INFN-led PNRR Projects

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RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURES

ETIC – Einstein Telescope Infrastructure Consortium

ETIC is developed as part of the Einstein Telescope (ET) international project, which aims to create the future European observatory for gravitational waves. Thanks to its advanced design and to the cutting-edge technologies used, ET will allow the researchers to observe almost all gravitational waves emissions from fusions of stellar or intermediate black holes or neutron stars. It will be a unique tool to assist us in understanding the universe, the principles of physics that regulate its evolution, and the mechanisms that govern the physics of neutron stars and black holes. It is currently one of the biggest and most ambitious projects of the roadmap of ESFRI - the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructure - which identifies the research infrastructures in which it is crucial for Europe to invest. The ETIC (Einstein Telescope Infrastructure Consortium) project, of which INFN is the proponent and leader, has two main objectives: the first is to create a feasibility and characterisation study of the disused mine site of Sos Enattos in the province of Nuoro to support the Italian application to house the ET in Sardinia. On the international scene, the Sardinian location is competing with a proposed site in the border region between the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The second objective is to create and/or strengthen at the INFN sites, universities, and institutions participating in the ET project a network of research and development laboratories aimed at studying enabling technologies, particularly seismic filtering systems and low-frequency control systems for suspending the optics of the ET, low-noise cryogenic apparatus for thermal noise abatement in the main optics of the ET, new technologies in the field of photonics, optics and electronics, and finally new materials for creating the mirrors of the Einstein Telescope.

Principal Investigator: Michele Punturo

Total investment:  49.998.931,39

INFN Investment: 33.867.823.21 €

Positions advertised by INFN: 25 (6 technicians and 19 technologists)

INFN sites involved: division of Bologna, Cagliari, Genoa, Naples, Padua, Perugia, Pisa, Rome, Rome Tor Vergata, Turin, Gran Sasso National Laboratories and the National Laboratories of the South.

Institutions involved: INFN, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, University of Cagliari, University of Padua, University of Perugia, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Federico II University of Naples, National Institute of Astrophysics, Sapienza Università in Rome, University of Genoa, Gran Sasso Science Institute, Luigi Vanvitelli University of Campania, Italian Space Agency, University of Pisa

Timeline: 01/01/2023  - 01/07/2025


EUAPS –( EUPRAXIA ADVANCED PHOTON SOURCES)

The EuAPS project, of which INFN is the leader, developed in the context of the EuPRAXIA project, funded with 3 million euros as part of Horizon 2020, which consists of creating a new generation of plasma particle accelerators. EuAPS groups together different aspects of the cutting-edge science of photon sources which are key components for the proper functioning of the EuPRAXIA project. Various structures will also be created in Italy, strengthening and guaranteeing the international competitiveness of the institutions involved and their users. The EuAPS project involves a source of laser-driven betatron x-ray radiation being placed into operation at the SPARC_LAB laboratory of INFN’s National Laboratories of Frascati. This scheme, already partly tested and included in the scientific objectives of EuPRAXIA, presents intrinsic benefits in the temporal resolution of experiments thanks to the small dimensions of the electron beam, the radiation source, in the plasma. Advanced photon diagnostic tools will be developed at CNR-ISM to characterise completely the betatron x-ray radiation, while the University of Tor Vergata will provide the compact and integrated end station for the user. The Milan Section of INFN will provide the theoretical and numerical support required for the optimised design of the infrastructure. EuAPS also includes the development of high-tech lasers: Power (up to 1 PW) and High Repetition (up to 100 Hz) lasers are developed, respectively, by the CNR laboratories of Pisa and by the INFN’s National Laboratories of the South in Catania, creating amongst other things research infrastructures for scientific and industrial developments based upon ultra-fast lasers. The work in EuAPS also plays a crucial role in complementing the EuPRAXIA construction project at the Laboratories of Frascati, developing and further strengthening the high technology of EuPRAXIA, its scientific programme and its user base in Italy and beyond.

Principal Investigator: Massimo Ferrario

Total Investment: 22.350.588,00

INFN Investment: 14.935.838,00

Positions advertised by INFN: 9 (1 technician and 8 technologists)

INFN sites involved: division of Milan, National Laboratories of Frascati, National Laboratories of the South

Institutions involved: CNR-INO, CNR-ISM, INFN, University of Rome Tor Vergata

Timeline: 01/12/2022 - 31/05/2025


IRIS – Innovative Research Infrastructure on applied Superconductivity     

The IRIS project, of which INFN is the proponent and leader, aims to create a distributed infrastructure across the whole country, with particular reference to the South (Salerno site), to develop high-temperature superconducting technologies, both for civil applications, such as connection cables for the transport of electricity to reduce energy losses, and to create high-field magnets for next generation particle accelerators, and, in particular, for the Future Circular Collider (FCC), the large particle collider proposed to replace the LHC at CERN, when it ends its scientific programme. In addition to INFN, the project also sees the participation of the Universities of Milan, Genoa, Naples, Salerno and Salento, as well as CNR-SPIN. A high quality infrastructure will be constructed at the Salerno site, dedicated to the study of the characteristics and the testing of the future high-temperature superconducting cables, able to transport high-power electricity over large distances, one of the potential assets of the energy transition.

