EDELWEISS-III experiment: Status and first low WIMP mass results

The EDELWEISS-III collaboration is operating an experiment for the direct detection of Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMPs) dark matter in the low radioactivity environment of the Modane Underground Laboratory. It consists of 24 advanced high-purity germanium detectors operating at 18 mK in a dilution refrigerator in order to identify rare nuclear recoils induced by elastic scattering of WIMPs from our Galactic halo. The current EDELWEISS-III program, including improvements of the background, data-acquisition and the current installation will be detailed. Sources of background along with the rejection techniques will be discussed. Detector performances and a first low WIMP mass (Boosted Decision Tree) BDT- based analysis of data acquired in a long-term campaign will be presented as well. (paper)