After 5 years of fruitful work, the project ENSURE is now coming to its formal closure. The project has successfully attained a deeper understanding on how laser-driven ion sources can take advantage of advanced materials and it has helped bringing the technology closer to its potential applications. With 24 (+3 underway) publications on peer-reviews journals and 40 contributions to international conferences, ENSURE has accomplished its main goals. Education and training of young scientists has also been a pivotal component of the project, whereby 12 master’s degree and 5 PhD students have carried out their research work. Moreover two international conferences (TARG4 and HFLPI) and a summer school (8th edition of Atoms and Plasmas in Superintense Laser Fields) sponsored by ENSURE have been co-organized by its team. The work carried out within ENSURE has also stimulated the ERC Proof-of-Concept project INTER, which was focused on neutron generation from laser-driven ion sources.
Of course this ending date does not imply that the ENSURE team will stop working, but rather it marks a new starting point from which to pursue further developments. Ad maiora!