Starting July 7, project proposals can be submitted for the new calls published under the Chips Joint Undertaking (JU). The Chips for Europe initiative bridges the gap between research and industrial implementation, funding strategic actions such as the creation of pilot lines, the development of a cloud-based design platform, the creation of competence centers to provide essential skills and knowledge across Europe, and dedicated quantum-related actions to accelerate the development of European quantum technologies. The Electronic Components and Systems Research and Innovation (ECS R&I) group supports collaborative projects across a broad spectrum of technology sectors. Key areas of interest include artificial intelligence hardware, edge computing, cybersecurity, 6G technologies, energy efficiency, advanced packaging, and photonics.

The calls are as follows:

• ECS GLOBAL IA (second phase) – HORIZON-JU-Chips-2026-1-IA: A bottom-up call for projects with a high technology readiness level (TRL 5-8) across the entire ECS value chain. Total budget: EUR 40 million;
• ECS GLOBAL RIA (second phase) – HORIZON-JU-Chips-2026-1-RIA: a bottom-up call for low-TRL (3-4) activities aimed at establishing new knowledge and technological feasibility. Total budget: EUR 50 million;
• Call to strengthen Europe's position in power electronics – HORIZON-Chips-JU-2026-FT1-IA: A call for resilience to scale up European power electronics manufacturing to 300 mm devices and embrace agile design. Total budget: EUR 20 million;
• Call to strengthen Europe's position in the photonics sector – HORIZON-Chips-JU-2026-FT2-IA: Supports the industrial scalability of advanced photonics platforms to bridge the gap between research and manufacturing. Total budget: EUR 20 million;
• Call to strengthen Europe's position in the healthcare sector – HORIZON-Chips-JU-2026-FT3-IA: Focuses on transforming healthcare through advanced diagnostic imaging, home care, and high-performance instrumentation. Total budget: EUR 20 million;
• RIA “Resilience”: Appeal to the 6G front-end module – HORIZON-JU-Chips-2026-2-RIA: The goal is to design and implement integrated microelectronic building blocks for 6G radio communication front-end modules. Total budget: EUR 20 million;
• ECS International Collaboration – Call for Digital Partnership and TTC Countries – HORIZON-JU-Chips-2026-3-RIA: Promotes low-return-per-liability collaboration with India, Singapore, and Taiwan in chip design, manufacturing, and packaging. Total budget: EUR 5 million;
• ECS Supply Chain Resilience CSA – HORIZON-JU-CHIPS-2026-2-CSA: The aim is to strengthen resilience by developing a "digital twin" data platform for monitoring outages and stress tests. Total budget: EUR 2 million;
• Coordination of the European Software-Defined Vehicle Platform – HORIZON-JU-CHIPS-2026-SDV-CSA: Coordinates European vehicle initiatives to establish an open reference architecture and a sustainable roadmap. Total budget: EUR 2 million;
• Artificial intelligence chip demonstrators for EU computing infrastructure – DIGITAL-JU-CHIPS-2026-AI1-SG: First call of Phase A of the European Iniziativa on Artificial Intelligence Chips and Systems for Computing Infrastructure, aimed at AI chip demonstrators, with the aim of supporting leading-edge European chip designers in demonstrating operational silicon hardware ready for infrastructure integration. Total budget: EUR 10 million.
• Evaluation and implementation platform for AI-based computing systems for EU infrastructure– DIGITAL-JU-CHIPS-2026-AI-GfP: Stream B of the European Iniziativa for Artificial Intelligence Chips and Systems for Computing Infrastructure, which will validate Stream A systems against workloads/benchmarks and purchase pilot racks (procurement grant). Indicative EU budget: EUR 70 million;
• Pilot Federation – DIGITAL-JU-CHIPS-2026-SKILLS-PF-SG: This initiative connects European vocational education and training (VET) institutions to manage standardized qualification and certification systems for semiconductor technicians. Total budget: EUR 10 million;
• Stimulating chip design – DIGITAL-JU-CHIPS-2026-SKILLS-SCD-CSA: This program aims to inspire new generations to pursue careers in the semiconductor industry by funding student tape-out programs and chip design challenges. Total budget: €15 million;
• Centers of Excellence for Skills – DIGITAL-JU-CHIPS-2026-SKILLS-HoE-SG: This call supports the creation of long-term centers of excellence for undergraduate and doctoral training in specialized fields such as chip design and manufacturing. Total budget: EUR 20 million;
• International Collaboration – Joint EU-Japan Semiconductor Call – DIGITAL-JU-Chips-2026-SG-JAPAN: This collaborative call focuses on an AI chiplet ecosystem and advanced process technologies for nodes beyond 2 nm, in collaboration with Japanese consortia. Total budget: €15 million;
• Monitoring and Impact Evaluation Framework for the Chips JU Project – HORIZON-JU-CHIPS-2026-IMAF-CSA: The objective of this call is to design and test a comprehensive framework to systematically monitor, evaluate, and report the short-, medium-, and long-term impact of JU CHIPS programs through standardized data, indicators, and methodologies. Total budget: EUR 1 million.

Deadlines are in September 2026 depending on the call selected.

For more information: info@iniziativa.cc