EuPRAXIA is a pan-European project that aims to construct a unique, dedicated particle accelerator research infrastructure based on laser and electron-beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration.

EuPRAXIA envisions producing electron beams of 1-5GeV in energy, with a beam quality equivalent to present RF-based linacs. Its performance goals will enable versatile applications in various domains, for example, as a compact free-electron laser (FEL), compact sources for medical imaging and positron generation, as well as deeply penetrating X-ray and gamma-ray sources for material testing.

EuPRAXIA will be built on two sites: the one based on beam-driven plasma accelerator is being built at INFN, Frascati, while the ELI Beamlines facility in the Czech Republic has been selected as the site for its laser-driven plasma accelerator pillar.

The Horizon 2020-funded design study for EuPRAXIA concluded in 2019, and it was included in the ESFRI roadmap in 2021. It is currently in the preparatory phase, EuPRAXIA-PP, which is a multi-million Euro project starting in 2022, designed to develop the organisational, legal, financial and technological aspects of the EuPRAXIA facility. The preparatory phase project will be complemented by construction efforts already underway for first pilot user operation in 2028.

As one of the world leaders in this area, the UK is playing a leading role in EuPRAXIA, leading several work packages of the EuPRAXIA-PP project (through funding obtained from UKRI). There is an excellence centre based in the UK towards developing some of the key technologies for EuPRAXIA beamlines.