Improving and Scaling-up Semiconductor Manufacturing – CR&D

To lead a project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size.

Your project must involve at least one micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME).

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:

• business of any size
• academic institution
• charity
• not for profit
• public sector organisation
• research and technology organisation (RTO)

A business can only lead on one application but can be included as a collaborator in a further 2 applications. If an organisation is not leading any application, it can collaborate in up to 3 applications.

Your project must:

• be industry led
• have project costs up to £2.5 million
• start by 01 June 2024
• end by 31 May 2025
• last up to 12 months
• carry out all of its project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

This competition follows on from the “Semiconductor manufacturing scale-up – feasibility” call to enable UK businesses in the semiconductor supply chain to develop their manufacturing capability.

This competition’s aim is to help build resilience in the UK supply chain. Your proposal must identify or deliver a clear, game-changing intervention and address a clear industrial requirement or improvement in an area such as:

• establishing innovations and new manufacturing techniques
• expanding capability or performance of existing manufacturing techniques
• encouraging relationships between product designers and manufacturers to develop new manufacturing techniques or expanding capability
• encouraging new collaborations across industry and academia

This must realistically and significantly meet and provide a long-term commitment to supporting the UK semiconductor industry requirement.

Your project can focus on one or more of the following :

• compound semiconductors
• silicon semiconductors
• development of Process Design Kits (PDKs)
• manufacturing process development
• device and circuit simulation and design
• manufacturing, packaging, assembly and test processes
• wafer fabrication operations sustainability
• hybridisation or heterogeneous development,
• system-on-chip development
• system-in-package development
• open access foundries models
• accelerate development cycles
• advanced or novel semiconductor packaging or integration techniques
• design for manufacturing
• design for assembly
• proof of concept and validation of designs
• test innovative designs and processes

This list is not intended to be exhaustive.

We are not funding projects where the primary focus or deliverable is:

• standard printed circuit board (PCB) fabrication
• PCB assembly and test, excluding bare die operations

Innovate UK KTN held an online briefing event on Tuesday 5 December 2023: click here to view the event recording.

At the event page, you can also view pitch slides from the SEMIconductors Pitch Cohort & Networking Building events which have been authorised by organisations to be shared following these 
to promote their collaboration ideas and requirements.

If you would like further help to find a collaboration partner, contact Innovate UK KTN’s Electronics team.