ICOS: Strategic support for the EU's technological sovereignty in the semiconductor sector

The strategic importance of semiconductors and Europe's dependence on other regions of the world is clearly evidenced by the recent international crises. In the EU project ICOS, European research organizations are jointly working with industry to build up know-how and networks to support Europe in regaining its sovereignty and leadership in this field, in accordance with the objectives of the EU Chips Act.

The ICOS project, a three-year Coordination and Support Action (CSA) of the European Commission under Horizon Europe, aims to support the growth of the European semiconductor and semiconductor-based photonics industry through well targeted international research collaboration.

In this context, ICOS supports the most promising scientific collaborations by addressing leading companies in the semiconductor sector. Thus, the project partners will analyze the value chains of semiconductors for electronics and photonics as well as the strengths and gaps of the European and international industry in this field and identify emerging future technologies and the most interesting countries for international collaboration. Based on the results obtained, ICOS will then highlight the research topics that are most beneficial to European strategic objectives and embed them into proposals for future bilateral or multilateral research initiatives and practical cooperation modalities.

The Fraunhofer Gesellschaft is represented by its institutes IISB and EMFT. As part of the project, the Fraunhofer EMFT is involved in Chips Act-relevant technology scanning, future technology forecasts in the field of "advanced functionality" and, in particular, in establishing international cooperation with national institutions outside the EU in close collaboration with the VDI/VDE TZ.

The consortium brings together six academic partners (Grenoble INP, IUNET, TU Delft, WUT, IMT, Ghent University), five research and technology organizations (RTO : CEA-LETI, imec, Tyndall, VTT, Fraunhofer), two academic and industrial associations (SiNANO Institute and AENEAS), four semiconductor manufacturers (NXP Semiconductors, Bosch, Infineon, STMicroelectronics) and two industrial consultants (DECISION and VDI/VDE) from nine European countries. In addition, non-European partners - the USA, Japan and Taiwan - are represented on two industrial and international advisory boards, which further strengthens the global and industrial dimension of ICOS.

The project is funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation program under the grant number 101092562.