In Dolní Břežany, near Prague, VCES delivered one of the most sophisticated laser centres, the Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) Beamlines, almost three and a half months early. With its unique laser system, this prestigious project developed in cooperation with the famous American Lawrence Livermore laboratory will give the international scientific community access to unprecedented multi-disciplinary research opportunities in a number of areas, including bio-medicine, new materials, medical imaging, optics and nanotechnologies. The ELI Beamlines centre was financed by 40 institutions from 13 European Union member states, making it a leading centre for cutting-edge pan-European research.