of talks.  These talks were split into five sessions, with each session being introduced by a key-note talk. On day one, network coordinator Professor Carsten P Welsch and IST President Professor Rogério Colaço welcomed the 35 camp participants.  Participants were made up of Fellows from the Doctoral Network, invited key-note speakers and external participants from institutions across Europe. 

Kicking off the keynote talks, Dr Ricardo Fonseca and Prof Marco Piccardo from IST introduced the topic of HPC and meta surfaces for laser plasma accelerators. Camp participants were then taken on a tour of several IST labs, giving them an insight into their current research and allowing them to discuss with IST experts. 

Dr Marie Emmanuelle Couprie from Synchrotron Soleil in France spoke about Free Electron Lasers driven by LWFA.  These talks were complemented by numerous contributions from EuPRAXIA-DN Fellows and external participants. Following on from the day’s academic activities, a poster session was held, facilitating discussion and interaction between early career researchers and those with more experience, sparking new professional relationships and possible future collaborations. 

Day two also had a full programme, getting started with an invited talk on Betatron Radiation Theory from Dr Alessandro Curcio from INFN. Dr Marija Vranic from IST then spoke about direct laser acceleration.  After taking the opportunity to enjoy lunch in the beautiful Lisbon sunshine, delegates had the chance to hear Dr Raoul Trines from the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory talk about laser-induced plasma science.  Similarly to day one, these sessions were complemented by a wealth of contributed talks. 

Prof Welsch said: ” The wide range of scientific breakthrough studies that are possible at next generation plasma accelerators such as EuPRAXIA was extremely impressive. The Camp was an ideal way to discuss the opportunities and challenges  between participants, and gave everyone a platform to present their own research. I already look forward to our next workshop in Hungary this October!”

The EuPRAXIA Doctoral Network would like to express its thanks to all invited speakers for their valuable contributions.  Special thanks to our colleagues Jorge Vieira, Claudia Romao and the fantastic team at IST for their help in organising the camp.

All presentations can be found at the event website. The next EuPRAXIA Camp will be held in Pécs, Hungary on 6th - 7th October 2025 and will cover the innovations that EuPRAXIA will enable.

Registration is now open, and anyone interested can register via the following link: https://agenda.infn.it/event/47748/registrations/5306/