With just under two years of LHC operations remaining before the collider is shut down to make way for its high luminosity upgrade (HL-LHC), 2024 is a big year for teams across CERN and beyond. The focus now is on the validation of key technologies, tests of prototypes and the series production of equipment (p37).
Due to deliver high-brightness beams from 2029, the HL-LHC will bring rich physics opportunities for the four main experiments into the early 2040s.
The experience gained from the HL-LHC will also be key to the success of a future collider at CERN. On that note, a February session of the CERN Council is to assess impressive progress documented in the mid-term review of the Future Circular Collider feasibility study. Meanwhile, in December the US “P5” report expressed strong support for a Higgs factory in Europe or Japan (p7).
December also brought news from the CERN Council that CERN’s cooperation with Russia and Belarus will conclude at the expiry of their respective international collaboration agreements: 30 November and 27 June 2024. This issue looks at how the war has impacted particle physics in Ukraine through the experiences of researchers at institutes in Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odesa and Uzhhorod (p30). The lure of the CERN model (p43), 3D-printed detectors (p9), fair and transparent web search (p45), 40 years of the CERN Accelerator School (p25), and how to lead in collaborations (p50) are other must-reads.