IMPULSE: Overview of first year presented at Annual Meeting

The IMPULSE First Annual Meeting took place as an online event on 19 October with more than 100 participants representing all project partners. The meeting kicked off with an introduction and a project overview, followed by Work Package (WP) presentations, and parallel breakout sessions in the afternoon.

The IMPULSE Annual Meeting on 19th October started with a welcome and a brief overview of the programme by ELI ERIC Executive Director Florian Gliksohn, after which IMPULSE Project Coordinator and ELI ERIC Director General Allen Weeks presented the status and the achievements of IMPULSE, a 42-month project funded by the EU supporting the transition of ELI to sustainable operations in collaboration with 15 partners.

After a detailed report from Project Manager Minja Maric, each WP leader highlighted the work carried out and the Milestones and Deliverables achieved within each WP. They addressed the science and technology topics (WP3, WP4, WP5), followed by the non-scientific areas of management system, innovation and outreach (WP2, WP6, WP7).

“The first 6 months of IMPULSE focused mainly on setting up the work packages and making sure project management and supporting tools were in place to guarantee IMPULSE’s success,” says Florian Gliksohn, Executive Director of ELI ERIC. “We’re now gaining momentum and have shifted towards actual delivery with growing engagement of all the partners.”

Parallel sessions followed, separated into the scientific/technical aspects and the non-scientific, which focused on the exchange of experiences after the first year of the project. In the sessions, the partners presented their contributions and commented on possible improvements as well as synergies. Detailed requirements for dissemination were discussed. The meeting closed with a brief wrap-up and thanks to all participants.

The recently established Extreme Light Infrastructure ERIC (ELI ERIC) is entering a crucial phase with the gradual opening of the ELI facilities to users. IMPULSE makes a significant contribution to this by addressing the key scientific, technical, organisational, and management requirements of this transition, supporting the user communities and with activities geared towards expanding the ELI ERIC member consortium. Besides focusing on the integration and user-based operation of the ELI facilities, IMPULSE aims to be a global platform for high-power laser science and development.