Principal Investigator: Pierluigi Campana (INFN), Lucio Rossi (UniMI)

Total investment: 59.996.968,15

INFN investment: 39.572.238,35

Positions advertised by INFN: 32 (14 technicians and 18 technologists)

INFN sites involved: division of Genoa, Milan (LASA Laboratory), Naples, National Laboratories of Frascati

Institutions involved: CNR-SPIN, INFN, University of Genoa, University of Milan, Federico II University of Naples, University of Salento and University of Salerno

Timeline: 01/11/2022 - 01/05/2025

web site https://iris.infn.it/it


KM3Net4RR – KM3 Neutrino Telescope for Recovery and Resilience

The KM3net4RR project, of which INFN is both the proponent and leader, funds crucial actions for expanding the Italian site of Capo Passero, off the coast of Sicily, of the KM3NeT submarine neutrino observatory, the ambitious international project for neutrino research in the Mediterranean. The observatory includes the submarine apparatus ARCA (Astroparticle Research with Cosmics in the Abyss), off the coast of Sicily, which, once completed, will boast 230 submarine detection strings, and ORCA (Oscillation Research with Cosmics in the Abyss), off the coast of Toulon in France, for which 115 detection strings are planned. The KM3NeT4RR project will significantly expand the potential of the submarine telescope for ARCA neutrinos aimed at searching for cosmic neutrinos up to extreme energies, thereby making a crucial contribution to the development of scientific programmes of multi-message astronomy. Thanks to the PNRR funding, approximately 2/3 of the final infrastructure will be completed in 30 months, also equipping INFN with laboratories and the necessary staff for the expansion, construction and installation of the underlying network and the submarine detection systems.

Principal Investigator: Giacomo Cuttone

Total investment:  67.186.973.06 €

INFN Investment: 593.30.290.48 €

Positions advertised by INFN: 38 (33 technicians and 5 technologists)

INFN sites involved: division of Bari, Bologna, Catania, Genoa, Naples, Rome, associated group of Salerno, National Laboratories of the South

Institutions involved: INAF (Astrophysics Observatory of Catania, Astronomical Observatory of Palermo), INFN, Bari Polytechnic, University of Campania, University of Catania, University of Genoa, Sapienza University of Rome, University of Salerno, Federico II University of Naples

Timeline: 01/12/2022 - 31/05/2025


 LNGS-FUTURE – LNGS Facilities Upgrade To Unveil Rare Events  

The LNGS-Future project, of which INFN is both the proponent and leader, aims to strengthen the basic infrastructures of INFN’s Gran Sasso National Laboratories (LNGS) to prepare them for the scientific challenges of the future. Every year more than a thousand scientists use the Gran Sasso Laboratories for their research activities: the study of the properties of neutrinos, research into dark matter, and the understanding of the mechanisms underlying the functioning of stars are the main threads of the articulated research programme of the LNGS. Thanks to their dimensions, ease of access and geographical position, the LNGS are the ideal place for conducting complex experiments. Furthermore, their success is closely linked to the ability to provide integrated services and quality scientific support in the sectors of mechanics, electronics, selection of radiopure materials, analytical chemistry and scientific computing. The LNGS-FUTURE project aims to modernise and strengthen the technical and safety services of the laboratory and to create support for advanced cryogenics, a technique that is increasingly used in new generation experiments. The ultimate aim is to host the most important experiments dedicated to studying the nature of the neutrino, thereby allowing the Gran Sasso Laboratories to maintain their global leadership in astroparticle physics for the next decade.

Principal Investigator: Carlo Bucci

Total investment: 20.058.826.53 €

INFN investment: 19.645.377.17 €

Positions advertised by INFN: 7 (4 technicians and 3 technologists)

INFN sites involved: Gran Sasso National Laboratories

Institutions involved: GSSI, INFN

Timeline: 01/09/2022 - 01/04/2025


TeRABIT – Terabit Network for Research and Academic Big data in Italy

The TERABIT project, of which INFN is the proponent along with the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics – OGS, aims to create a synergy between the Research Infrastructures GARR-T, PRACE and HPC-BD-AI and to complement the National Centre of High Performance Computing, Big Data and Quantum Computing (established and managed by the ICSC Foundation). The three research infrastructures that the project aims to integrate and strengthen form part of the national strategic infrastructures identified by the Ministry of University and Research in the National Plan for Research Infrastructures (PNIR): • GARR-X (now GARR-T) is the network infrastructure that supports education and research in Italy. The leader of the infrastructure is the GARR Consortium, represented in this project by INFN; • PRACE-Italy is a high-performance computing infrastructure (HPC), the Italian hub of the PRACE European infrastructure. The leaders are OGS and CINECA • HPC-BD-AI is a computing infrastructure distributed across several sites in the country able to manage high-performance computing resources, big data and artificial intelligence applications. The leader is INFN. The project aims to strengthen the infrastructures, creating greater integration between them and with the National Centre for HPC, Big Data and Quantum Computing, and to make them more accessible by the whole national research community. In more detail, the GARR infrastructure will be upgraded with connections at capacities up to a Terabit per second, covering geographical areas complementary to those already covered through the interventions of the ICSC project and the GARR institutional funds. PRACE-Italy will perform the upgrade of its Tier-1 category HPC system, developing a hybrid architecture and connecting it to the other Exascale centres of EuroHPC such as Leonardo, part of ICSC. Finally, HPC-BD-AI will create smaller HPC systems, available according to the edge-computing paradigm. The technologies for access, use and associated services of the integrated TeRABIT system will be developed in close collaboration with ICSC. The TeRABIT user basin is similar to that of ICSC, but it considers specific use cases complementary to the main ones addressed by ICSC, and considering a use that may begin from the delocalised HPC sites situated close to the user basin only to lead to the use of high-performance central systems.

Principal Investigator: Mauro Campanella (INFN/GARR)

Total investment: 41.000.000,00 €

INFN investment: 31.334.000.8 €

Positions advertised by INFN: 24 (4 technicians and 20 technologists)

INFN sites involved: CNAF, division of Bari and Cagliari

Institutions involved: CINECA, GARR, INFN, OGS

Timeline: 01/01/2023 - 01/07/2025

web site https://www.terabit-project.it