Prof. Matt Zepf, is a professor at the University of Jena and a director of the Helmholtz Institute Jena. He received his Ph.D. from University of Oxford. Prior to his current positions, he conducted postdoctoral research at Imperial College, was EPSRC Advanced Research Fellow and Professor at Queen’s University Belfast (since 2001). He has made notable achievements across the areas of high field physics and particle acceleration. His achievements include ROM Harmonics, inventor of Cone Ignition and first observation of high energy protons from relativistic plasmas. He received Wolfson Merit Award of Royal Society and is a member of Royal Irish Academy.

       Ultrafast Lasers are capable of creating extreme conditions. By controlling plasmas precisely the conditions for a new class of accelerators and photon sources with unprecedented parameters is possible. We highlight developments and future potential of these sources.