EPACE

Funded by Horizon Europe's Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, the EPACE doctoral network offers 15 PhD projects with secondments and extensive trainings to perform cutting-edge research and act as an EU innovation accelerator.

The selection of the 15 Doctoral Students for the EPACE research projects is completed. The Kick-off meeting took place on December 15 & 16 at DESY in Hamburg.

Contact: lisa.crinon@desy.de

A Focus on Compact Accelerators and Innovation

EPACE (European compact accelerators, their applications, and entrepreneurship) is funded by the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, the EU’s flagship program for doctoral education and postdoctoral training of researchers. It aims at educating the next generation of scientists on compact accelerator technologies and exploring applications and commercial opportunities. The consortium consists of 9 academic collaborators and 1 private company spanning over 7 EU countries, as well as 21 associated partners worldwide.

Started on January 1, 2025, the four-year-long program funds 15 PhD projects to perform cutting-edge research. In addition, the students participating in the program will undergo comprehensive technology transfer training including secondments at partner institutions and companies, network-wide events and summer schools (covering accelerator science, plasma physics, high-performance computing, photon science, and radiotherapy as well as transferable skills such as courses in scientific presenting, writing and communication). On top of this, the students will receive instruction in entrepreneurship provided by French business school HEC (École des hautes études commerciales de Paris) to identify commercial opportunities around compact accelerators and assess their viability.

At the intersection of various scientific domains, novel compact accelerators (in particular plasma accelerators) and laser-based x-ray sources could shrink the cost and size of accelerators and open up new domains of applications in various fields of science. EPACE pools R&D efforts to expose the commercial opportunities of this state-of-the-art technology.

See the 15 doctoral projects in EPACE

Each PhD project is funded for a duration of three years.

Consortium

Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY https://www.desy.de
The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission CEA https://www.cea.fr/english
The Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas FORTH https://www.forth.gr/en/home
The Center for Physical Sciences and Technology FTMC https://www.ftmc.lt/en
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München LMU https://www.lmu.de/en/about-lmu
The National Centre for Scientific Research CNRS https://www.cnrs.fr/en
Eindhoven University of Technology TU/e https://www.tue.nl/en
Universität Hamburg UHH https://www.uni-hamburg.de/en.html
Lund University ULUND https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se
GScan OÜ https://www.gscan.eu

Project 1: Kilohertz Laser-Wakefield Acceleration

Demonstrate the recently proposed P-MoPA concept in which high-repetition-rate plasma accelerator operation is achieved through use of highly efficient picosecond thin-disk lasers. The long picosecond pulses are modulated to create a pulse train that can then resonantly excite a plasma wakefield.

Project 2: Snapshot Tomography of Laser-Plasma Acceleration

Apply tomographic principles and compressed sensing to image the plasma wakefield in a laser plasma accelerator with unprecedented accuracy. A single shot or snapshot method will be demonstrated, allowing for the extraction of information about the full 3D structure of the transient accelerating cavity.

Project 3: Machine-Learning-Enhanced Laser Plasma Accelerators

Improve the performance and stability of a high-repetition rate laser-plasma accelerator through a combination of predictive and active-stabilization of the driving laser system. We will demonstrate long-term and stable operation of a laser-driven plasma accelerator.

Project 4: Tailored Plasma Targets for Laser Wakefield Acceleration

Design and simulate tailored plasma targets via use of custom gas nozzles. The nozzles will be manufactured via hybrid laser microfabrication. Experimental testing will be performed at project partner facilities to determine the improvement in accelerator stability and tunability.

Project 5: Production of High-Density Spin-Polarized Hydrogen-Atom Target

Produce spin-polarized atoms over a range of densities relevant for plasma acceleration. The method will be Implemented in a laser plasma accelerator to demonstrate acceleration of a polarized electron beam. Polarized electron beam are important for high-energy physics and material science.

Project 6: Spin Polarisation in Plasma Accelerators

Study the physics of spin depolarisation in plasma accelerators and understand the effect of beam parameters on final polarisation. Concepts for the experimental realisation of a spin-polarised plasma accelerator will be developed. This project is at the interface between RF and plasma-based accelerators.

Project 7: VHEE Radiotherapy with Electron Beams from a Laser-Plasma Accelerator

Use numerical modelling to optimize the properties of laser-plasma accelerators in the 50 MeV-200 MeV range for VHEE radiotherapy, and evaluate the effect on DNA using Geant4DNA. GPU-capable codes WarpX and HiPACE++ will be used. This includes exchanges with experiments planned at a 100 TW laser facility at CEA.

Project 8: Compact Muon and Electron Source Combined with the GScan Detector System

Explore the generation of muons and positrons from a compact laser-driven plasma accelerator combined with a converter target. The application of these beams to a medical tomographic system will be studied. Suitability of the GScan plastic scintillator fiber for medical tomography will be demonstrated.

Project 9: Advancing Radiotherapy with Laser-Plasma Accelerators

This project aims to develop a compact laser-plasma accelerator platform for precise delivery of very-high-energy electron (VHEE) radiotherapy. The student will focus on characterising realistic radiation doses, optimising dose distribution, and proposing optimised treatment planning strategies.

Project 10: ICS X-ray Source for Semiconductor Wafer Metrology

Develop an inverse Compton scattering source operating in the 10-40 keV range. The student will demonstrate the application of these x-rays to the characterization of semiconductor wafers. Opportunities to pursue courses covering key topics in accelerator physics, beam physics and advanced electrodynamics.

Project 11: Inverse Compton Scattering X-ray Source from a High Repetition Rate Laser Wakefield Accelerator

Develop a plasma accelerator operated for extended periods of time at a high repetition rate (100 Hz) with a level of stability in line with conventional RF accelerators. The student will demonstrate an ICS source operating at this repetition rate, characterize the produced radiation and investigate the usability for material science.

Project 12: Controlling Plasma Sources on Hydrodynamic Time Scales for better Plasma Accelerators

Develop novel simulation capabilities to simulate advanced schemes of HOFI channels, a recent method for laser guiding that allows laser-driven plasma accelerators to reach higher electron energies. The student will investigate novel plasma shaping methods to improve the brightness of LPA electron beams.

Project 13: Theoretical Study of Superluminal Laser-Plasma Acceleration

Develop a concept for superluminal acceleration to increase the energy of the electron beams by an order of magnitude. The student will develop the start-to-end modelling of the superluminal pulse formation, propagation in plasma, and wakefield acceleration.

Project 14: Plasma Mirrors Towards Extreme Intensity Light Sources and High-Quality Compact Electron Accelerators

Expand WarpX capabilities for lower cost-to-convergence using mesh refinement. The student will devise a high-charge, high-quality injector for laser-plasma accelerators and determine feasibility of the proposed scheme on a 100-TW-class laser system.

Project 15: Better Beam Quality in Plasma Accelerators through High-Performance Computing

Develop advanced algorithms and implement new capabilities into HiPACE++, an open-source quasi-static particle-in-cell code which can accurately simulate plasma accelerator interactions while cutting the simulation cost by 10x. Investigate 3D effects such as hosing in long-beam plasma acceleration regime.