Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP)

The 7^th annual edition of ELI-NP international contest for young physicist and engineers wrapped up on the last two days of January 2024 with participants from ELI-NP presenting their work to panels of experts. The meeting organized on January 30-31^st featured 44 science projects in the running of two parallel dedicated sessions that gave the young researchers and engineers in the Institute opportunities to present their planned, ongoing, or completed work, to gain constructive feedback, and to receive recognition for the best presentations.

In their welcoming remarks Dr. Calin Alexandru Ur, director of ELI-NP and Prof. Victor Malka, scientific director, stated that motivating young people minds pursuing research and nurture scientific career defines the main objective of ELI-NP event.

The 2024 participants offered a glimpse of the combination of qualities - personal, intellectual, social and professional - that turn young people into pioneering researchers. The presented projects covered a range of topics related to laser and gamma experiments and associated fields.

"True advancement in research occurs when you gain deep understanding in your area of study and apply expertise and knowledge to pursue innovation. Young Researchers and Young Engineers Day is about rewarding the enthusiasm and curiosity of new generation of bright minds finding solutions to some of the most relevant topics in science field" said the director of the ELI-NP project, Calin Alexandru Ur.
After the arguments expressed in the 44 works over the two dedicated sessions (Event webpage), the Evaluation Committees, led by Dimiter Balabanski and Ioan Dancus, decided the following three winners for each category:

Young Researchers

Ana-Maria Talposi - Ultrashort Laser Pulses with Space-Time Coupling at ELI-NP
Stefania Ionescu - Nanotubes and nanowires targets fabrication for high power laser experiments
Gabriel Petrisor Bleotu - Investigation of pulse duration reduction and intensity increase of Petawatt-class laser system

Young Engineers

Sara Rebeca Ban - Digital Pulse processing in gamma spectroscopy
Dmitrii Nistor - Back reflection monitoring developments for 10 PW experiments
Ana Maria Lupu - Plasma mirror

In 2016 ELI-NP launched the Young Researchers and Young Engineers Day, a gathering that brings every year young researchers and engineers in a competition of scientific challenges and excellence, beneficial to all participants.