World-class laser centre to be built in Szeged with EU support

Up until 2020, a significant amount of EU funds – a total of HUF 750 billion – will be directly available for innovation, research and development in Hungary.

At a press conference in Budapest on the second phase of the ELI-ALPS (Extreme Light Infrastructure-Attosecond Light Pulse Source) project in Szeged, the President of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office József Pálinkás announced that the call for proposals for the HUF 36 billion second phase of the ELI laser centre’s implementation was announced a few days ago, as part of the Economic Development and Innovation Operational Programme (EDIOP).

The ELI-ALPS centre to be built in Szeged will be a world-class international science facility that will not only play a significant role in the Hungarian research and development sector, but will be an important player in R&D activities for the whole Central European region. The primary mission of the ELI-ALPS research facility is to make a wide range of ultra-fast light sources accessible to user groups in the international scientific community, with special emphasis on coherent extreme ultraviolet (XUV) and X-ray radiation, and to attosecond pulses.

The facility will be able to produce ultra-short laser pulses, which will allow researchers to conduct analyses which could not have been attempted earlier. Mr. Pálinkás went on to say that the performance capacity of the laser project will be higher than that of all other similar projects; it will be applicable in a number of fields, from biology to nuclear physics. He also added that the investment is a part of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures: in addition to Szeged, institutions related to the research centre will be built in Prague and Bucharest.

At the joint press conference, Deputy State Secretary for Development Policy Communication Nándor Csepreghy said that up until 2020 Hungary may utilise EU development funds of approximately HUF 12 000 billion. It could basically be said that this amount is all for innovation, he said, as it centres on how we can create an economic structure which secures long-term economic growth. Such growth would be able to sustain Hungarian development policy without EU funds or with lower EU funding – assuming that this could be the situation after 2020.

Earlier Mr. Csepreghy explained that one of the main pillars of economic development is innovation, which can have a vitally important role in establishing an independent Hungarian economy based on its own resources. During the 2007–2013 financial framework, applicants used a total of HUF 237 billion funding for R&D and innovation projects aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of Hungary.

The Government has allocated HUF 750 billion for innovation goals up until 2020, from a total EDIOP budget of HUF 2733 billion. Thus the R&D and innovation expenditure to GDP ratio can increase to 1.8 per cent, which is almost double the sum for 2007 (0.98 per cent).

MTI