Issue 53

December 2025

Welcome to the winter edition of Accelerating News!

The year is coming to a close, but our eyes are firmly fixed on the future in this edition. 

First of all, on behalf of the Accelerating News team, I would like to take a moment to thank all of our readers for their incredible support this year and to wish you all a luminous and high-energy 2026 to come.

To business. On 12 December it was announced that the proposed electron-positron Future Circular Collider (FCC-ee) has been recommended to be CERN's next flagship accelerator by the European Strategy Group (ESG), based on input to the ongoing update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics (ESPP). A "descoped" version of the FCC-ee is the preferred plan B. Find out more about what that means in our story that tops the newsletter.

Ahead of this decision, we had interviewed representatives of three different proposed future accelerators to learn more about their projects: The Compact Linear e+e− Collider (CLIC), the FCC Integrated Programme, and the Muon Collider. We also spoke to two authors of a study that compared the different projects.

Looking to the nearer future, CERN's high-luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is set for a vital 2026, with an important beam test set to take place ahead of the LHC's next long shutdown that will last until 2030.

Elsewhere, we chart the record attendance at this year's International Beam Instrumentation Conference and speak to a representative of a global physics union to find out about their work to connect the accelerator community.

Lastly, don't forget to register for the 2026 International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC) taking place in France next May.