"Innovative Education & Training in high power laser plasmas" (PowerLaPs) targets to enhance the knowledge and add skills to the last year Bachelor and Master students in the field of high power laser plasmas. PowerLaPs is also intended to PhD students, postdoctoral researchers and principal scientists to enhance their knowledge and improve their educational skills. This field of science and technology is considered to play a leading role for at least the next twenty years as proven by the thematic areas of the EU road-map of technology and research infrastructures (among others HiPER/NIF, ELI, XFEL) concerning laser matter interaction and laser fusion. All 8 participating Universities have great expertise, theoretical or/and experimental in the field of laser plasmas and have been worldwide recognized for their contribution to education and science in their fields of expertise. For instance, CPPL of TEI of Crete (the project coordinator) provided the of state-of-the-art experimental infrastructure (such as the 45TW laser system and the 7fs phase locked laser) for the implementation of new state of the art training of the students of this proposal. Similarly, all partners including the associated company provided their state of the art facilities for the same reason. The great expertise of the scientific personnel involved in this project ensures the successful outcome of the project. More than 35 students (including the additional local students of the ISP's) benefited from the teaching and learning activities and were given the chance to participate in ERASMUS+ activities in a multicultural environment. The training scheme as has been analytically described in the proposal aimed to make trainers and trainees members of a multinational and multicultural audience that will gain additional skills through innovative training in a field that is now and for the coming twenty years will be at the top of interest for the academic and industrial sector. In addition, the training that the students gained outside of their home countries encouraged cross-border co-operation, contributed significantly to the increase of higher education quality provided by the partner Universities as well as by other higher education institutions in EU and worldwide via the dissemination of this project and remarkably enhanced the profession skills of the participants. Furthermore, this project gave the opportunity to the teachers and the University authorities to collaborate in a multinational and multicultural environment obtaining all the benefits of such collaboration (as described in details in the proposal). The PowerLaPs output is available via an open platform for advanced training of EU universities, providing them access to the digital educational material that was delivered along with the offering of the worldwide unique CPPL facilities for hands on training. Attendants that will successfully complete the proposed education and skill development program will gain high quality and professional training from top scientists & engineers (including training in high technology industrial sector) in the innovative field of high power laser produced plasmas. Such training has a significant impact in developing new skills for successful employment in a high tech industrial (as well as academic) private sector environment for plasmas and lasers as well as related technologies such as optoelectronics, microelectronics and optomechanics. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that such an educational module is developed, based on the combination of theory and experiments so as to provide students hands-on training and applied skills development accompanied with the necessary theoretical background.
PowerLaPs - "Innovative Education & Training in high power laser plasmas" triggered the last year Bachelor, the Master candidates and PhD candidate students, to enhance their studies and improve their skills for employability in the scientific area of Plasma Physics and High Power Lasers. These fields of science and technology play nowadays a leading role and will continue to, for at least the next twenty years, as proven by the thematic areas of the EU road-map of technology and research infrastructures (among others HiPER/NIF, ELI, XFEL) concerning laser matter interaction, laser/magnetic fusion, particle acceleration, laser/plasma applications. PowerLaPs enhanced the knowledge and the skills of about 100 in total Bachelor, Master and PhD students in the field of high power laser plasmas from 8 participating Univerisites of 5 European countries (Greece, UK, France, Spain, Czech Republic) by face to face activities. PowerLaPs also enhanced the knowledge and improved the educational skills of postdoctoral researchers and principal scientists. A total of 44 Academic Professors, principal scientists and postdoctoral researchers participated in the program from 5 European Universities and contributed to the development of unique educational material, the Intellectual Outputs of the programme, in the fields of High Power Lasers and Plasma Physics. This is the first time that such an educational module was developed, based on the combination of theory and experiments, with hands on training, and provided to the attendants the involvement with real applications and skill development accompanied with the necessary theoretical background, by well known and recognized professors and researchers across EU. The access to the laboratories and experimental infrastructures of leading EU Universities in High power laser and Plasma Physics, accompanied by the appropriate theory and simulations, offered for first time a complete and solid training programme module, that finally consists our Intellectual Outputs (IO). This educational material is now uploaded at the e-class platform of the ELLINIKO MESOGEIAKO PANEPISTIMIO-ELMEPA, (former TECHNOLOGICAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CRETE), is free and open accessed and disseminated by the PowerLaPs official site https://powerlaps.chania.teicrete.gr/. The main training events of PowerLaPs, Intensive theoretical and experimental hands on training, were organized according to the expertise of each partner institution and the available experimental facilities: UNIVERSITE DE BORDEAUX, Intensive theoretical and hands on training on Plasma Physics (IO O1), THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST, High Power Laser Matter Interactions /High Energy Density Physics-Theory and Experiments (IO O2), CESKE VYSOKE UCENI TECHNICKE V PRAZE, Computational Modeling & Simulations in Laser Matter Interactions (IO O3), UNIVERSIDAD DE SALAMANCA, Laser Plasma Diagnostics - (IO O4). The Institute of Plasma Physics & Lasers - IPPL of HMU was the coordinator of the project and organised two Intensive Programmes, IP1 & IP2 that summarized the annual educational activities of the project. UNIVERSITY OF YORK and ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE hosted the 2 annual Transnational Project Meetings and PANEPISTIMIO IOANNINON the ERASMUS Strategic Partnership Day Multiplier Event and were also the leaders of the dissemination plan activities. These activities were monitored by the Evaluation Board (assembled by each partner institution contact persons): UNIVERSITY OF YORK: “traditional” dissemination actions involving publications in relevant education journals, state of the art reports, publications in popular public journals for science, newspapers etc. ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE: “modern” dissemination actions involving electronic tools: Facebook (in collaboration with ELMEPA), web pages advertisements etc. PANEPISTIMIO IOANNINON: e -educational, -training, -learning and -tutoring material uploading and administration. All dissemination activities were successfully organised by all partners and in the Multiplier Event, Academic Staff, students pre- and post-graduates, Educators, Trainers, as well as stakeholders related to plasma, laser-based technologies and medical applications, more than 60 attendants, were informed for the project and for its Intellectual Outputs. In summary, more than 100 students benefited from the Learning Teaching Training activities and the Intensive Programmes. The training scheme succeeded to make trainers and trainees members of a multinational and multicultural audience that gained additional skills through innovative training in the field of lasers and plasma that for now and the following twenty years will be at the top of interest for the academic and industrial sector.