SEOUL: South Korea and the European Union (EU) will kick off their joint research projects on semiconductor technologies this month, Seoul's science ministry said Wednesday. The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Chips Joint Undertaking under the European Commission will form four joint research consortiums on advanced heterogeneous integration and neuromorphic chip technologies, according to officials. The consortiums, set to operate until June 2027, will be comprised of 11 research institutes from South Korea and 14 institutes from nine European countries, including Germany, Italy and Spain. South Korea will support a combined 8.4 billion won (US$6.1 million) and the EU about 6 million euros for the projects. "With the South Korea-EU joint research, brilliant semiconductor researchers will be able to create a cooperation network to secure key technologies essential to take the lead in the chips industry," Science Minister Lee Jong-ho said in a statement. The science ministry also said it will host the second South Korea-EU researchers forum on semiconductors in Seoul next year and construct a research and development cooperation center for Korean and European researchers in Brussels later this year. Source: Yonhap News Agency