European "Chips Competence Center" for Austria
Date: 21.05.2025
Success Story: Silicon Alps Cluster GmbH
Focus Topic: Technology Leadership, Digitalization of Industrial Production, EU Activities
Additional Topics: Electronic & Software Based Systems (ESBS) Industry, Chip Design, Chip Production, Power Electronics
On 1 January 2025, one of the first centers of its kind in Europe, the Austrian Chips Competence Center (AT-C³), was launched. Funded under the European Chips Act, AT-C³ aims to advance production and research in the field of microchips, thereby making a key contribution to Europe's strategic goal of establishing a state-of-the-art chip ecosystem and increasing the EU's global production share to 20 percent by 2030.
"This brings an additional eight million euros of fresh funding for the Electronic & Software-Based Systems (ESBS) industry to Austria," says Robert Gfrerer, initiator of the Chips Competence Center and Managing Director of the leading SILICON ALPS Cluster. Gfrerer on the core objectives of AT-C³: "We want to become the 'one-stop shop' for industry and research in Austria along the ESBS value chain. This also opens up new opportunities for the Austrian ESBS sector across Europe."
The Austrian Chips Competence Center (AT-C³) is co-financed equally by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and the Chips Joint Undertaking (JU).
Conceived as a "Chip Design & Prototyping Support Center," AT-C³ operates from sites in Leoben, Graz, Villach, Klagenfurt, and Linz. It is a collaborative initiative of several partner organizations: the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), the Materials Center Leoben (MCL), the Polymer Competence Center Leoben (PCCL), Silicon Austria Labs (SAL), Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), and the Silicon Alps Cluster, within which the Graz unit hosts the Competence Center as a dedicated business unit.
The Austrian Chips Competence Center is one of 27 European Competence Centers. While also serving the industry's leading corporations, it places particular emphasis on supporting start-ups and SMEs – around 55 percent of funding will directly benefit these companies. The center’s thematic priorities are:
- Chip Design & System Integration
- Testing, Prototyping & Manufacturing
- Chips Fund & Financial Services
Large enterprises in the ESBS sector will also benefit, for example, from qualification programs developed jointly with TU Graz, which are 100 percent funded and set to launch in 2026. In addition, all ecosystem development services are fully subsidized.
Project leader Gernot Eder emphasizes: "With the approval of AT-C³, the SILICON ALPS Cluster has achieved a major milestone in further developing Austria's ESBS ecosystem. This flagship project strengthens our national and international positioning and increases the visibility and impact of our regions."
Web links for more information
Contact
Robert Gfrerer, CEO, Silicon Alps Cluster GmbH
Robert.gfrerer@silicon-alps.at
office@silicon-alps.at
Gernot Eder, Projektleiter AT-C³, Silicon Alps Cluster GmbH
gernot.eder@silicon-alps.at
office@atc3.at
AT-C³ Austrian Chips Competence Center