INSTITUTUL NATIONAL DE CERCETARE-DEZVOLTARE PENTRU FIZICA SI INGINERIE NUCLEARA-HORIA HULUBEI

Their core work

IFIN-HH (Horia Hulubei Institute) is Romania's flagship nuclear physics and engineering research center, hosting the ELI-NP (Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics) facility — one of the most powerful laser systems in the world. Their core work spans nuclear physics experiments, nuclear data measurement and evaluation, radiation protection research, and operating large-scale photon/laser research infrastructure for the European scientific community. They also contribute significantly to European open science cloud platforms and federated computing services, providing compute and data resources to pan-European research networks.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early H2020 period (2014-2018), IFIN-HH focused on establishing its research infrastructure credentials — preparing the ELI-NP facility (ELITRANS, EUCALL), joining nuclear physics networks (ENSAR2), and building nuclear education programs (ANNETTE). From 2019 onward, the focus shifted decisively toward operating and integrating that infrastructure: IMPULSE (their largest project at EUR 3.98M) is about reliable laser operations and user access, while EGI-ACE and PaNOSC reflect a growing role in European cloud computing and open data services. There is also a clear deepening of nuclear data work for applied purposes — safety, medical applications, and nuclear astrophysics (SANDA, ChETEC-INFRA).

IFIN-HH is transitioning from infrastructure construction to becoming a mature user facility and data service provider, making them increasingly relevant for collaborations that need access to high-power lasers, nuclear experiment facilities, or EOSC-integrated computing resources.

How they like to work

IFIN-HH is overwhelmingly a participant rather than a leader — they coordinated just 1 of 21 projects (a small EUR 11K science communication grant). They operate in large, pan-European consortia (455 unique partners across 41 countries), which is typical for research infrastructure providers who contribute specialized facilities and expertise to broad networks. This means partnering with them is low-friction: they are experienced consortium members who bring infrastructure access and technical depth without seeking to control project direction.

With 455 unique consortium partners spanning 41 countries, IFIN-HH has one of the broadest collaborative networks in Romanian research. Their connections are heavily concentrated in nuclear physics, laser science, and e-infrastructure communities across Western and Central Europe.

What sets them apart

IFIN-HH hosts ELI-NP, the only pillar of the Extreme Light Infrastructure located in Eastern Europe, giving them a unique asset that no other Romanian institution — and very few European ones — can offer. This makes them a mandatory partner for any consortium needing access to ultra-high-power laser experiments or nuclear photonics capabilities. Their dual strength in both physical infrastructure (lasers, accelerators) and digital infrastructure (EOSC, EGI federation) is uncommon and positions them as a bridge between experimental nuclear physics and the European open science ecosystem.

Highlights from their portfolio

• IMPULSE
  By far their largest project (EUR 3.98M, 70% of all their H2020 funding), focused on making the ELI-NP laser facility operational for international users — a clear institutional priority.
• EUROfusion
  The flagship European fusion research programme (2014-2022), where IFIN-HH contributed as a third party — placing them within the core European fusion community.
• ChETEC-INFRA
  A nuclear astrophysics infrastructure project (2021-2025) that represents their most recent and forward-looking research direction, connecting nuclear physics to cosmic evolution questions.