IRIS—The Innovative Research Infrastructure on Applied Superconductivity in Italy

Abstract The IRIS (Innovative Research Infrastructure on Applied Superconductivity) project establishes a distributed and integrated national infrastructure in Italy to support long-term research and development in superconducting technologies. Driven by the increasing demands of next-generation scientific facilities—such as the Future Circular Collider and the Muon Collider—and by the emergence of high-temperature superconductors (HTS), IRIS addresses the full technological chain from materials and conductors to magnets and system-level demonstrators. The infrastructure is organized around a central hub at INFN–LASA in Milan and five specialized nodes (Genoa, Frascati, Naples, Lecce, and Salerno), providing complementary capabilities in materials science, diagnostics, magnet engineering, and large-scale testing. Two flagship demonstrators, the Green Superconducting Line (GSL) for high-power energy transmission and the Energy-Saving Magnet (ESMA) for accelerator applications, play a key role in validating integrated technologies. By combining scientific excellence with strong industrial links, IRIS aims to bridge the gap between fundamental research and real-world applications, contributing to both future research infrastructures and societal challenges in energy and healthcare.