A new Czech strategic initiative aims to strengthen one of the less visible, yet essential parts of semiconductor manufacturing: ultra-pure chemicals. CHEM@CORE 4CHIPS, coordinated by Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem (UJEP), is preparing shared cleanroom infrastructure for the development, purification, testing and validation of chemicals for semiconductor manufacturing and other high-tech industries.
The project is currently being prepared under Just Transition Operational Programme for strategic projects for the 2028+ programming period. Its core concept is a national centre of excellence for ultra-pure chemistry in the Ústí Region, designed not as a closed facility for a single organisation, but as open infrastructure accessible to academic and industrial users. The current concept envisages 1,000–1,500 m² of ISO 3/4 cleanroom space, including purification and filling facilities as well as R&D laboratories and metrology. The planned centre would employ around 20 specialists, half of them directly in research and development.
From industrial chemistry to a semiconductor capability
Ultra-pure chemicals are required throughout semiconductor production, including wafer cleaning, etching, deposition and other processes where even extremely small levels of contamination can affect the final device. Their availability, together with the analytical infrastructure needed to verify their purity, is therefore an important part of a resilient semiconductor supply chain.
This is also a natural field for UJEP and the Ústí Region. The university is building on the region’s long tradition in industrial chemistry while expanding its research and teaching towards semiconductor applications. UJEP’s Department of Chemistry already identifies the production of ultra-pure chemicals and precursors, raw-material purification, advanced analytics, treatment of semiconductor process waste streams and the development of supporting technologies among its areas of focus.
“Europe’s semiconductor resilience does not depend on chip design and fabrication alone. It also depends on whether we can develop and supply the extremely pure materials and chemicals that modern manufacturing requires. CHEM@CORE 4CHIPS is conceived as shared infrastructure where industry and academia can develop, purify, analyse and validate these materials together. For the Ústí Region, it is also an opportunity to transform a long-standing chemical tradition into a new high-tech capability with European relevance,” says Zdeněk Tišler from the Department of Chemistry at UJEP.
Support from the Czech semiconductor ecosystem
The project has already attracted support from important players in the Czech semiconductor ecosystem, including two partners of the Czech Semiconductor Centre consortium.
onsemi issued a Letter of Intent supporting participation in the emerging ecosystem and the use of the planned shared infrastructure. The company highlights the importance of suitable analytical and research infrastructure for the development, purification, transport and analysis of ultra-pure chemicals and sees CHEM@CORE 4CHIPS as an opportunity to strengthen Czech capabilities in clean chemistry and semiconductor-related R&D.
The Czech National Semiconductor Cluster (CNSC) has also formally expressed its support. It describes the availability of ultra-pure chemicals as a critical and still insufficiently covered part of the European semiconductor supply chain and explicitly identifies CHEM@CORE 4CHIPS as complementary to the activities of the Czech Semiconductor Centre, the Chips for Europe initiative and the European network of semiconductor competence centres.
Through the Czech semiconductor ecosystem, the initiative has also gained international backing. Silicon Saxony, Europe’s largest semiconductor and microelectronics cluster, has issued a declaration of interest in supporting the development of the CHEM@CORE 4CHIPS ecosystem. It points in particular to opportunities for networking, knowledge exchange and cross-border cooperation between Czechia, Saxony and the wider European semiconductor community.
This cross-border dimension is particularly relevant given the geographical proximity of the Ústí Region to Dresden and the rapid expansion of semiconductor manufacturing capacity in Saxony.
Connecting regional expertise with the wider CSC ecosystem
UJEP itself is becoming increasingly visible within the Czech semiconductor landscape. The university is a member of the Czech National Semiconductor Cluster and is also one of the academic institutions featured in the 2026 Annual Catalogue of the Czech Semiconductor Ecosystem, recently published by the Czech Semiconductor Centre . The catalogue brings together companies, universities, research organisations and regional stakeholders across areas ranging from chip design and manufacturing to materials, equipment, metrology and cleanroom technologies.
CHEM@CORE 4CHIPS illustrates why mapping and connecting these capabilities matters. Semiconductor value chains extend far beyond chip design and wafer fabrication themselves. Materials, chemicals, analytical methods, cleanroom technologies and specialised suppliers are all required before a semiconductor product can move from research to reliable industrial production.
The planned centre is therefore intended to serve not only as research infrastructure, but also as a platform for contract research, pilot-scale development, validation and collaborative R&D. Its open model could provide companies with access to capabilities that would otherwise require significant investment to build independently.
CHEM@CORE 4CHIPS heads to Taiwan
The project will now also be introduced to international partners at SEMICON Taiwan 2026, taking place in Taipei from 2 to 4 September 2026, with its international forums beginning on 31 August. Strategic materials are among the technology areas highlighted by this year’s event, making Taiwan a particularly relevant setting in which to present the emerging Czech capability.
For the Czech Semiconductor Centre, initiatives such as CHEM@CORE 4CHIPS demonstrate the value of connecting specialised national capabilities with industrial partners and wider European and international networks. Strengthening Europe’s semiconductor resilience requires expertise across the entire value chain – including the materials and ultra-pure chemistry without which advanced chip manufacturing would not be possible.
