Personal donors pledge help for FCC – CERN Courier

For the primary time in CERN’s historical past, non-public donors (people and philan­thropic foundations) have agreed to help a CERN flagship analysis undertaking. Recently, a gaggle of buddies of CERN, together with the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation, and the entrepreneurs John Elkann and Xavier Niel, have pledged important funds in the direction of the development of the Future Circular Collider (FCC), the potential successor of the Large Hadron Collider. These potential contributions, totalling some 860 million euros and corres­ponding to 1 billion US {dollars}, would characterize a significant private-sector funding within the development of analysis in elementary physics.

“It’s the first time in history that private donors wish to partner with CERN to build an extraordinary research instrument that will allow humanity to take major steps forward in our understanding of fundamental physics and the universe. I am profoundly grateful to them for their generosity, vision and unwavering commitment to knowledge and exploration. Their support is essential to the prospective realisation of the FCC and to enabling future generations of scientists to push the frontiers of scientific discovery and technology,” stated CERN Director-General Fabiola Gianotti.

Understanding the basic nature of our universe is the mission that unites humanity

“Understanding the fundamental nature of our universe is the mission that unites humanity,” stated Pete Worden, chairman of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation. “We’re proud to support the creation of the most powerful scientific instrument in history, that can shed new light on the deepest questions humanity can ask.”

“The Future Circular Collider is an instrument that could push the boundaries of human knowledge and deepen our understanding of the fundamental laws of the universe,” stated Eric Schmidt. “Beyond the science, the technologies emerging from this project could benefit society in profound ways, from medicine to computing to sustainable energy, while training a new generation of innovators and problem-solvers. Wendy and I are inspired by the ambition of this project and by what it could mean for the future of humanity.”

“CERN’s Member States are extremely grateful for the interest expressed by our donors in contributing to the funding of the Laboratory’s next flagship project. This once again demonstrates CERN’s relevance and positive impact on society, and the strong interest in CERN’s future that exists well beyond our own particle-physics community,” stated the president of the CERN Council Costas Fountas.

The FCC has additionally been included amongst 11 proposed “Moonshot” tasks within the draft Multiannual Financial Framework for the years 2028–2034, launched by the European Commission in July.

Based on robust enter from the worldwide particle-physics neighborhood, the FCC has been beneficial as the popular choice for the following flagship collider at CERN within the ongoing course of to replace the European Strategy for Particle Physics, which will likely be concluded by the CERN Council in May 2026 (see “European Strategy Group recommends FCC-ee“). A call by the CERN Council on the development of the FCC is predicted round 2028.