Project ICOS officially started

ICOS « International Cooperation on semiconductors » has been officially launched in January 2023 in Brussels.

European sovereignty in the field of semiconductors

Given the importance of semiconductors and the dependency of Europe to other parts of the world, highlighted by the recent international crisis, it has become crucial to work on a new strategic agenda for Europe to regain sovereignty and leadership in the domain, in line with the objectives set out by the EU Chips Act.

In this context, the ICOS project, at the heart of the European Strategy for Semiconductors, will run over three years as Coordination and Support Action (CSA) from the European Commission, in the frame of Horizon Europe. Its goals are to support the growth of the European semiconductor and semiconductor-based photonic industry.

Developing and strengthening international cooperation

To achieve this, ICOS will develop and strengthen international research cooperation and implement actions that will bring insights to future strategic decisions at the European level. ICOS will identify and support the establishment of the most promising scientific collaborations between Europe and like-minded regions of the world. It will highlight the key research subject that can benefit the most to European strategic goals, and help translate them into proposals for future research initiative.

ICOS consortium gathers several partners from nine European countries:

  • Six academic partners: Grenoble INP, IUNET, TU Delft, WUT, IMT, Ghent University
  • Five Research and Technology Organizations (RTOs:) CEA-Leti, imec, Tyndall, VTT and Fraunhofer
  • Two academic and industrial associations: SiNANO Institute and AENEAS
  • Four semiconductor manufacturers: NXP Semiconductors, Bosch, Infineon, STMicroelectronics
  • Two industry consultants: Decision, VDI/VDE

Non-European partners also joined the ICOS Project in Industrial and International advisory boards, thus reinforcing the global and industrial dimension of the project: USA, Japan and Taiwan.

Read the official press release (pdf)

ICOS has received funding from the EU Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement N°101092562.