Funded by the EU with a total budget of approximately 10 million euros, Ascent+ is a network of research experts and also includes institutional and industrial infrastructure designed to drive innovation forward by situating Europe as a driving force in nano-electronic research. Represented by a team managed by Prof. Armando Rastelli (Dept. of Semiconductor Physics), the JKU has been one of 15 European partner institutes since the network launched in early September.

Additional participating research institutes (R&D hubs) include CEA Leti (F), Fraunhofer Mikroelektronik (Germany), imec (BE), INL (Portugal), Tyndall (Ireland) as well as the academic partners CNRS (F), Uni Gent (BE), TU Bergakademie Freiberg (Germany), Uni Padua (I), but also industry representatives and members of the Silicon Europe Alliance: DSP Valley (BE), MIDAS (Ireland), Minalogic (F), Silicon Saxony (Germany), and the SiNANO Institute (F)