The first International School for Linear Colliders was held last week in Japan.

On 19-27 May 2006, the first International School for Linear Colliders took place at Sokendai, Graduate School for Advanced Studies in Hayama, Japan. "It was the first truly international school that focused on the specific subject of the International Linear Collider (ILC)", said Weiren Chou (FNAL), chair of the school's Curriculum Committee and chair of the ICFA Beam Dynamics Panel. This school was jointly organised by the GDE, International Linear Collider Steering Committee (ILCSC) and the ICFA Beam Dynamics Panel.

"I enjoyed the school very much", said Lee Hammons, of Brookhaven National Laboratory and State University of New York Stony Brook. The organisers received a lot of positive feedback from the participants, demonstrating the success of the school. "It was a very interesting experience", said Nicolas Delerue of the University of Oxford.

More than 500 applicants from 44 countries applied to the International Accelerator School for Linear Colliders. Through a very difficult decision process, the Curriculum Committee accepted 74 students. As a result, this school has a characteristic of a global atmosphere in which 18 countries participated. KEK’s Shin-ichi Kurokawa, chair of the ILCSC and chair of Local Committee said, "The students were excellent. Their enthusiasm and abilities were higher than I had expected."

Not wasting any time, the organisers assigned goals to the students before the school even started. "I gave the students two goals before we started this school ", Chou said. "The first goal is to learn as much as possible about the ILC. The other is to make as many new friends as possible. They seemed to accomplish the first goal very well."

Even though the students had many positive things to say about the school, there was one complaint – too much homework. And the instructors made sure that the assignments were not easy. "The school was very good except for homework. I was very busy doing homework, so I did not have enough time to meet as many new people as I like", said Karyanappillil Ranjini of Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC).

This school gathered first-class lecturers from all over the world. Andy Wolski of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory lectured on damping ring technology. "We lecturers tried to teach the students everything we knew. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, not only for the students but also for us."

With a serious attitude, some of the students wrestled with the homework until dawn. In response, the Committee changed the curriculum to tackle the homework in a group session. "Doing homework in groups makes them communicate with each other. This will be a lesson for the next school", said Chou. "When each student completed the homework assignment, they gained an irreplaceable experience."

Even though the homework was challenging, it inspired some students to want to work on the ILC in the future. "I intend to shift my research focus. I want to be involved in the ILC because it became very interesting to me through this school", Ranjini said. Other students also deepened their interest in the ILC. "I was very impressed with a scale of the project. I intend to get involved in the ILC as much as possible", Hammons said. The school also inspired participants who were already involved in the ILC. "I am already involved in the ILC, but this school made me more motivated".

The lecturers also learned a lot from this school. "Students came from different fields, so some of them were very new to the field," Wolski said.

As an outcome of the school, the organisers hope that more scientists around the world will join the ILC community. "This school aimed to encourage young physicists to work in the accelerator field," said Chou. "The ILC is facing a shortage of human resources. I want to bring as many people as to the ILC."

Kurokawa added, "We cannot say easily whether the purpose was achieved. We can make judgments only when we have continued our efforts for the next ten years without giving up. Of course I want the students to be involved in ILC. Even if they do not do so, I want them to utilize this opportunity to be greater accelerator specialists in their countries in the future. In addition, I want them to keep international exchanges".

Future plans are already underway for the next Linear Collider school, which will be in either Europe or the US. Streaming video of the school lectures is also available.