Basic information, position of the Slovak Republic, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of the Slovak Republic and UPJŠ
- The Slovak Republic, as part of the European Research Area, has been and is interested in participating in the use of large Research Infrastructures offered at the international level, the operation and construction of which is far beyond the economic capabilities of individual countries. One of the largest and most ambitious European research projects included in the ESFRI Roadmap 2006 (European Strategic Forum on Research Infrastructures Roadmap), in which the Slovak Republic has expressed interest, is the European XFEL Facility in Hamburg (European X-ray Free Electron Laser Facility).
- The European XFEL (X-ray Free Electron Laser Facility) is a European project of a 3.4 km long X-ray laser being built in Hamburg, which is a source of X-ray radiation of exceptional quality exceeding all current world photon sources, to such an extent that we can talk about creating a completely new way of understanding the structure of living and non-living matter at the atomic level. It enables groundbreaking research in a wide range of scientific fields – biology, medicine, physics, chemistry, etc.
- The facility was built in the form of a non-profit commercial company (limited liability company under German law – GmbH). The most energetically powerful free electron laser beam in the world, which is used in individual workstations to image processes and state changes in materials and biological sciences, was launched in May 2017. The opening itself for external users – research teams took place on September 1, 2017.
- The Slovak Republic is a founding state and one of eleven shareholders with a 1.16% stake and full shareholder rights in the European XFEL GmbH research center (the Slovak government approved the proposal for Slovakia’s membership in this international scientific center on September 10, 2008, and on November 30, 2009, the agreement on the establishment of the company and Slovakia’s entry into European XFEL GmbH was solemnly signed in Hamburg). Slovakia has the right to decide on economic, scientific, technical and organizational matters in the company.
- During the construction (2009-2017) of the European XFEL, the Slovak Republic joined two international user consortia building working experimental research stations, where experiments of world importance are currently being carried out, primarily in the field of biological sciences and materials research – the SFX/SPB (Serial Femtosecond Crystallography) consortium and the XBI (Integrated Biology Infrastructure) consortium.
- The Ministry of Science and Technology of the Slovak Republic, through the Science and Technology Section, acts as the coordinator for the Slovak Republic and fulfills the obligations arising from the agreement on the Slovak Republic’s entry into the international project. The Ministry of Science and Technology of the Slovak Republic financially contributes to the European XFEL GmbH through a shareholder contribution for operation in the amount of approximately 1.0 – 2 million Euros per year.
- Within the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of the Slovak Republic, under the management of the Science and Technology Section and its ESFRI Office, there is a “Commission for the Coordination of Activities of the Slovak Republic in ESFRI Research Infrastructures in the Field of Physical Sciences, Material Sciences and Energy Facilities (hereinafter referred to as the ESFRI Commission), which is an advisory body to the Minister for the coordination of activities and ensuring tasks arising from the Slovak Republic’s membership in selected European experimental research and development facilities and international scientific associations included in the ESFRI Roadmap priority projects, including the European XFEL. These facilities include: ILL (Institut Laue Laugevin) in Grenoble, LHC (Large Hadron Collider) in CERN, ELI Beamlines (Extreme Light Infrastructure) Prague, EST (EU Solar Telescope) in the Canary Islands, Synchrotron radiation sources such as DESY Hamburg, ESRF Grenoble, Solaris Krakow, Diamond Light Source in the UK…
- Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, together with the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of the Slovak Republic, is one of the main initiators of Slovak institutions that initiated the activities of the Slovak Republic in ESFRI projects according to paragraph 7. University had and presently has its delegate in the highest self-governing body of E-XFEL (E-XFEL Council). It is Prof. RNDr. Pavol Sovák, CSc., functional professor at the Institute of Physics, Faculty of Science in UPJŠ Košice. In addition, in the structures of the SFX/SPB consortium, Assoc. Prof. RNDr. Jozef Uličný, PhD., functional associate professor at the Institute of Physics, Faculty of Science in UPJŠ Košice, is actively involved. UPJŠ has actively participated in the education of future users of XFEL, synchrotron radiation sources, neutron sources at ILL Grenoble by organizing the internationally recognized scientific school for young scientists School for XFEL and Synchrotron radiation Users “SFEL” and in 2024, its 8th year was held.
- Considering the previous activities of scientists and teachers representing Košice’s scientific institutions (universities and institutes of the Slovak Academy of Sciences) since 2006, especially in the National Commission for Cooperation with XFEL (2006-2012), in the Commission for Coordination of Slovak Activities in ESFRI Projects Oriented to Physical Sciences and with potential for applications in biomedicine, chemistry and IT (2012-2024) and the Commission for Coordination of Slovak Activities in ESFRI Projects Oriented to Physical Sciences, Material Sciences and Energy – revitalized in 2024, the members of the Commission unanimously agreed that the seat of the NCP XFEL should be the UPJŠ in Košice.
Person responsible for establishing the NCP/responsible investigator:
prof. RNDr. Pavol Sovák, CSc.
Professor in the Institute of Physics
Faculty of Science, UPJŠ
Park Angelinum 9
040 01 Košice
pavol.sovak@upjs.sk