ESFRI ESS Site Review Group report recognition.
2008. 12. 18. 18.31

At its meeting on 11 December the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) made public the report of its ESS Site Review Group (SRG). The SRG concluded that “Europe and the ESS project in particular is in the lucky situation that there are three good offers supported by committed national, regional and local governments.” The report stressed “the science ESS will produce at any of the sites will be the same”. In the case of Debrecen the conditions to make ESS the best possible scientific success for the whole European research community are primarily based on the excellent academic, scientific and rapidly developing industrial environment. Debrecen boast one of the largest research universities in the region with 30 000 students including 1500 foreign students from around the world. The outstanding traditions of Hungarian neutron research are represented in the city by the country’s largest nuclear physics institute ATOMKI, which can host the ESS international team for a jump start within a vibrant research setting from the day of the site decision. The most dynamically developing industries in Debrecen include several multinational manufacturing and R&D units in cutting edge branches such as electronics, communication and in particular the largest pole of pharmacology in the region. Within 200 km radius there are several other important university, research and industrial centres, including Cluj-Napoca in Rumania, Kosice in Slovakia, Uzhgorod in Ukraine, and the 2 million metropolis Budapest.

Debrecen has the particularity compared to the other two site candidates that it is situated in a less developed area of EU that joined more recently. As quite usual in such cases, the developing status of the region within Europe offers a lot more advantages than inconveniences. The low costs of building and services provide for large benefits both for the pan-European endeavour ESS in the form of large savings and for its employees from abroad in the form of exceptionally high living standards. In fact, the inevitable savings for the European neutron research on the construction costs of ESS if it is built in Debrecen will be significantly higher than the total costs of the other important neutron project on the ESFRI roadmap, the ILL 20/20 Upgrade.

Thus the equally excellent scientific conditions combined with the dynamically developing status of the region within the EU make the realization of ESS in Debrecen the most advantageous choice for the whole of Europe.

Hungary wants the ESS

2008. 09. 21. 23:00:00

Europe has a long-standing tradition of excellence in research and innovation, and European teams continue to lead progress in many fields of science and technology. However our centres of excellence often fail to reach critical mass in the absence of adequate networking, cooperation and geographical balance. There is therefore a need to bring resources together and build a research and innovation area equivalent to the "common market" for goods and services.

Research Infrastructures of pan-European relevance provide unique opportunities for world-class science and education as well as to stimulate knowledge and technology transfer, in brief for advancing European capabilities. There is no doubt that large scale Research Infrastructures affect society and economy in a number of most beneficial ways. In order to best exploit this opportunity for the whole of Europe, a common, all-inclusive and geographically balanced development effort is needed.

The European Spallation Source ESS is one of the mature and most timely projects in the 2006 ESFRI Roadmap and it will be a most important contribution to European competitiveness in face of Asia and America. It will open fully new research opportunities for the European scientific community in the exploration of matter by neutron scattering techniques in many fields of research and development of materials, including physics, chemistry, pharmacology, life sciences, polymer science, nanoscience, engineering, geology, cultural heritage, etc.

We strongly believe that a consequent realization of the roadmap European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures ESFRI is one of the key components for a successful roll out of the European Research Area. Hungary, like many other member states has made significant efforts to speed up the realization of the ESFRI roadmap, primarily by its commitment of large resources to building ESS in Hungary. In view of its rich traditions in neutron research and the outstanding scientific, technical, educational, legal, financial, cultural and living conditions it can offer for the optimal realization and operation of ESS as a genuinely pan-European endeavour for maximum benefit of the whole of Europe, this project presents the most effective way for Hungary to powerfully advance the common European cause of progress in science and technology.