News - The Cockcroft Institute

March 28, 2025

PACRI Project kicks off in Trieste

The new EU-funded project PACRI (Plasma Accelerator systems for Compact Research Infrastructures) started officially with a kick-off meeting in Trieste (Italy) on 12 – 14 March 2025. The €10 million PACRI project aims to revolutionize plasma accelerator technologies for next-generation…

March 24, 2025

Position-Reconstruction Methods for Beam Losses Measured with an oBLM at CLEAR

While the basic principles of particle accelerators may be simple, using electric fields to accelerate particles and magnetic fields to steer them, actually operating them is highly complex. Even small changes in the starting conditions or shifts in the relative…

March 19, 2025

Advanced accelerator research at the Cockcroft Institute: Commissioning and status of the laser-driven ion acceleration platform at SCAPA

Cockcroft Institute researchers at the University of Strathclyde are at the forefront of cutting-edge research into high power laser-driven ion acceleration. Located at the university, the Scottish Centre for the Application of Plasma-based Accelerators (SCAPA) facilitates the development and application…

A sculpture outside with a circular structure

March 3, 2025

Voice of Science: Prof Welsch puts Cockcroft Research into the spotlight at CERN

Last year, CERN celebrated 70 years of groundbreaking scientific collaboration and innovation, with science communication playing a pivotal role in highlighting these achievements. As part of this CERN launched an exciting series of events "The Voice of Science" centered on…

February 28, 2025

Research on radiation therapy at the Cockcroft Institute

Cancer-related research at the Cockcroft Institute (CI) is a collective endeavour spanning all stakeholder institutions, each contributing uniquely to the development of advanced radiation therapy techniques. The Institute’s commitment to improving cancer treatment integrates expertise in beam physics, accelerator design,…

February 17, 2025

Joint LIV.INNO and EuPRAXIA-DN skills school hosted in Liverpool

The third cohort of LIV.INNO students were joined by researchers from EuPRAXIA-DN project to take part in an introductory skills school in Liverpool from 20-24 January 2025. The students undertook training in a range of skills which will help them…

A person holding a remote control in front of a machine.

February 7, 2025

BBC highlights CI work on radiation therapy

A feature article about ultra-fast cancer treatments recently published in the BBC website highlights the STELLA project, in which several members of the Cockcroft Institute are working to improve access to radiotherapy in lower middle-income countries (LMIC), particularly in Africa.…

January 15, 2025

Cockcroft research recognized in Physics World’s Top 10 Breakthroughs of 2024

Physics World has named its Top 10 Breakthroughs of 2024, with the AEgIS collaboration at CERN, featuring the University of Liverpool’s QUASAR Group, based at the Cockcroft Institute, honoured for achieving the first-ever laser cooling of positronium. This milestone advances…

December 18, 2024

Liverpool to Host World’s Largest Particle Accelerator Conference in 2029

The Cockcroft Institute is delighted to announce that Liverpool has been selected to host the International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC) in May 2029. This prestigious event, the largest of its kind, will bring together global experts in accelerator science to…