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CERN launches AIDA project

23 February 2011

A new, 4-year project co-funded by the European Union FP7 Research Infrastructures programme and worth €26 million began on 1 February. The AIDA project (Advanced European Infrastructures for Detectors at Accelerators) will develop detector infrastructures for future particle-physics experiments in line with the European Strategy for Particle Physics.

The project, which is co-ordinated by CERN, has more than 80 institutes and laboratories involved either as beneficiaries or as associate partners, thus ensuring that the whole European particle detector community is represented. The project will receive a contribution of €8 million from the European Commission.

The particle detectors developed in the AIDA project will be used in a planned upgrade to the LHC; at the proposed International Linear Collider, which will study the Standard Model of physics and beyond with higher precision; Super-B factories, which aim to understand the matter–antimatter asymmetry in the universe; and neutrino facilities.

The AIDA project is divided into three main activities: networking, joint research and transnational access. The networking activity will study promising new technologies, such as 3D detectors and vital electronics, as well as specifying technological needs for the future. Interactions with appropriate industrial partners will also be planned.

The joint research activity will see many of the beneficiary institutes working together to improve beam lines that already exist to test particle detectors. The equipment and technology needed to produce these detectors will also be upgraded.

The transnational access activity will see access to beam lines for testing particle detectors at CERN, DESY and irradiation facilities across Europe opened up to new users. Experts in this area can contribute to the field through their findings made at these facilities.

• For details about the project and the full list of participants, see http://cern.ch/aida.

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