Skills Hubs of Excellence
Create specialised academic Hubs of Excellence for semiconductor skills development aligned with industry needs.
This call funds the creation of academic Hubs of Excellence in semiconductor technology areas. Projects should develop Bachelor, Master, and PhD programmes aligned with industry. The goal is to produce highly qualified graduates ready for semiconductor industry roles and increase diversity and mobility.
Likely relevant for
- Universities and academic institutions in semiconductor technology
- Organisations developing higher education programmes in chip design and manufacturing
- Consortia aiming to enhance semiconductor skills and education
Project signals
What it funds
- Creation of specialised academic Hubs of Excellence in critical semiconductor technology areas such as chip design, manufacturing, photonics, power electronics
- Development of industry-aligned Bachelor, Master, and PhD programmes in semiconductor technologies
Expected outcomes
- Sustained pipeline of highly qualified semiconductor graduates
- Shorter time-to-readiness for industry roles
- Greater inflow of diverse talent including women and underrepresented groups
- Improved intra- and extra-EU student mobility
- Strong complementarity with existing Chips Act infrastructure such as pilot lines, design platforms, and Competence Centres
Who can apply / participate
- Academic institutions
- Universities
- Research organisations
- Check specific consortium composition rules in call documents
- Eligible countries as specified in Appendix 8 of Work Programme - Chips for Europe Initiative
- Refer to call documents for detailed eligibility conditions including financial and operational capacity
- Exact eligibility criteria for applicant types and consortium composition must be verified in call documents
Must check before shortlisting
- Eligibility criteria regarding applicant types and countries
- Consortium requirements and funding conditions
Money
Total budget up to €10 million for 2026 with expected grants between €1 million and €10 million each.
- Total budget for 2026 — 10000000EURMaximum contribution for the call
- Minimum grant per project — 1000000EURMinimum expected grant size
- Maximum grant per project — 10000000EURMaximum expected grant size
Application notes
- Single-stage submission model.
- Proposal page limits and layout as described in Part B of the Application Form
- Eligibility conditions including countries, financial and operational capacity, and exclusion criteria detailed in Appendix 8 of Work Programme - Chips for Europe Initiative
- Evaluation and award criteria, scoring, and timelines provided in call documents
- Legal and financial setup of grants governed by specific regulations and model grant agreements
- Prepare proposal according to Part B Application Form and guidelines
- Submit proposal before deadline 24 September 2026
- Ensure compliance with eligibility and admissibility conditions
- Consult call documents and guides for detailed instructions
- Check eligibility and consortium rules carefully before applying
- Follow page limits and formatting requirements strictly
- Review evaluation criteria to align proposal accordingly
Derived from official EU Funding portal source · updated 7 Jul 2026, 12:11 UTC. Use this as a shortlisting aid; the official call text remains authoritative.
Official source text
Fine print from the EU source record. Expand when you need the original wording.
Topic description
Expected Outcome: Expected outcomes: A sustained pipeline of highly qualified semiconductor graduates, with shorter time-to-readiness for industry roles; greater inflow of diverse talent including women and underrepresented groups; improved intra- and extra-EU student mobility; and strong complementarity with existing Chips Act infrastructure such as pilot lines, design platforms, and Competence Centres. Scope: This call funds the creation of specialised academic "Hubs of Excellence" in critical semiconductor technology areas (e.g. chip design, manufacturing, photonics, power electronics). Projects should build industry-aligned Bachelor, Master, and PhD programmes.
Conditions and documents
Conditions
1. Admissibility conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
The proposal page limits and layout is described in Part B of the Application Form, which can be accessed on the Chips JU website's Call page
The following information are all described in the Appendix 8 of Work Programme - Chips for Europe Initiative :
2. Eligible countries
3. Other eligibility conditions
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
5a. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
5b. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
Call document and annexes:
The Call Documents Section contains all the call documents, as follows:
Additional documents:
Support information
For help related to this call, please contact Calls@chips-ju.europa.eu Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – Submission of proposals . IT Helpdesk – Contact the IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc. Online Manual – Step-by-step online guide through the Portal processes from proposal preparation and evaluation to reporting on your ongoing project. Valid for all 2021-2027 programmes.
Raw budget overview
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