Nanoelectronics levereges €2.86bn in funding

The 63 ENIAC Joint Undertaking (JU) projects from nine open and competitive calls for R&D proposals in nanoelectronics have reached a total of €2.86bn in eligible costs. They are supported by €490m nationally and €444m in ENIAC JU contributions.

The ENIAC JU reinvested its administrative cost savings into R&D, therefore exceeding by 1% the initial budgetary allocation foreseen in the European Council regulation. Andreas Wild, the executive director of the ENIAC JU, said: “Once our members successfully aligned their objectives and strategies, we could demonstrate the added value of a small independent entity capable to act quickly upon new challenges and opportunities.

“For example, after the High-Level Experts Group on KETs issued its final report in June 2011, the ENIAC JU immediately pioneered the pilot line concept, executing two dedicated calls for proposals. With almost €1.8bn engaged in 14 pilot line projects within two years, the ENIAC JU became a leading mechanism in implementing KET policies in Europe,” Wild added.

The ENIAC JU has established a framework and a mode of operation in which the whole nanoelectronics ecosystem could contribute towards the common objective of increasing investments in this KET with unparalleled systemic and strategic impact.

The members of the ENIAC JU are the Association for European Nanoelectronics Activities, representing the industry at large, the European Commission, and the 22 ENIAC member states. Four different nations are participating in the projects without being members of the JU. The participating organisations include large enterprises (24%), SMEs (45%), and research institutes and academia (31%).

The ENIAC JU was established in 2008 to implement the Joint Technology Initiative on nanoelectronics within FP7. 2013 was the last year in which it could award grants.