Underground laboratories

Abstract

Underground Laboratories are the main infrastructures for astroparticle and neutrino physics. Searches for rare events like 2β0ν or proton decay, study of weak interactions from cosmic or artificial neutrinos, detection of dark matter candidates and nuclear astrophysics studies require low-background environments that can only be achieved in a shielded underground environment. Thanks to the reduction in the cosmic ray flux and c.r.-spallation induced neutrons, the rock coverage provides the necessary low background environment to investigate these processes. The most important underground laboratories all over the world together with their future projects will be reviewed.