Extracted from Communications and Public Relations Office, dated 10 July 2025
The University Grants Committee’s Research Grants Council announced the funding results of the Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS) 2025/26. A research team led by Professor Evangeline F.Y. Young, Professor of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), has been awarded a grant of more than HK$60 million to explore and develop Large Circuit Models, AI-native EDA, GPU/CPU-Accelerated EDA, and their applications on heterogeneous integrated ICs. The grant falls under the theme of Advancing Emerging Research and Innovations Important to Hong Kong, one of the four designated research themes under the TRS.
The VLSI industry has advanced rapidly, moving beyond 5nm and pushing into 3nm technology. Designing such complex chips with billions of transistors and wires relies heavily on powerful electronic design automation (EDA) tools. As circuits grow more complex, there is an urgent need for fast, smart and scalable EDA solutions powered by AI and modern hardware. Modern large-scale heterogeneous integration ICs, such as 3D/2.5D ICs, chiplets, and advanced packaging also demand new EDA approaches.