European particle physics refreshes long-term strategy

European particle physics refreshes long-term strategy. Krakow, 12 September 2012. Some 500 particle physicists meeting in Krakow this week have been debating the long-term future of their field at the CERN Council Open Symposium on the European Strategy for Particle Physics. This symposium comes at a turning point for the field, following hot on the heels of the announcement in July by CERN¹ experiments ATLAS and CMS of the discovery of a new particle consistent with the long-sought Higgs boson: a discovery that sets the direction for future particle physics research. Although the LHC results have dominated the headlines, other areas, such as neutrino physics, have also seen important advances over recent years. The symposium marks the first update of a strategy initially put in place in 2006 with a view to coordinating particle physics research in Europe, as well as Europe's participation in projects hosted in other regions. A CERN Council nominated strategy group will distil input from the symposium into a draft strategy update to be discussed by the CERN Council in March 2013.