Industry Opportunities

The Department of Physics at Swansea University is seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) in Semiconductor Physics and Terahertz Science and Technology.

Closing Date: 25 Oct 2026

Interview Dates: 4 Nov 2026 - 6 Nov 2026

The Welsh Government, in conjunction with Innovate UK, Innovate UK-Business Connect and Innovate UK-Business Growth, are holding an Innovation Funding Support Meeting Event to help selected Companies and FE/HE Bodies based in Wales prepare themselves better to run more effective Research & Development Projects. Dates: 09 Sep & 28 Oct 2026

The UK Semiconductor Centre is partnering with BBC Bitesize and this year’s BBC Bitesize Careers Tour to help get semiconductor technicians in front of the next generation of UK talent. From September 2026 to January 2027, the tour will reach more than 110,000 secondary school students across the UK, introducing them to people from different industries, backgrounds and career pathways.

The tour is looking for apprentices and early-career technical staff who can share their experiences with young people and show them where a technical career can lead.

The Pathway into Semiconductors programme provides a fully funded introduction to South Wales' world-leading compound semiconductor sector for engineers looking to transition from industries such as defence, automotive, aviation and manufacturing.  This Programme is fully funded by UKRI’s Place Based Impact Acceleration Account project. Applications close at 17:00 on Friday 30 October 2026.

This call aims to support ground-breaking research and proof-of-concept projects led by early career researchers (ECRs) that advance understanding and capability in WBG/UWBG semiconductor devices and packaging.

This funding opportunity is a joint call, funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST) to develop Advanced Connectivity Technologies (ACT) and Semiconductor solutions. These are both frontier technologies in the Digital & Technologies Sector Plan of the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy.

UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £12 million for collaborative industrial research to speed the translation of advanced materials innovations in three prioritised high growth themes and one strategic opportunity theme.

UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £3 million for the purpose of developing innovative proposals with Singapore. You must collaborate with at least one Singapore business applying under the equivalent Enterprise Singapore programme.

To support organisations in Wales to improve productivity, competitiveness and sustainable growth through investment in new and innovative capital equipment. This includes digitalisation, automation and advanced manufacturing technologies.

Apply for funding to form world‑leading partnerships with collaborators in Japan in the field of Advanced Connectivity Technologies.

UK businesses, universities and research organisations now have expanded opportunities to participate in the Horizon Europe Chips Joint Undertaking (Chips JU), with a series of open and forthcoming funding calls published for 2026. These calls aim to strengthen Europe’s semiconductor ecosystem across design, manufacturing, pilot lines, advanced packaging and strategic electronic components.

Launched in 2013, the Advanced Manufacturing for Energy Related Applications in Harsh Environments (ADMA) Pilot is an innovation community dedicated to integrating the Blue Sustainable Economy value chain. 

The ChipQuest Challenge is a competition for all students from Grade 1 through PhD to create videos introducing the world of semiconductors to school children.

Recognising outstanding individuals driving measurable progress across the UK microelectronics ecosystem — spanning photonics, embedded systems, and semiconductors.

The 20 Under 30 recognition program honors the industry’s brightest young leaders who have demonstrated success in their careers in the microelectronics supply chain – Engineering, Sales/Marketing and R&D positions.

UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £110 million to deliver ambitious research and innovation and develop future leaders. This funding is from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Following the advice of the Council for Science and Technology (CST) to the Prime Minister on growth and global leadership in photonics, the UK Government is convening a workshop to develop a national photonics roadmap, in order to help better coordinate funding, leverage existing clusters of expertise and build on the UK's strengths.

The UK Semiconductor Centre are building a UK-wide directory of workforce and skills initiatives to make it easier for people to navigate opportunities and pathways into the UK semiconductor industry.

USW are looking for partners to invest in the next generation of experts who will be educated in the new state-of-the-art STEM building, Calon, scheduled to open this autumn. It will be home to a wide range of academic programmes and research, ranging from computing and data science to engineering.

