The FAMES Pilot Line today announced the official launch of the FAMES Academy, a strategic educational initiative designed to support the EU’s commitment to develop next-generation chips. The academy will be unveiled during CEA–Leti Innovation Days—LID World Summit, June 17-19, beginning with its inaugural workshop on June 18 in Grenoble.
Through a series of dedicated training events, courses, and workshops over the next four years, the FAMES Academy aims to support and expand a skilled workforce equipped to use the advanced technologies developed within the FAMES Pilot Line—key enablers for the European Chips Act and European chip sovereignty.
“The FAMES Academy is a cornerstone of our mission to equip Europe’s microelectronics community with the skills needed to leverage FD-SOI technology and design circuits using advanced setups,” said Laurent Fesquet, FAMES Academy project manager. Fesquet, who will lead a panel discussion at the workshop, is deputy director of the TIMA Laboratory (UGA – Grenoble INP – CNRS). “Through recruitment and targeted training, we’re preparing the engineers and technicians who will shape the future of Europe’s semiconductor design and integration,” he said.
Kickoff Events to Cultivate Cutting-Edge Competencies
The June 18 event will explain the technologies that will be covered in the academy’s ongoing training program. It will feature a morning general session, followed by an afternoon workshop that is part of the academy’s formal training program. The training sessions will be held over the next four years and will provide professionals from industry, RTOs, and academia with hands-on opportunities to engage with groundbreaking FD-SOI, eNVM, RF, 3D integration, and PMIC technologies.
The second major academy event will be the FAMES European FD-SOI Design School (EFDS), Jan. 25-30, 2026, in Grenoble. This winter school will feature a one week theoretical and practical training course. Additional events include a two-day course at the Tyndall Institute in Cork, Ireland, Nov. 24-25, 2025, as well as ongoing tutorials (e-learning) that the academy will offer.
Meeting Industry Needs: A European Commitment to Education
The FAMES Academy will be focused on three critical objectives:
- Supporting the transfer of competencies to European industry to exploit next-generation semiconductor technologies.
- Attracting scientists and engineers into the EU microelectronics workforce to reinforce technological sovereignty.
- Equipping engineers and researchers with the expertise required to design and characterize advanced semiconductor nodes.
Training for a Technological Leap: What to Expect
FAMES Academy participants will gain insights into the trade-offs between integrated circuit performance and power consumption, especially relevant to the automotive, AI, and HPC sectors. Courses will also explore 3D heterogeneous integration, enabling enhanced functionality, performance, and cost optimization through the combination of chips and dies.
The academy’s hands-on training complements the FAMES Open-Access platform, offering users access not just to cleanrooms and equipment, but also to the knowledge required to effectively leverage them. Following the recently completed, first open-access call to submit project proposals, the FAMES Pilot Line is now accepting Spontaneous User Requests.
“Over the next four years, the academy will develop and present a range of workshops and interactive sessions to support and expand Europe’s semiconductor community with expertise and empower its industrial and academic communities with the tools and training needed to succeed in this critical, rapidly evolving field,” said Dominique Noguet, the FAMES Pilot Line coordinator.
A European Collaboration for Chip Sovereignty
In addition to the pilot line coordinator, France-based CEA-Leti, the FAMES consortium includes imec (Belgium), Fraunhofer (Germany), Tyndall (Ireland), VTT (Finland), CEZAMAT WUT (Poland), UCLouvain (Belgium), Silicon Austria Labs (Austria), SiNANO Institute (France), Grenoble INP (France) and the University of Granada (Spain).
For further information about training opportunities and upcoming workshops, visit: https://fames-pilot-line.eu/training/
