£17.3m funding for Compound Semiconductor Research Foundation
26 March 2015
A £17.3m award for Cardiff’s Compound Semiconductor Research Foundation was announced this week by the Minister for Universities Science and Cities, the Right Honourable Mr Greg Clark.
The funding will help underpin the Foundation, for which the Welsh Government has already provided a grant of £12m. The new Foundation, the first of its kind in the UK, will put Cardiff University at the cutting edge of semiconductor technology. It will also help to strengthen the already established links with IQE Plc, one of the leading global compound semiconductor wafer suppliers and also a key partner in the venture.
The Foundation, which will be located on the University's Innovation Campus, will drive research into new technology including smart phones and tablets, and will have a significant impact on healthcare, biotechnology and mass communications.
The award adds to £12m already pledged by Welsh Government to support the Foundation. Professor Colin Riordan, Vice-Chancellor of Cardiff University, welcomed the investment:
"The award from the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund will capitalise on existing academic expertise at Cardiff University. It will cement our well-established partnership with IQE to create a global hub for CS technology research, development and innovation."
Professor Paul Tasker from the School of Engineering, who is one of the key researchers involved with the new Foundation, said that the School was delighted at news of the additional funding. “It will boost the ability to carry out ground breaking research in semiconductor technology, and will consolidate and develop our established research in collaboration with our colleagues Professor Peter Smowton and Dr Phil Buckle in Physics, which will be at the centre of the new Foundation.”
Dr Drew Nelson, CEO of IQE plc, said: "Compound Semiconductors are one of the 8 great technologies identified by the UK government as essential to leading the UK's economic and industrial growth. We welcome today's announcement and look forward to playing a key role in helping to make Wales and the UK the new European powerhouse for next-generation semiconductor technologies."
Cardiff is one of seven outstanding university research projects to receive over £100 million from UKRPIF in 2016-17 to drive innovation and growth.