1. Introduction
A meeting
of ICFA was held on 30 July 2006 in
2. ILCSC Mandate
The
original mandate for the International Linear Collider Steering Committee
(ILCSC) was written in 2002, and there have been many changes in ILC activities
since then; for example, the Global Design Effort (GDE) was not in existence in
2002. A revised mandate for ILCSC was
approved by ICFA, and is available on the ILCSC website.
3. FALC
Particle physics funding agencies
from several countries have formed an informal group, Funding Agencies for
Large Colliders (FALC, previously known as Funding Agencies for the Linear
Collider), to discuss international linear collider issues. FALC has a subgroup, FALC Resources Group
(FALC-RG), which meets more frequently, and considers, for example, how to provide,
from the funding agencies of various countries, common funds for GDE
activities. In order to increase
coordination, the FALC Chair is invited to ICFA meetings, and the ICFA and
ILCSC Chairs are invited to FALC meetings; the ILCSC Chair and FALC-RG Chair
are invited to each other’s meetings.
FALC has recently decided to extend
its scope beyond just the ILC to include other major particle physics
activities such as the LHC upgrade, CLIC, and the worldwide neutrino
program. ICFA has offered to help FALC
in this wider role by providing scientific input as requested.
4. Neutrino Studies
An International Scoping Study (ISS) for future international neutrino activities has recently made a preliminary report, which recommends a need for a more extensive International Design Study. ICFA is currently studying what should be its involvement in the neutrino study field.