The Czech Semiconductor Center (CSC) has completed its first months of full operation and is already helping to kick-start the domestic chip business. Since its launch in spring 2025, it has managed to build a team, set project management rules, create a catalog of services, contribute significantly to the popularization of the semiconductor industry, and engage in important negotiations with foreign partners, including at Prague Castle. Now it is adding another new feature – it is launching its own newsletter, which will regularly bring news from the center and the semiconductor industry in the Czech Republic and Europe.
“By mid-2025, we had already exceeded a number of annual targets – we involved 11 start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises, supported seven students with business ideas, and organized a workshop for Škoda Auto and a summer school for foreign students. Despite difficulties with concluding a grant agreement on the part of ChipsJU, we are fulfilling a large part of the KPIs for this year, and as a whole team, we believe that we are well on our way to achieving further goals,” says Karel Masařík, director of the Czech Semiconductor Center, listing some of the results.
Other planned activities, such as the introduction of a unified product management process, CRM (Customer Relationship Management) standardization, and the creation of a branding center, are still awaiting their final form, which should be ready in the fall. However, those interested in information from the semiconductor industry can already subscribe to the newsletter, which, like all communication from the center, will be in English and will arrive in your mailbox every three months. Further news can be followed on the CSC website or LinkedIn.
“The Czech Semiconductor Center has already been presented to the public at Czech Semicon Days in Prague, the popular ScienceFest, and was also part of a prestigious round table at Prague Castle, where industry and academic leaders discussed the acceleration of Czech science. The director of the center also met with representatives from Eindhoven, Bavaria, and the Netherlands, and together with other CSC representatives, he welcomed a large delegation from Taiwan,” says Jana Drbohlavová, deputy director of the center, describing the last few months.
The center, established this year, offers companies a wide range of services – from mentoring and financial consulting to access to pilot production lines and participation in a pan-European design platform. The aim is to help companies develop new semiconductor products more quickly and efficiently, while ensuring a sufficient supply of qualified experts to support the growth of the semiconductor industry in Europe. The CSC also actively attracts new talent to the field of microelectronics and related fields of the semiconductor ecosystem (computer science, chemistry, and physics).
“The fact that the Czech Republic is no newcomer to semiconductor innovation is also confirmed by a recent OECD report, according to which the country is among the world leaders in the manufacture of chip production equipment, especially electron microscopes. The study maps the complex and highly interconnected semiconductor supply chain, and the Czech Republic appears in two categories related to semiconductor manufacturing equipment. This puts it among global players such as Taiwan, South Korea, and the US,” Masařík emphasizes the importance of the Czech Republic.
Behind CSC stands a unique consortium of six partners: the two largest technical universities, VUT and ČVUT, the companies onsemi and Codasip, the Czech National Semiconductor Cluster, and the innovation agency JIC. The combination of cutting-edge industrial know-how and scientific background thus enables us to provide our clients with tailor-made services.
Photos of Director Karel Masařík and Vice-Director Jana Drbohlavová taken by Václav Koníček.
