Romania, through Politehnica Bucharest, has become part of the largest European initiative in the field of microelectronics with the official launch of the NanoIC project, the rector of the higher education institution, Mihnea Costoiu, announced on Monday.
"There are moments in history when plans become reality and the direction of a country's industry takes on an entirely new meaning. On 9 February 2022, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced in Brussels the EU Chips Act - the strategy through which Europe aims to take global leadership in the semiconductor industry. Today, 9 February, exactly four years later, we are marking a major victory for European and Romanian research: the official launch of the NanoIC project. It is a colossal initiative, valued at EUR 2.5 billion, which redefines the limits of physics and engineering. The stake? Conquering the angstrom scale (below 2 nanometres). At this microscopic level, the limits of classical physics are surpassed, making room for a new generation of integrated circuits with transistor density and efficiency unimaginable until now," Costoiu wrote on Facebook.
According to the rector, Politehnica Bucharest is not merely a partner in this project, but the sole representative of Eastern Europe in an elite consortium, alongside the continent's technological giants such as IMEC, CEA-Leti and Fraunhofer.
"Romanian expertise at UPB is now working on equal footing with global leaders to develop the technologies that will underpin artificial intelligence, 6G communications and quantum computing in the decades to come. This is a result that bears the imprint of the vision and tenacity of Professor Marius Enachescu, who has shown that Romania can overcome financial and geographical barriers," Costoiu stressed.
The research results achieved at Politehnica Bucharest place the institution directly "at the table at the top of the global technological hierarchy", he added.
The European Union on Monday launched NanoIC, the largest pilot line under the European Chips Act, hosted by IMEC in Leuven, Belgium, with a total investment of EUR 2.5 billion aimed at accelerating the development of next-generation semiconductor technologies for applications including artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, healthcare and 6G communications.
Hosted by IMEC (Belgium), the project's partners include CEA-Leti (France), Fraunhofer (Germany), VTT (Finland), CSSNT (Romania) and the Tyndall National Institute (Ireland).
Designed to bring chip technologies from the laboratory to the factory, pilot lines are a key pillar of the "Chips for Europe" initiative under the Chips Act. They will strengthen the position of European players in the global semiconductor supply chain and will be open to trusted partners, supporting Europe's industrial base and competitiveness while also helping to retain and attract talent.
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