Beyond the standard model: what can we expect in the years ahead?

In physics, one of the major achievements of this century is un-doubtedly the formulation of the Standard Model of particle interactions. This theory of the fundamental forces of nature has been supremely successful when confronted with experimental tests. In this talk the aim is to examine directions from where signals for physics beyond the Standard Model (the so-called new physics) might emerge. But before turning to a discussion of this view, the basic features of the Standard Model (SM) are given