Superconducting Magnets for Big Science

A key technology in nowadays particle accelerators, colliders and their detectors is superconductivity. “No Higgs without Superconductivity” is a very striking phrase illustrating the quest for continuous research and development of high magnetic field superconducting magnets to allow even more powerful colliders in the future. The present Large Hadron Collider with 26 kilometer circumference comprises thousands of superconducting magnets for guiding the proton beams with the speed of light. In addition huge and powerful magnets are required in the particle detectors positioned around the collisions points for bending the collision products in order to determine their charge and momentum as required for identifying the decay products of new particles like the Higgs boson. The new developments and trends in this challenging technology will be presented. We will outlook to the next generation of magnet technology now on the drawing board for the Future Circular Collider with 100 km circumference and envisaged to provide 100 TeV collisions by medio 2045, a great mission for our generation to make a start and for our children to complete.