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Tech Giants Fund CERN's $1B Particle Collider
19 Dec
Summary
- Tech billionaires pledge $1 billion for CERN's Future Circular Collider.
- This marks the first private funding for a CERN research instrument.
- The collider aims to advance understanding of fundamental physics.
In a significant development for fundamental physics research, tech billionaires have pledged as much as $1 billion to fund CERN's ambitious Future Circular Collider (FCC). This landmark contribution is the first instance of private donors partnering with the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) to build a major scientific instrument. The funds will support the development of the FCC, intended to succeed the Large Hadron Collider.
The proposed FCC will be a 56-mile-long particle collider, with the first phase of construction anticipated to be complete by the mid-2040s, and the second phase extending into the 2070s. Scientists hope the FCC will address profound questions about the universe's fundamental laws. The project's initial phase alone is projected to cost approximately $17 billion.
Key figures like Eric Schmidt from the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation and Sergey Brin through the Breakthrough Prize Foundation are among the notable donors. CERN's member states are slated to make a final decision on approving the FCC by 2028, marking a crucial period for the future of particle physics exploration.
