CSconnected Strength in Places Fund

The CSconnected UKRI Strength in Places Fund (SIPF) project will establish south Wales as home to the world’s first compound semiconductor community, putting the region at the forefront of new and emerging technologies.

CSconnected is the world’s first compound semiconductor cluster, and the SIPF project is one of seven being supported by the UK government through their UK Research and Innovation scheme (UKRI) and their Strength in Places Fund, announced in June 2020.

The 55-month project starting in November 2020 has a total value of £43 million, supported by £25 million of UKRI funds, with the balance of investments provided by project partners.

The SIPF project is building on south Wales’s strengths in advanced semiconductor materials and manufacturing.

It will also give the UK a global advantage in technology across sectors such as Net Zero, 5G communications and autonomous vehicles.

The aim is to support South Wales’s compound semiconductor industry in creating 3,000 jobs by 2025, increasing its direct contribution to the local economy to £265 million per year, and improving skills among the local population.

Programmes

At the core of the project are four major collaborative research and development (CRD) programmes. These are focused on:

Next generation optical communications and sensing
Large Scale GaAs-based wafer manufacturing
Novel and efficient CS Wafer Fabrication Tools
Advanced processes for 5G and EAV systems.

In addition to these four CRD programmes, the formation of a central coordination activity will represent and promote the cluster and help to develop regional educational and skills capabilities for the sector.

The project will also support the setting up of a dedicated home for the CSconnected community.