News - The Cockcroft Institute

March 11, 2026

Cockcroft Researchers’ Theoretical Concept for Ultrashort FEL Pulses Successfully Demonstrated at SwissFEL

When the concept of mode-locking was introduced in lasers in the 1960s it allowed the laser pulse duration to be reduced by orders of magnitude. In conventional lasers mode-locking relies on the fact that the laser pulse builds up inside…

the team retrieving irradiated radiochromic film (from left to right: Kristina Small, Brad Wilson, Fabio D’Andrea, Nick Henshaw, James Jones)

March 10, 2026

VHEE user experiments at CLARA

CLARA at Daresbury Laboratory has now achieved 250 MeV beam energy, unlocking a new phase of Very High Energy Electron (VHEE) research that could help shape the future of cancer treatment. These powerful electron beams can reach deepseated tumours while keeping radiation…

February 16, 2026

Professor Welsch recognized on the MeetEngland 2025 Roll of Honour

Prof Carsten P Welsch, Head of Accelerator Science at the University of Liverpool and Leader of the QUASAR Group based at the Cockcroft Institute, was presented with a 2026 MeetEngland Impact Network Award in recognition of his outstanding achievements in…

February 4, 2026

Lancaster University student wins prestigious cryogenics thesis prize

Lancaster University PhD student Dan Seal has been awarded the Harry Jones Prize by the British Cryogenic society (BSC) for 2025. The prize is given annually for the best UK thesis in the field of experimental applied science in the…

February 2, 2026

Advancing plasma-based accelerators using nanostructured materials

Over the past few decades, the field of plasma-based accelerators - such as laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) and beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA) has made remarkable advances. The long-predicted GeV/m accelerating gradients are now routinely achieved at multiple experimental facilities…

January 26, 2026

IPAC’26 Scientific Program Committee meets in Liverpool

The University of Liverpool's QUASAR Group hosted an important planning meeting for the IPAC’26 Scientific Program Committee (SPC) in Liverpool from 14 - 15 January. Participants at the IPAC 2026 SPC meeting in Liverpool. The event was held at the…

January 23, 2026

IBIC 2025 Conference Proceedings published online

The International Beam Instrumentation Conference 2025 (IBIC 2025) was held from 7th to 10th September 2025 at the University of Liverpool. We are pleased to announce that the final conference proceedings have now been published and are available online at…

January 21, 2026

Mark Thomson takes up his mandate as CERN General Director

British physicist and former STFC Excecutive Chair Mark Thomson began his five-year mandate as CERN General Director on 1 January 2026, taking over from Fabiola Gianotti. CERN General Director Mark Thomson. (Image credit: CERN/Maximilien Brice) Much of his earlier career…

December 15, 2025

New Application Experiments on the SCAPA Laser-Driven Proton Platform

Cockcroft Institute researchers at the University of Strathclyde have successful commissioned a laser-driven proton source platform at the Scottish Centre for the Application of Plasma-based Accelerators (SCAPA) and completed three pioneering experiments that demonstrate its growing capabilities - from space…