The LEAPS-TECH project, a newly launched Horizon Europe initiative which started on 1 September, successfully kicked off with a dynamic two-day meeting at DESY in Hamburg on 13-14 October. The event brought together researchers from all European synchrotron radiation sources and free electron lasers (FELs), industry partners, and technology collaborators to establish a solid foundation for advancing accelerator and photon source technologies across Europe. About 110 scientists and engineers met in person at DESY, with another 40-50 joining the various meetings online.
Based on the LEAPS Technology Roadmap 2025, LEAPS-TECH aims to accelerate the development and deployment of cutting-edge technologies for synchrotrons and FELs, over 50 facilities in Europe and worldwide. The project builds on the pan-European network LEAPS, the League of European Accelerator-Based Photon Sources founded in 2017, which unites 19 synchrotron and free-electron laser research infrastructures. By fostering collaboration among Europe’s leading research infrastructures, the project seeks to enhance performance, sustainability, and accessibility, ensuring that their tens of thousands of users, including high-impact industries, have the tools they need to push the boundaries of discovery.
LEAPS-TECH brings together 27 partners and 5 associated partners, including all LEAPS facilities, to work on seven technology work packages (WPs), spanning the entire LEAPS roadmap, which have been chosen based on their potential for co-innovation, their ability to enhance European leadership and their urgency for advancing user science and services. Topics include undulators, diagnostics, optics, detectors, sample environments and data management. LEAPS-TECH will support the planned and ongoing upgrades of photon sources in Europe and expand their capabilities for academic and industrial discovery by targeting high-impact innovations in photon source, beamline and experimental instrumentation technologies. It will strengthen Europe’s industrial base of suppliers of novel technologies for RIs and other new markets. An innovation engine, established as an overarching WP, will strategically coordinate training and innovation uptake, including the next generation of SR and FEL researchers and engineers via a cascading funding model.
The kick-off event started off with highly productive one-day work-package (WP) sessions, where participants delved into specific technical and strategic aspects of the project. These sessions facilitated detailed planning and alignment on key objectives. The discussions were lively and engaging, encouraging open dialogue and fostering a sense of unity among all attendees.
On the second afternoon, the plenary began with welcome remarks from Thomas Feurer, the 2026 LEAPS Chair, and Alessandro Zardini, the EC Project Officer. Their inspiring words underscored the importance of collaboration and innovation in driving the project’s success, setting a positive and motivating tone for the presentations and discussions of the work package plans for the coming four years.
The plenary session closed with a lively presentation on life cycle assessment and design for sustainability for our technologies given by Denise Völkers, DESY and its implementation into the Horizon-Europe project EPITA, which highlighted pioneering approaches and potential areas of collaboration. LEAPS-TECH and EPITA plan to work together to harness their combined expertise and achieve groundbreaking advancements.
With the successful completion of the kick-off meeting, the LEAPS-TECH project is well-positioned to advance its ambitious goals. The strong partnerships forged will be instrumental in driving the development of next-generation accelerator technologies in Europe. – By Juliane Marauska.
Photo: Marta Meyer, DESY
