NSF and partners invest $45 million in the future of semiconductors – new.nsf.gov
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The U.S. National Science Foundation today announced 24 research and education projects with a total investment of $45.6 million — including funding from the “CHIPS and Science Act of 2022” — to enable rapid progress in new semiconductor technologies and manufacturing as well as workforce development. The projects are supported by the NSF Future of Semiconductors (FuSe) program through a public-private partnership spanning NSF and four companies: Ericsson, IBM, Intel and Samsung.
“Our investment will help train the next generation of talent necessary to fill key openings in the semiconductor industry and grow our economy from the middle out and bottom up,” said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. “By supporting novel, transdisciplinary research, we will enable breakthroughs in semiconductors and microelectronics and address the national need for a reliable, secure supply of innovative semiconductor technologies, systems and professionals.”
Future semiconductors and microelectronics will require a broad coalition of science and engineering talent in academic and industrial sectors to pursue holistic, “co-design” approaches that advance materials, devices, and systems integration. Co-design approaches simultaneously consider the performance, manufacturability, recyclability and environmental sustainability of such materials, devices, and systems.
The FuSe program will accelerate the development of the U.S.-based workforce and knowledge that enable innovative semiconductor and microelectronics — in direct alignment with the goals of the “CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.”
The FuSe investment for Fiscal Year 2023 supports 24 research and education projects through 61 awards to 47 institutions, including eight to minority-serving institutions and seven to NSF Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) jurisdictions, and addresses three research topics:
Topic 1: Collaborative Research in Domain-Specific Computing:
Topic 2: Advanced Function and High Performance by Heterogeneous Integration
Topic 3: New Materials for Energy Efficient, Enhanced-Performance and Sustainable Semiconductor-Based Systems
In addition to significant investment by NSF, including leveraging the $200 million appropriated by the “CHIPS and Science Act of 2022” for a CHIPS for America Workforce and Education Fund, these awards will be supported in part by Ericsson, IBM, Intel, and Samsung, which have committed to providing annual contributions through NSF. (Partnership details are available in NSF FuSe solicitation 23-552.)
This public-private partnership will help to inform research needs, spur breakthroughs, accelerate technology translation to the market and prepare the future workforce through practical experiences, while addressing the growing demand for semiconductors in the U.S.
In January 2023, NSF announced the partnership with Ericsson, IBM, Intel and Samsung to support the future of semiconductor design and manufacturing. This partnership expands upon recent NSF investments to train and build a diverse semiconductor manufacturing workforce in the U.S. Since 2022, NSF has announced other semiconductor workforce development opportunities — including a partnership with the Semiconductor Research Corporation, a $10 million funding opportunity with Intel Corporation and a $10 million partnership with Micron Technology Inc.
IBM
“Faced with rising compute demands, semiconductor innovation will be required across materials, devices, heterogeneous integration, advanced packaging and compute architectures to enable an energy efficient and sustainable full stack compute solution,” said Vijay Narayanan, IBM Fellow and Strategist, Physics of AI at IBM Research. “IBM is proud to support the FuSe program’s latest investment to accelerate semiconductor innovation to empower the next generation of innovators.”
Intel
“The success of the CHIPS and Science Act hinges on America’s ability to create a robust and diverse ecosystem of skilled semiconductor talent. The best way to accomplish this is through public-private partnerships that provide hands-on learning opportunities with equitable access,” said Dr. Richard Uhlig, senior fellow and director of Intel Labs at Intel Corporation. “The NSF FuSe program supports workforce development at all levels. In addition to advancing important research that will propel U.S. semiconductor manufacturing beyond the limits of Moore’s law, the awards announced today include meaningful collaboration with minority serving institutions and community colleges that will significantly impact technician and undergraduate education. Implementing these types of programs across the country is an incredibly powerful way to diversify the future workforce and fill the existing skills gap.”
Ericsson
“Innovation in semiconductors is fundamental for the development of next generation communications systems. As an active contributor to and participant in NSF’s Future of Semiconductors (FuSe) program, Ericsson is delighted to support 6G innovation and work force development together with leading US academia,” said Erik Ekudden, Ericsson CTO.
Samsung
“Helping drive American innovation and generating job opportunities are critical to the semiconductor industry,” said Jinman Han, president of Samsung Semiconductor in the US. “Samsung was the first foreign company to manufacture chips in the US, and our Austin facility remains one of the largest and most advanced manufacturing sites here today. Our collaboration with the National Science Foundation is a prime example of our commitment to expanding manufacturing, research and development, and the skilled workforce within the United States. As we grow our manufacturing presence here, we look for partners like NSF that can help address the challenges at hand and drive progress in innovation while cultivating the semiconductor talent pipeline.”
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