The Cockcroft Institute (CI) through experts from the University of Liverpool is playing a leading role in four newly awarded Horizon Europe projects that will help define the next generation of large-scale research infrastructures.
Supported with more than 25 M€, with more than 1 M€ for Liverpool, the projects, EuPRAXIA, EPITA, TwinRISE and iRIS, bring together leading laboratories, universities, research facilities and industrial partners across Europe. Together, they address how we can make major research infrastructures more compact, more sustainable, more intelligent, and easier for industry, researchers and society to benefit from.
In Liverpool, all four projects are led by CI member Professor Carsten P Welsch from the Department of Physics.
Large research infrastructures, from particle colliders and free-electron lasers to advanced medical facilities, are often multi-billion-pound investments. Their impact depends on the science they enable, as well as on the technologies, skills, sustainability and partnerships that allow them to be built and operated effectively.
EuPRAXIA is a major European initiative to establish a distributed research infrastructure based on plasma accelerator technology. Plasma accelerators use waves in ionized gas to accelerate particles over much shorter distances than conventional accelerators, opening the way to more compact facilities for science, medicine and industry.
The new 1.5 M€ EuPRAXIA Early Implementation Phase project will be coordinated by INFN in Italy and support the transition from preparation to implementation. It will help define the legal, financial and governance structures needed for EuPRAXIA to become a sustainable European facility, while continuing to develop its user community, industrial links and societal applications.
Liverpool has been a key partner in EuPRAXIA for more than a decade and will lead dissemination for the project, closely connected with its R&D into beam and plasma diagnostics, facility design and optimization. This includes strengthening EuPRAXIA’s public identity, engaging policymakers and industry, supporting knowledge transfer, and showcasing the benefits of compact accelerators through major events, including activities linked to IPAC’29 in Liverpool.
EPITA, Enabling Partnerships for Innovation and Accelerator Technology Advancement, will develop a portfolio of breakthrough technologies for future accelerator-based research infrastructures.
Led by CERN, the project, which was awarded 10 M€ by the EU and benefits from even more matching funding from the project partners, brings together research organizations, universities and companies to work on 22 prototype technologies. These include advanced superconducting radiofrequency systems, laser-driven acceleration, high-temperature superconducting magnets, permanent magnets, beamline components and advanced materials.
The aim of EPITA is to help Europe build accelerators that are higher performing, more sustainable and more cost-effective, while strengthening Europe’s high-tech industrial supply chains.
Liverpool will lead the work package on co-creation with industry. The University will support partners in identifying exploitable technologies, managing intellectual property, developing innovation pathways and training researchers to move promising ideas towards real-world use. This includes pitch clinics, market validation, deep-tech mentoring and support for spin-out opportunities.
TwinRISE will develop trustworthy AI-generated digital twins for research, healthcare and energy infrastructures.
Digital twins are advanced virtual models of physical systems. They can be used to test new ideas, predict performance, reduce downtime and support safer decision-making before changes are made in the real world. The 10 M€ TwinRISE project will be led by experts from GANIL in France and combine physics-based modelling with AI, federated learning and high-performance computing to create digital twins that are transparent, secure and trustworthy by design.
The project will test its approach in use cases covering proton therapy and medical imaging, accelerator operations and radiation safety, and energy-aware systems for large facilities. This could support faster treatment planning, improved radiological mapping, predictive maintenance and more energy-efficient operation.
Liverpool will lead training, capacity building and exploitation activities, helping researchers, operators, SMEs and industry partners learn how to use and extend the new digital twin tools. The University will also contribute to the development and validation of AI digital twin applications, including work linked to ion beam therapy which has been a focus of Prof Welsch’s QUASAR Group for many years.
Finally, iRIS , Intelligent Research Infrastructure Sustainability, focuses on the environmental performance of major scientific facilities. The 5 M€ project will be coordinated by CERN and develop AI-powered tools and practical methods to improve the sustainability of research infrastructures throughout their lifecycle. This includes energy-efficiency optimization, reuse of construction and demolition materials, soil restoration, lifecycle analysis and socio-economic assessment.
These advances will be relevant to projects such as the Future Circular Collider and the Einstein Telescope, where decisions made during planning and construction can have long-term environmental, economic and social consequences.
Liverpool will lead communication, engagement and inclusion for iRIS. The University will deliver a digital-first communication strategy, training and capacity-building program, stakeholder engagement, media activity, outreach, and legacy planning to ensure the project’s results are visible, accessible and widely adopted.
Professor Welsch said: “These four awards are a major recognition of the Cockcroft Institute’s leadership in accelerator science, research infrastructure innovation and international collaboration. Modern research infrastructures are among the most ambitious investments society makes in science. They need world-leading technology, but also skilled people, industrial partnerships, sustainable design, trusted data systems and public engagement.
“Liverpool is helping to shape all of these areas. We will contribute to the accelerators, digital tools, sustainability methods and innovation pathways that future multi-billion-pound facilities will depend on. This is exactly the kind of challenge that the Cockcroft Institute was set up to address.”
The four awards reinforce CI’s position as a key partner in accelerator science and research infrastructure development.