CONSORCIO PARA EL DISENO, CONSTRUCCION, EQUIPAMIENTO Y EXPLOTACION DEL CENTRO DE LASERES PULSADOS ULTRACORTOS ULTRAINTENSOS

Their core work

CLPU is Spain's national centre for ultrashort, ultraintense pulsed lasers, operating as a research infrastructure that provides access to high-power laser systems for the European scientific community. Their core work involves maintaining and developing petawatt-class laser facilities, enabling experiments in high-field physics, photonics, biomedical optics, and materials science. Beyond pure laser research, CLPU increasingly supports applied testing — including radiation effects on electronics for automotive, aerospace, and space industries — making their facility relevant to both fundamental science and industrial reliability testing.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2015–2019), CLPU focused squarely on fundamental laser science — photonics, optical technologies, materials research, and biomedical applications through the LASERLAB-EUROPE network. From 2020 onward, their involvement shifted toward infrastructure management (sustainability, ERIC governance, technology transfer via IMPULSE) and applied industrial testing (radiation hardness for automotive and space electronics via RADNEXT). This evolution signals a facility maturing from pure research into a service-oriented infrastructure with growing industrial relevance.

CLPU is transitioning from a purely academic laser facility toward an industrially accessible testing infrastructure, particularly for radiation hardness qualification in automotive, aerospace, and space electronics.

How they like to work

CLPU operates exclusively as a participant — they have never coordinated an H2020 project, which is consistent with their role as one node within larger pan-European infrastructure networks. With 70 unique partners across 21 countries from just 4 projects, they work in very large consortia (typical for infrastructure initiatives like LASERLAB-EUROPE). This means partnering with CLPU gives you access to a broad European laser community, though they are unlikely to lead a proposal themselves.

Through just 4 projects, CLPU has built connections with 70 partners in 21 countries — an unusually wide network driven by their participation in large pan-European infrastructure consortia like LASERLAB-EUROPE. Their reach spans most EU member states and reflects the distributed nature of laser research infrastructure across Europe.

What sets them apart

CLPU is one of very few facilities in Europe offering petawatt-class ultrashort pulsed laser capabilities, making them a scarce resource for high-field physics experiments. Their location in Spain fills a geographic gap in Southern Europe's laser infrastructure landscape. The combination of fundamental laser science with emerging radiation testing capabilities (RADNEXT) positions them uniquely at the intersection of photonics research and industrial electronics qualification.

Highlights from their portfolio

• IMPULSE
  Largest single grant (EUR 450,690) focused on making the ELI laser infrastructure sustainable and operational — signals CLPU's strategic role in Europe's laser facility ecosystem.
• RADNEXT
  Represents CLPU's expansion beyond laser science into radiation testing for automotive, avionics, and space electronics — a significant pivot toward industrial applications.
• LASERLAB-EUROPE
  Participated in both successive phases (2015 and 2019), demonstrating long-term commitment to the core European laser infrastructure network.