An update on the AIDA-2020 follow-up proposal
Daniela Antonio, 30/10/2019

ALICE Detector overview during LS2. (Image: CERN)

The European Commission opened a call for an Innovation Pilot, with a deadline on 17 March 2020, targeted towards advanced communities that have reached a high degree of integration at European level under previous Framework Programmes. Three communities – in the domains of light source technologies, accelerator technologies and, more relevant to our community, detector technologies at accelerators – have been invited to submit proposals, which CERN is supporting and coordinating.

For a possible successor of AIDA-2020, expression of interest had been invited to be submitted by 15 July. The Proposal Preparation Team (PPT)  received a record of 162 expression of interest, over double the number of submissions to AIDA-2020. This fact showcases the maturity of the community developed in course of the AIDA projects. Following a first Open Meeting on Sep 4, the PPT has defined the Work Package structure. A second open meeting took place on 23 October 2019 to finalise the proposal structure. The final budget should be defined by the end of the year.

The new project should start in late 2020, if the community’s proposal is successful.