Plasma Wakefield Acceleration research: overview of projects in Munich and Hamburg

The relatively new research field of Plasma Wakefield Acceleration (PWA) experiences a rapid growth of national and international activities, well documented by the fact that even large-scale accelerator centers, such as CERN, SLAC, and DESY, enter this field. The Helmholtz Association launches a new program called Accelerator Research and Development (ARD), including PWA-research with Hamburg University being a strategic partner.
In this talk the basic principle of laser- and beam-driven PWA as well as a catalogue of open questions will be presented. In the second part the synergy of research projects between Munich (MAP/CALA) and Hamburg (LAOLA/ARD) will be discussed and potential future applications such as driving compact brilliant X-ray sources and medical imaging will be explored.