Extracting backgrounds to SUSY searches from LHC data

Any discovery of new physics can only be claimed when the Standard Model backgrounds are understood and are under control. It is expected that at the LHC, Monte Carlo predictions will not be sufficient to achieve this: the backgrounds will have to be derived from the data themselves with minimal reliance on Monte Carlo. We describe new methods of data-driven background determination developed by ATLAS and CMS and prospects for this application on first data.