ASML and Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) have extended the memorandum of understanding they signed last year to include a new cleanroom building and education initiatives.
The two have agreed to spend a combined €180m ($195m) on semiconductor research over the coming decade.
The Netherlands-based semiconductor company will partly fund the new cleanroom building and TU/e will be responsible for its build.
This lab building will be a top facility focused on research, education, and startups in the field of semiconductors and will be larger and more modern than the existing TU/e cleanroom, which it will replace.
The agreement also includes the education initiatives of conducting more joint research and train more PhD students in areas such as plasma physics, mechatronics, optics and AI, based on common roadmaps.
The new cleanroom building will be partly funded by ASML
The extended agreement is an investment in the unique position of the Brainport region in the Netherlands, which is Europe's most innovative technology region in the field of semiconductors.
With this extended agreement, TU/e also aims to boost its recently launched Future Chips programme of study centred on semiconductors.
The University has been conducting leading international research in the various areas of chip technology for more than fifty years.
More than seven hundred TU/e researchers from 25 research groups are currently working on semiconductors, and this number is expected to grow considerably.
Moreover, in close collaboration between the two parties, almost a hundred PhD students will conduct research in areas relevant to the chip sector over the next ten years.
ASML is investing a total of €80m (Euros) in the collaboration over the next ten years
This is a win-win: on the one hand, it provides groundbreaking new knowledge and technology that contributes to solutions for society and Dutch earning capacity, and, on the other hand, PhD students are trained to become the top specialists that the semiconductor industry desperately needs.
Further, ASML is investing a total of €80m (Euros) in the collaboration over the next ten years.
TU/e is also investing heavily in semiconductors: an expected total of more than a hundred million for the cleanroom building and the many PhD students who will be appointed.
The parties also plan to involve other companies and institutions in the region and beyond in the collaboration, in order to increase its impact.
Roger Dassen, Chief Financial Officer of ASML, said: “With this agreement, we are expanding our long-term collaboration with TU/e. TU/e is the purveyor of talent in the region and an important academic partner.”
Project Beethoven aims to further strengthen the Brainport region in the field of semiconductors
“The collaboration will increase the availability of PhDs, which our industry has a strong need for, and will provide scientific insights that are relevant to the chip industry and society. With this agreement we are investing in science in the Netherlands and in training experts,” Dassen concluded.
Robert-Jan Smits, President of the TU/e Executive Board, said: “We are proud that we are giving an enormous boost to the strong collaboration that we have had for decades. We will invest together, expanding Brainport's position as the Netherlands' most important semicon hotspot.”
“This development once again shows the exceptional strength of TU/e in terms of collaboration with industry and our pivotal position in Brainport. For us, the agreement is extra special because it is our largest agreement ever with an industrial partner. And it is an important recognition of the quality of our university,” Smits concluded.
This lab building will be a top facility focused on research, education, and startups in the field of semiconductors
The collaboration between ASML and TU/e is in line with the goals of Project Beethoven.
Project Beethoven aims to further strengthen the Brainport region in the field of semiconductors, to create solutions for society and the future earning capacity of the Netherlands.
In terms of talent, Beethoven's focus includes strengthening relevant education and scientific research.
Project Beethoven is financed by national and regional authorities and industry.