Leading laser group secures H2020 money

A consortium of major European laser research organisations has secured funding of €10m from Horizon 2020, the Max Born Institute has announced.

LASERLAB-EUROPE will realise new techniques and tools for advanced microscopy and biomedical devices. It will also develop novel medical therapies and biosensors as well as use the emerging relevant applications of laser-driven particle beams in radiotherapy.

Commenting, Professor Claes-Göran Wahlström of the Lund Laser Centre in Sweden, who co-ordinates the LASERLAB-EUROPE consortium, said: “The participating laboratories cover advanced laser science and applications in most domains of research and technology, with particular emphasis on areas with high industrial and social impact, such as bio and nanophotonics, materials analysis, biology and medicine. Through our strategic approach, LASERLAB-EUROPE will strengthen Europe’s leading position and competitiveness in these key areas.”

In the upcoming four-year phase, which sees the consortium enter a new phase of collaboration between December 2015 and 2019, LASERLAB-EUROPE will comprise 33 of the leading European laser infrastructures and, together with subcontractors and associate partners, involve co-ordinated activities in 21 countries. The members offer free access to key complementary laser facilities in Europe with performances at the international forefront of laser technology, including two Free Electron Lasers.

Within LASERLAB-EUROPE, the Max Born Institute, based in Berlin, collaborates in several joint research activities; it is responsible for the administrative project management.