On 21 March the CERN Council decided to launch the process for updating the European strategy for particle physics – the cornerstone of Europe’s decision-making process for the long-term future of the field. Mandated by the CERN Council, the European strategy is formed through a broad consultation of the particle-physics community and in close coordination with similar processes in the US and Japan, to ensure coordination between regions and optimal use of resources globally.
The deadline for submitting written input for the next strategy update has been set for 31 March 2025, with a view to concluding the process in June 2026. The strategy process is managed by the strategy secretariat, which the Council will establish during its June 2024 session.
The European strategy process was initiated by the CERN Council in 2005, placing the LHC at the top of particle physics’ scientific priorities, with a significant luminosity upgrade already being mooted. A ramp-up of R&D for future accelerators also featured high on the priority list, followed by coordination with a potential International Linear Collider and participation in a global neutrino programme.
The final report of the FCC feasibility study will be a key input for the next strategy update
The first strategy update in 2013, which kept the LHC as a top priority and attached increasing importance to its high-luminosity upgrade, stated that Europe needs to be in a position to propose an ambitious post-LHC accelerator project at CERN by the time of the next strategy update. The latter charge was formulated in more detail in the second strategy update, completed in 2020, which recommended a Higgs factory as the highest priority to follow the LHC and that a technical and financial feasibility study should be pursued in parallel for a next-generation hadron collider at the highest achievable energy. A mid-term report on the resulting Future Circular Collider feasibility study was submitted for review at the end of 2023 (CERN Courier March/April 2024 pp25–38) and the final report, expected in March 2025, will be a key input for the next strategy update.
More information about the third update of the European strategy, together with the call for input, will be issued by the strategy secretariat in due course.
