“The Higgs is the first fundamental scalar that has ever been observed. And pretty much all physics beyond the Standard Model contains scalars,” said Dr Lockyer. “So these scalars would mix with the Higgs – the question is how strongly. But what you’re looking for is evidence of the Higgs mixing with other scalars. That would be a window into new physics.”

On March 26th, the Tohoku ILC Planning Office (Director: IPU President Atsuto Suzuki) released an outline of their master ILC plan, which describes the future of Tohoku and what infrastructure would be created, as well as makes clear the roles of government and the private sector.

ILCの実現を目指す超党派の国会議員連盟は２０日、衆院議員会館で総会を開いた。研究者組織の国際将来加速器委員会が日本主導の計画推進を求める状況に文部科学省の担当者が異論を挟み、研究者が反論する場面があった。(General meeting of Diet members association for the ILC met on 20 March. There was a little struggle between scientists and the persons in charge of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology regarding the status toward ICFA’s request for Japan’s leading role for the ILC)

本年度で閉校する一関市奥玉小の６年生が、地元が誘致を目指している超大型加速器「国際リニアコライダー（ＩＬＣ）」を自分なりに考えて描いた卒業制作のカレンダーが完成した。(6 graders at Okutama elementary school in Ichinoseki city, Iwate prefecture created the calendar with ILC artworks as their graduation project.)

Advanced technology within large-scale devices; searching for answers to the mysteries of the universe – this sort of Japanese science research is at a crossroads.

Due to the recent changes in the ILC plans, the Panel of Experts at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has reinstated their Technical Design Report Verification Working Group. They had their second meeting on March 2nd at MEXT where they discussed regulations and risks associated with the ILC project.

Starting in 2017, the Iwate Prefectural Government designated four high schools as “ILC Promotion Model Schools.”This project aims to get students to apply their own knowledge and skills for getting involved with the ILC – even if that means something other than being a physicist!

During 2018 the CLIC accelerator and detector and physics collaborations will prepare summary reports focusing on the 380 GeV initial CLIC project implementation as inputs for the update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics, including plans for the project preparation phase in 2020–2025.