A traditional event of ELI (Extreme Light Infrastructure) is the Summer School held alternatingly at ELI ALPS and ELI Beamlines. This year’s event, organized by ELI ERIC, attracted young people and experienced professionals from universities and science workshops in 23 countries around the world. More people than ever before came to Szeged to get acquainted with the ELI Facilities between 2 and 6 September 2024. Although ELI ALPS was the host facility, ELI Beamlines in Dolní Břežany, Czech Republic, and ELI NP in Măgurele, Romania also presented their lines of research.
Director of Science Andrew Harrison, ELI ERIC
Andrew Harrison, ELI ERIC’s Director of Science, gave the opening lecture on the evolution of science from Albert Einstein, who first published the principle of lasers in 1917, to the American physicist-engineer Theodore Maiman, who demonstrated the first working laser on 16 May 1960. He also referred to the founding father of ELI, Professor Gérard Mourou, who, together with Donna Strickland, received the 2018 Nobel Prize for their method of generating high-intensity, ultrashort optical pulses. As one of the focus areas of ELI ALPS’ research profile is attosecond physics, the achievements of Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier were also highlighted: they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics last year for experimental methods that generate attosecond light pulses to study the dynamics of electrons in matter. Two of them, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier, played a major role in the establishment of ELI ALPS.
Subhendu Kahaly, Head of the Secondary Sources Division at ELI ALPS, talked about the special lasers available in Szeged, detailing their applications. At the end of his presentation, he also gave some advice citing Sir William Lawrence Bragg: “The important thing in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to discover new ways of thinking about them”. The Australian-British physicist and his father, Sir William Henry Bragg, shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1915 for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays.
Jacob Andreasson, representing the Czech partner institution, outlined ELI Beamlines’ research opportunities to the sizeable audience. Victor Malka, Scientific Director of ELI NP in Romania, recalled an event from 13 April last year. On that day, for the first time at ELI NP, 10 PW laser pulses were focused on a solid target. This step is considered a milestone in laser plasma physics.
During the first four days of the summer school, the speakers talked about applications of attochemistry, ways to study biomolecules with the help of attophysics, the science behind inertial fusion energy, laser-based methods for the generation of plasma and the uses of the latter. Those present also learned how molecular motion can be studied using ultrafast X-rays and received detailed information not only on attoscience but also on high-energy lasers.
Apart from attending lectures, the participants were eager to get to know our unique lasers up close. After donning the required personal protective equipment, they could explore our unique pool of equipment. They asked questions and our researchers tried to answer them. Thinking together and brainstorming were the hallmarks of these lab tours.
“Events like this are important because our future success will depend on next generation young scientists coming to do experiments here. I think the ELI Summer School is probably the best way to make the connection. To achieve our goals, we have attracted some of the best names in the world to present. However, they not only gave lectures, but also answered questions from young people. We showed our guests the many uses of lasers in research. It was a fantastic event,” Andrew Harrison summarized his experience adding that it’s a potential that can be the starting point for new technologies, for finding the solution to scientific questions that we thought were unsolvable. According to ELI ERIC’s Director of Science, the students turned to us with a genuine curiosity to understand what the ELI institutes are doing. In addition to the lectures, the laboratory tours, practical sessions, coffee breaks and social events provided excellent opportunities for interaction. The event was attended by a record high number of guests, who were diverse in terms of nationality, age, experience and science. He believes that the Szeged-based event has set the bar high.
Science Director Katalin Varjú, ELI ALPS
“ELI ALPS is starting to mature. It is no longer a science centre under construction, but a functioning institution. Our equipment is up and running, we have more and more users. On this account, our speakers, the leading researchers in the field – to whom we are very grateful for joining us and for giving excellent talks – were curious to see what was happening in Szeged,” Katalin Varjú, Science Director of ELI ALPS said outlining the current situation of the institute. She said that the goal was clear: to impress young people, to show what we do, what we are capable of, what this field of science is all about. We did not expect young people to have any preliminary qualifications, but we had assumed they would come from places where they were working in a similar field. “In addition to sharing our knowledge with them, we are delighted that they will return home and share their experiences and the useful knowledge they gained in Szeged. In this way, they will enhance our reputation in prestigious research institutions.” The Science Director is proud of the fact that renowned research groups sent their students to us anticipating that we would provide them with useful knowledge.
“Young researchers are mobile, and we hope that when their contracts expire in their current positions, they will remember the interesting things they learned in Szeged. We are looking forward to seeing them again either as employees or users”, Katalin Varjú said, summing up her experience. She thought that the members of this young audience were very enthusiastic, knowledge-thirsty and serious about participating.
Gábor Szabó, Managing Director of ELI ALPS believes that all participants accumulated plenty of experiences during the five days of ELISS 2024. He hopes that for some of them it was not the first and last visit here, and we can welcome them as users or colleagues in the foreseeable future.
ELI looks forward to seeing them again and welcoming other interested parties next year.
The diverse nature of physics displayed on posters
A key element of ELISS 2024 was the poster session, where as many as forty-one young researchers presented their scientific achievements to date. The first prize in the poster competition was awarded to Dina Eissa (The Ohio State University, USA) for her poster titled Resolving Sub-Å Vibrational Dynamics via Strong-Field Rescattering.
“I was born in Cairo, Egypt, and studied at the American University there. For a long time, I was hesitating between chemistry and physics, as I was interested in quantum phenomena and the dynamics of molecular motion. Eventually, I realized that chemical physics was my real world. The Ohio State University offered a PhD programme that was a perfect match for my vision,” said Dina Eissa, who was genuinely surprised that the panel of judges found her poster to be the best. She considers herself to be a competitive type, which is why she put a lot of effort into ensuring that her poster had all the relevant information.
Dina Eissa, winner of the poster competition
She was impressed by the equipment available at ELI ALPS, and wanted to learn more about the opportunities here, as she may return to Szeged as a user one day. As she put it: it’s a beautiful city, bustling yet peaceful.
The runner-up in the competition was Sajjad Vardast (Umeå University, Sweden) with his poster titled High-intensity attosecond beamline for XUV pump - XUV probe investigations in Umeå.
“It is possible that I will continue to work as a researcher after I finish my studies, but I may also consider other careers. The second place means a lot to me, but it is also clear that this success is the joint result of a larger professional team,” Sajjad Vardast said emphasizing that his supervisor and research team had greatly contributed to this achievement. The Iranian-born PhD student spoke particularly highly of the excellent presentations at ELISS 2024. He had read papers by several of the speakers, but he found it much more influential to meet live with leading experts in the field. At ELI ALPS, he got to know a well-designed, logically structured pool of equipment that can meet the needs of researchers from all over the world. He sees it as a place where everything is in place for successful work.
The third prize in the poster competition was awarded to Jasmin Hills (Imperial College London, United Kingdom) for her poster titled Plasma Mirror Reflected Pulses: staging outlooks.
“This week, I’ve seen and learned many exciting new things about lasers. It was interesting to walk around the research centre, learning about things I hadn’t encountered before,” the British PhD student said adding that physics is very strong at Imperial College, with several groups working on lasers. Interestingly, she first met Dariusz Duszinsky, also from Imperial College, here in Szeged. Jasmin Hills does not rule out returning to Szeged one day, as she is fascinated not only by ELI ALPS, but also by the city and the kindness of the people who live here. Moreover, she did not see any cloud in the sky, which rarely happens in England.