In Prague on August 1, 2014
ELI Super laser, the largest research project in the history of the Czech Republic, involving the leading scientific institutions from Europe and the USA welcomes a new Project Manager. Roman Hvězda, who has been involved in the management of the ELI Beamlines project for more then 4 years, was appointed to this position, effective July 27. Roman Hvězda has mixed education background in engineering and economics. He has extensive experience with management of structure funds projects and served at senior management positions at the Ministry of Education, Youths and Sports. He will be directly reporting to the director of the Institute of Physics, Jan Řídký. Simultaneously Roman Hvězda has been appointed deputy director of the Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences for projects funded from the Operational Programme Research and Development for Innovation.
Hvězda is, in both functions, succeeding Vlastimil Růžička, who led the project from 2010 as the ELI-Beamlines Managing Director. Růžička, then Vice-minister at MEYS, had joined the International Steering Committee of ELI-Preparatory Phase around 2008. He is widely recognized as the driving force to propose the ESFRI project ELI to be built in “new” EU member states. As a result, the Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary jointly evolved as winners from the ELI site selection process and received the mandate to implement the project as a distributed research infrastructure in their respective countries. Vlastimil Růžička leaves the project on his own wish.
From August 1st, 2014 there will be also necessary changes in the organizational structure of the ELI Beamlines project. “The project is entering a new important phase. The building of project teams, the preparation and start of construction, also, the organization of tenders for the supply of key technologies, is ending. A new phase therefore begins, in which the supply and installation of laser equipment and construction of the experimental stations become the main aims. The new project structure should lead to a straightforward management and to a better connection between Czech and foreign expert teams, each with unique expertise” as explained by the director of the Institute of Physics Jan Řídký.
For these reasons, the IoP management is also planning to fill the position of scientific and technical manager of the project through an international selection procedure. The responsibilities of the successful applicant in the coming period will be to precisely coordinate activities of project teams which are needed for development and installation of laser and experimental technology at the ELI Beamlines facility.
“The ELI project, presently implemented in three central European countries, will be the world’s first international laser research facility “says Wolfgang Sandner, Director General of the ELI-DC International Association. “When finished, it will provide international scientists with the most powerful lasers available today, and will have applications in basic science, technology, and life sciences. ELI has been identified by the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) as a European project of high priority, and is included in the ESFRI Roadmap. In this sense, ELI-Beamlines in the Czech Republic is probably the most important international project of the Centre of Excellence which is funded by the Czech Operational Programme Research and Development for Innovation. The professional and efficient project management by the Institute of Physics will be a key factor for its successful implementation.”
Jan Řídký, director of the Institute of Physics, tel: 266 052 121 Markéta Holubová, PR and Communications, tel: 702 004 864
