The EuroCirCol kick-off event at CERN on 2-4 June brought together 62 participants to constitute governance bodies, commit to the project plan and align the organisation, structures and processes of 16 institutions from 10 countries. The goal of the project is to conceive a post-LHC research infrastructure around a 100 km circular energy-frontier hadron collider capable of reaching 100 TeV collisions. The project officially started on 1 June and will run for four years. The total estimated budget of 11.2 million Euros includes a 2.99 million Euro contribution from the Horizon 2020 programme on developing new world-class research infrastructures.

EuroCirCol will deliver a design for a hadron collider as part of the broader Future Circular Collider (FCC) study. It will provide input to an accelerator infrastructure roadmap taking into account European and global interests by the time of the next update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics in 2018. It was the only one of 39 submissions to receive the maximum points from reviewers, a clear sign that high-energy physics remains a top priority for the European Commission.

EuroCirCol is organised around four technical work packages: the first two develop the collider’s lattice and beam optics including the experimental regions. A third develops prototypes and tests a novel cryogenics beam vacuum system that can respond to the challenges of high synchrotron radiation expected at such a collider. This work also pioneers collaboration between the particle physics and light source communities, with opportunities to improve existing synchrotron-radiation facilities and to reduce cost and performance of fourth- or fifth-generation light sources. The last work package will study a viable design for a 16 tesla accelerator magnet as part of a world-wide study of conductor R&D for the HL-LHC project and the FCC.

The EuroCirCol project creates opportunities for doctoral and post-doctoral assignments in the areas of beam optics and accelerator technologies in the participating institutes. It also provides excellent training opportunities for the next generation of accelerator physicists under the guidance of world-renowned experts in the field.

EuroCirCol is a building block in the globally coordinated strategy of the FCC study to produce a global design for a global machine. The main outcome of EuroCirCol will be laying the foundations for subsequent research infrastructure development that will strengthen Europe as a leader in global research cooperation over the coming decades.