AbstractThe benefits and drawbacks of forced-cooled superconducting magnets (FCSM) compared with pool-type magnets are well known for a long time. Several relatively large FCSM have been successfully built and tested, some to them are in continuous operation. Even more of the very large FCSM are in developmental stages for energy storage and fusion. Nevertheless many scientific and technological problems connected with FCSM are not solved yet. The cheap and reliable manufacturing processes of forced-cooled conductors are not finally developed. The same relates to the design of dielectric tube connectors. All the above-mentioned problems are discussed in the paper, which is dedicated to the late Mario Morpurgo.