Are you a UK company that qualifies for M4B funding? M4B can give you access to NPL's specialist measurement science and engineering experts and facilities, at no charge, to help your business grow. 

An EPSRC-funded programme that will develop the skills of Research Technical Professionals (RTPs) within the GW4 institutes (Bath, Bristol, Cardiff & Exeter Universities). The programme offers tailored training & development opportunities from February 2026 - Summer 2027

EPSRC particularly welcomes high quality applications where engineering and physical sciences research can generate new knowledge and addresses challenges associated with the advancement, development, and deployment of these technologies: artificial intelligence, engineering biology, future telecommunications, semiconductors, and quantum technologies. No closing date.

This survey is a vital step in helping the UK Government fully understand the strengths and weaknesses of the UK semiconductor packaging sector and identify critical gaps in the supply chain where targeted intervention may be needed. 

The Flexible Skills Programme (FSP) is a Welsh Government funded initiative that helps businesses across Wales build a stronger, more skilled workforce. Employers can apply for funding to cover up to 50% of the accredited training costs, with a maximum value of £50,000 per application.

Made Smarter Innovation has identified AI as a keystone industrial digital technology, strategic to all sectors, and other digital technologies are critical to making AI useful. By filling out this short survey, you will directly contribute to shaping the future of AI and digital technologies within industry.

Jointly funded by the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund and Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) the Academic-Industry Partnerships programme, part of the Cluster Development and Growth Programme, aims to bring together industry and academia to identify innovative solutions to enterprise challenges, particularly amongst micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Open ended

Innovate UK Business Growth’s highly regarded Scaleup Programme provides one-to-one, bespoke and funded support centred around innovative scaleups’ specific needs. It is available to those scaleup companies achieving, or with the potential for, 50% compound annual growth rates (CAGR) and over.

Up to €20m per project to connect people and organisations working towards the goal of innovation and supporting the scaling of companies. Closing dates 22 Sep 2026 or 15 Sep 2027 depending on call.

Topics available under Horizon Europe's Cluster 4 programme for 2026-27, with a total budget of €1.5bn. Various closing dates from Mar 2026 to Sep 2027

A total budget of €798.5m to upgrade research and innovation systems in less advanced countries within the European area. Various closing dates, 12 Mar 2026 to 18 Nov 2027 

The EIC Accelerator is a funding programme under Horizon Europe that offers support to start-ups and SMEs that are looking for substantial funding, have the ambition and commitment to scale up, and have an innovative, game changing product.

The Welsh Government is building a stronger, fairer, greener country, with an economy based on fair work, sustainability and the sectors of the future. SMART Flexible Innovation Support (FIS) is open to any organisation wishing to engage in Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I), including the third sector, local authorities and health boards. Open ended

This scheme is part of the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP), offering financial support in the form of investments to startups, SMEs, and small mid-caps, between EUR 10 to 30 million. 

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is seeking to support applications through their standard research grant scheme in the following two areas:

• advanced materials solutions for critical minerals
• in-situ and in-operando materials metrology and characterisation

Innovation Challenge 1: Advanced Energy Transmission and Networks: How can we leverage breakthroughs in semiconductor, superconductor, and wireless power transmission technologies to enhance grid performance? Projects applying to this challenge should align with and build upon existing UK and international initiatives in advanced energy transmission. Applicants should consider how their innovations complement prior research and industry developments.

pro² is pleased to announce an open funding call for international and industrial residencies (The pro² Residency Scheme). Applications must propose ideas which align with pro² objectives, and awardees can apply for funding under one of three categories.

Agile Cymru is a scaleable programme of coordinated action, an agile tool to deliver greater economic co-operation at speed, guided by the International Strategy and our economic policies. This includes a flexible grant mechanism to support cross-border and international activity that maximises shared opportunities across themes, sectors, and geographies. Agile Cymru funding can support a wide range of activity; the focus is on the outcome and benefit for Wales.