The ELI ('Extreme light infrastructure') project, with European funds, aims to build a laser of intensity sufficient to rip photons into electron-positron pairs. This type of super laser could play a crucial role in the development of new cancer diagnosis and treatments, and could help fuel our understanding of molecular biology and nanoscience. It could also be used to resolve myriad issues that weigh heavily on the minds of environmentalists, like how to handle nuclear waste.

A total of four initial high-powered lasers will be built in eastern Europe. Three will be built initially, with the fourth one scheduled for a later date. The first super laser, to be located in Dolni Brezany, a town located south of Prague (Czech Republic), will achieve exawatt class, making it around 100 times more powerful than what is currently available.

ELI's primary goal is to serve as a research tool. In addition, to play a crucial role in the development of new cancer diagnosis and treatments, it could also be used to resolve other issues such as how to handle nuclear waste.

The Czech Republic, however, will become a strong player in the field of optic and photonic research thanks to the ELI, which clinched €6 million under the Research Infrastructures budget line of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). In the last decade, this EU Member State has hosted Precision Automated Laser Signals (PALS), which is one of the most sophisticated laser systems across Europe. Thus, in this country, the first super laser will start running within the next four years and it will operate using very short pulses of significantly high-energy particle and radiation beams.

Hungary and Romania are set to be the next locations for the super lasers and each project will specialise in diverse research areas. But all projects will lead to the construction of the fourth super laser, which will have double the power of the three lasers. This fourth super laser will yield up to 200 petawatts per hour, which experts say is the theoretical limit for lasers.

The project's overall price tag will total €700 million. ELI ('Extreme light infrastructure') project brings together almost 40 research and academic institutions from 13 EU Member States and it is coordinated by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France. Experts from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania and the United Kingdom are making major contributions to this project.