Leading representatives from European institutions , stakeholders from research, industry, and funding agencies gathered in Brussels for the EuPRAXIA Showcase Meeting.
Leading representatives from European institutions - from the European Commission to the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) - together with stakeholders from research, industry, and funding agencies gathered on 23 April in Brussels, at the Foundation University, for the EuPRAXIA Showcase Event 2026. This high-level meeting aimed to strengthen collaboration, promote innovation in accelerator technologies, and discuss new funding opportunities for one of Europe’s most ambitious research infrastructure projects.
“EuPRAXIA’s vision is to bring together the best know how available in European laboratories and universities, to collaborate and foster innovation and competitiveness around a research infrastructure dedicated to novel acceleration technologies, while activating all possible synergies,” said Pierluigi Campana, Coordinator of the EuPRAXIA Preparatory Phase project.
The Showcase highlighted EuPRAXIA’s vision to deliver a next-generation, compact plasma-based accelerator facility, capable of transforming applications across science, medicine, and industry. As outlined during the opening session, EuPRAXIA is building a pan-European, distributed research infrastructure that integrates cutting-edge plasma acceleration technologies with a strong user-driven approach.
The project, included in the ESFRI Roadmap, is designed to fill a critical gap in Europe’s research infrastructure landscape, while fostering collaboration among over 38 laboratories and hundreds of researchers across Europe and beyond.
A central focus of the event was dialogue with policymakers and funding agencies. High-level speakers from the European Commission and the Research Executive Agency participated in dedicated panel discussions addressing opportunities for research infrastructures under future Horizon Europe programs, as well as strategies for innovation, technology transfer, and industrial uptake.
These discussions underlined the importance of coordinated European investment and long-term funding strategies to ensure the successful implementation of large-scale infrastructures such as EuPRAXIA .
Industry leaders from companies such as ScandiNova, Kyma, and Instrumentation Technologies contributed perspectives on market opportunities and the growing demand for advanced accelerator technologies, which already underpin a global market valued at nearly $10 billion.
A key theme throughout the meeting was the exploitation of synergies across Horizon Europe programs, enabling EuPRAXIA to integrate research, training, and innovation activities across multiple projects and funding streams.
To date, the EuPRAXIA ecosystem has successfully mobilized around €150 million in funding and in-kind contributions, combining European, national, and regional investments. This diversified funding model is seen as essential for the long-term sustainability of the infrastructure.
Speakers emphasized that aligning initiatives such as the Preparatory Phase, MSCA Doctoral Network, and technology R&D projects, such as the 10 M€ PACRI project, creates a coherent innovation pipeline, accelerating the transition from fundamental research to real-world applications.